Frequently Asked Questions about the Danskin Triathlon

My First Time 2:10

Danskin Triathlon
By Cynthia Ritchie

My roommate from college and eternal friend suggested that we do the Danskin Triathlon. "Sure," I said, "I can run three miles, swim a half-mile and bike twelve miles." However, I never said I could do them back to back in the same day. About a month prior to the race, I started working on the three aspects of the race, two parts at a time. Considering I was in decent condition, training to swim, run and bike proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable challenge; and I thank my friend for urging me on. Even after reading articles on triathlons and talking with experienced racers; I made a few self-critiquing mistakes along the way.

The week prior to the Danskin Triathlon, I did two of my own mini-triathlons (mistake #1). I made great times, and was psyched that I could actually finish without coughing up a lung. After the real race, my legs lamented my pre-race triathlons; it was my husband who informed me, after the race, that all professional runners don’t run for 5 to 7 days before a big race.

The day before the Danskin Triathlon, I went trail riding on my high-strung horse for two hours and then exercised a friend’s horse for another two hours - (mistake #2). That night my legs felt like the spaghetti noodles I should have been eating for carbo-loading.

Mistake #3: I stayed up until midnight the night prior, at least all my equipment was organized and ready to go! I woke up nervous, my legs wobbly and my heart racing.

"Surely, with all this adrenaline, I will have a fast time," I thought. As my family slept, I walked out into the dark morning, unaware of my fatal flaw- no morning coffee (mistake #4.)

Being a novice, I underestimated the power of caffeine. I should have had the mother-load of all caffeine æ a double grandé espresso. Forget carbo-loading, from what I experienced it was all about caffeine.

I didn’t expect so much traffic at the facility. Parking took at least thirty minutes and silly me, I thought I might miss my time. While I boarded the bus, I was concerned about the latex swim cap that I had not successfully donned. But the race had to go on.

As dawn settled, and my bike transition area was organized, I had a chance to look around and compare. "Hmm," I thought, "most of the bikes are street bikes. My trusty mountain bike will make good time for an amateur like me. And what are those little gold "Power" gel packets I see lying around. Can’t anyone go without food for two hours- gee what wimps!"

At the waiting area for the swim, volunteers scrawled my race number and age on my legs -"How dare they, wasn’t it obvious I look ten years younger," I thought. "I think they should put my age minus ten years – yeah 22 sounds good." Wearing a swim cap at the neighborhood pool was not fashionable, thus my reason for not ever wearing one, but hundreds of women in swim caps provided ambiguity- perhaps that is why my kids never found me.

Mistake #5: Trust me, nobody looks athletic or buff in promo pictures (cameras are everywhere) wearing a yellow one-piece swimsuit with pink flamingos dancing under palm trees _ besides it didn’t accentuate any figure points. Maybe my swimsuit was the reason my husband and kids claimed to have never seen me in the race.

The water was pleasantly warm; however, I wasn’t prepared for murky water with feet kicking in my face. Stay to the edge, first timers or swim faster than anyone in your group to avoid deep massaging kicks from other swimmers.

My coffee mistake haunted me. As other women bounded out of the water, I walked as my legs turned to jelly. I found my bike and did a quick change. Cycling out of the gate, I noticed more gold foil packets littering the ground; "What bad manners," I thought.

I would have had a faster time if the head winds from an encroaching ominous thunderstorm hadn’t made me pedal down hill. Where or where was that caffeine energy burst? Signs along the road read, "Slower bikes to the right, Pass to the left." The street bikes sailed by me effortlessly, especially when my first gear failed to engage on the hills. With my big green Huffy (mistake #6), I huffed and puffed to the finish line in the right lane.

"Ah, just a three-mile run left- no problem," I thought. Once again, I noticed more gold foil packets littering the transition area- I shook my head with disgust. I took off running in mistake #7 - old running shoes. I had planned on buying new ones, but after the entry fee, I never got around to it. During the run, I was able to relax a bit and compare again. I began watching the age numbers on the backs of legs; and deduced that the racers were grouped in heats from oldest to youngest. I passed some sixty’s, some fifty’s, occasionally forty’s. I was feeling pretty good. Then the thirties started to pass me. Women were blowing by me, sucking wind and not showing signs of slowing. "Oh why, oh why didn’t I have coffee this morning - it’s not cheating?" I wondered. As the 20’s and teens started passing, I began contemplating the merits of lying about my age and saying I was ten years older- at 42 my time would have been looking pretty fast.

Mistake #7 was hurting my knees and feet and I thought about walking. I looked up from the grass path and for the first time I saw a woman running ahead that had written a note on her back with a grease pencil that read,

This is for you Patty.
We love you and miss you
5/16/71 – 2/3/03

Patty was my age. It suddenly dawned on me that the Danskin Triathlon was a fundraiser for breast cancer. It was about women prevailing against great odds and hoping that they would make it. Not all of them did. I began noticing more messages and epitaphs in grease pencil or printed on shirts. I was proud of all the women running, no matter how fast or slow. Each racer was taking another step towards the finish line that would finish cancer for good.

As I went to gather my things after the race, I stopped to pick up litter in the area. I picked up a used gold foil "Power" gel packet and it read, "Loaded with caffeine- more than a cup of coffee!"

Well, I might have made a few mistakes along the way, however, training and doing the Danskin Triathlon was not a mistake, especially for the women we have known, or will know with breast cancer. Look for me next year in my yellow swimsuit with pink flamingos and I will have a message too:

This is for you Laura Walker,
I pray you make it through.

The End

Frequently Asked Questions about the Danskin Triathlon