The Danskin Run: with slapping, punching and a guy named Tim

While Ann Marie did not enjoy the swim portion of the race,

she is definitely the stronger runner.  Wait.  That may make me sound like I'm a good swimmer.  I'm not.

An homage to one of my favourite SNL skits.

Ann Marie is a running machine.  So she set the pace and I just tried to keep up.  We were very surprised to see TriGuy once again taking our picture (he's a pretty fast runner too!)

Since we were in the Buddy wave, the majority of racers were walkers at this point.  We wove through lots of chatty groups and I was shocked to discover we'd finished the first mile in 9 minutes flat!  We passed by volunteers handing out high fives.

What?  I like high fives.

We hit the turn-around and once again clocked in a 9 minute mile!  We dutifully trudged up the hill on the last mile.  As we got ready to hit the corral, there was a surprise waiting for Ann Marie:

Fresh from performing surgery, her husband was waiting by the finish line!  (He will henceforth be known as Dr. Tim because he is an orthopedic surgeon...and if you don't know his name at this point, then it is Stephan.)

As we got to the very last stretch of the race, Ann Marie yelled at me to sprint to the end.

I complied with great enthusiasm.

We crossed the finish, ditched our timing chips and got our medals (I did not die, thanks for asking :D).

The lady who finished right ahead of us came up to Ann Marie to thank her for encouraging her to run at the end.

Ann Marie was glad to have inadvertently cheered on a fellow racer.

Medals acquired and photos taken, it was time for some post-triathlon burgers and sweet potato fries!

This was my final race for 2011.  A year of hard work was over, and I had bested my 2010 finish time by a whopping 21 minutes!

UPCOMING POSTS:
THE SUNSHINE AWARD, POST-RACE SEASON ACTIVITIES

The Danskin Bike: 'Pain Don't Hurt' and 'Rules Don't Matter' in the Buddy Wave

When we last left off, the swim was done.  Ann Marie and I caught up in T1, then took off on our bikes.  I would tell you about the transition but I honestly don't remember.  However, based on past experiences, I'd say there was a high probability absolute positivity of this:

I let Ann Marie take the bike lead and followed at enough of a distance that I was definitely not drafting...

...often. Luckily the officials never seem too worried about details in the non-competitive wave. By the way, did you guys spot Ann Marie's cheetah helmet? So awesome.

We quickly came to THE HELL HILL.  When Ann Marie started to slow down I worried that she wouldn't make it to the top (and that I also wouldn't make it to the top).  So, I called out a little encouragement:

She kicked it into high gear! Low gear? I still have no idea.  Anyway, she hauled booty up that hill!

We successfully made it up and onto the highway. I was doing so much better than last year; i.e. I was riding my bike and not just holding on for dear life. I did have one sticking point about the ride, and that was the lady who was biking in front of me...and refusing to let me pass. (I would have had at least 5 drafting violations off her alone if they were checking.)

The route was an out and back so there was not a lot of wiggle room. I tried to get competitive and warmed up with some exaggerated sighing.

When that surprisingly didn't work, I got more aggressive. I  started to pull up to pass and yell:

At that point she would edge over to the left and speed up, so I would have to drop back. Other cyclists who were faster than me (only because of their fancier bikes of course) whizzed by us both.

I attempted to pass her multiple times because her cruising speed was slower than mine. Then I yelled at her that if she wanted to go faster she had to a) keep up her speed and b) stay to one side! I finally passed her with an exasperated:

Gosh! I'm sure she is a lovely lady; she just was lacking in basic triathlon etiquette.

There was more leap frogging on the way back, but most people followed the drafting rules of falling back when someone passed. Our very own photog was sitting on the grass, in a better position than the paid picture-taker and caught us biking in!

Before I knew it, we were in and out of T2 and there was nothing left to do but go for a run!

P.S. For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter or Google+, (hehe) I made a CALENDAR. I think it's pretty awesome. I also think you should check it out.

I'm hoping it will be available on the international Zazzle sites very soon!


UPCOMING POSTS: THE RUN LEG OF THE 2011 DANSKIN, SUNSHINE AWARD POST FROM RED NOMAD OZ, AND WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO FOR THE LAST 4 MONTHS

Happy ChristmaHannuKwanzaakah, with a Side of Serenity.

Here at Tri-ing to be Athletic we are a multi-ethnic family.  So,

Happy Chanukah!

And Merry Christmas!

And if you celebrate Kwanzaa,

(That means "Happy Kwanzaa" according to the official Kwanzaa site.)

And if you don't partake in any of the above celebrations,

I hope you're all enjoying some time off as I am this week.

UPCOMING POSTS:  PARTS 2 AND 3 OF THE DANSKIN 2O11, AND BLOG AWARDS