More local women are testing the waters of triathlons

Nikki Wolf donned a borrowed wetsuit one recent cloudy evening to train in the waters of Lake Washington. The 33-year-old had learned to swim only weeks ago.

"I'm worried about being cold," she said after suiting up at a Madrona park, where several dozen other women were preparing for the wet.

Still, she waded into the waters and practiced her strokes with a small group of novices. After about 45 minutes, she could swim freestyle with her face in the water and cover the distance between two buoys -- a short distance compared with what she'll eventually need to cover.

"It was pretty tough," she said, shivering as she toweled off after the swim. "I'm definitely glad I did it."

Wolf, who will compete in her first triathlon later this month, is among the thousands of women who are swimming, cycling and running this summer in preparation for the triathlon season.

While some are competitive athletes, many more, like Wolf, are new to the sport.

There are mothers and grandmothers. Cancer survivors. Bodies size 6 and 28.

Women in this area are racing more than ever before due in part to women-only events such as this month's Danskin Women's Triathlon in Seattle and next month's Subaru U.S. Women's Triathlon Series in Federal Way.

Such events offer safe, comfortable environments for women to try the sport -- and believe they can do it.

"I'm in the best shape I've ever been," said Wolf, who has a 2 1/2-year-old daughter. "It's time to do my own thing again."

Women now make up about 30 percent of the nation's triathlon participants, according to USA Triathlon, the national governing body.

At some co-ed Seattle races, women's participation is even higher. More than half the racers at last month's Seafair Triathlon were women.

And the Seattle Danskin race -- which last year drew more than 5,000 women -- is the largest Danksin triathlon in the country.

Reasons for racing vary from woman to woman. Some want to get in shape or cross-train for another sport. Others seek the solitude of training or some seek a challenge.

It's not necessarily about winning the race. It's about crossing the finish line.

Triathlons begin in the water. Racers start out in "waves" of about 100, grouped by age, gender and/or ability, depending on the size of the event. Competitors swim around designated buoys, as lifeguards watch nearby from kayaks and surfboards.

When the racers return to shore, they run to a transition area, pull off their wetsuits (if they're wearing one), put on a helmet and run their bikes to the start of the bike leg.

After completing the bike route, racers leave their wheels and helmets in the transition area, and take off on the run -- to the finish line.

The fastest competitors can finish a sprint tri -- typically a 1/2-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run -- in about an hour.

On a recent Sunday morning, Ann Sloan and Lisa Reid chatted in a grassy Seward Park field that had been transformed into the transition area for the Seafair Triathlon. Around them, hundreds of women and men hung bikes on metal racks, laid out race gear and zipped into wetsuits.

Waiting for their wave start times, the women good-naturedly complained about the early morning start -- so early the Starbucks hadn't opened yet for Sloan to get her green tea latte. They tried to calm nerves.

"Just get through the swim and everything else is OK," said Sloan, 38, who started competing this summer.

"(I'm) trying to go to my happy place," joked Reid, 41.

Nearby, Leona Hollis looked more relaxed. The 43-year-old flight attendant recently had competed in the Pacific Crest Half Iron Triathlon -- a race about four times the distance of the Seafair event.

Still, Hollis was relatively new to the sport. She didn't start training for triathlons until she turned 40. She has since competed in several races a year -- and even inspired her son to try the sport.

"People look at you and say, 'You're a triathlete? I can do that too,' " Hollis said. "(My son) saw that anybody can be an athlete, and you don't have to be the perfect shape."

For many women, it's not just about being fit. It's also about having fun.

At the Seafair tri, one woman -- who wore a bridal veil on her helmet -- stopped in the middle of the race to wait for a friend who was behind her in the swim. And she cheered for her other friends as they continued to race.

While competing in a recent triathlon at Lake Sammamish, a group of men swam over Reid without any acknowledgment, she recalled. Then a woman bumped her -- and apologized.

At the Danskin event, triathlete and race spokeswoman Sally Edwards swims, bikes and runs with the last racer so she doesn't finish alone.

"Women are much more supportive and encouraging to each other," Edwards said.

And they don't necessarily have to come in first.

"It's just a sense of accomplishment that you've actually done something," said Maureen Boyd, who recently completed the Pacific Crest Half Iron Triathlon. "It's the culmination of something that you work toward, and just the satisfaction of being able to finish the race is just an uplifting experience."

She competed in her first triathlon three summers ago, after completing treatment for lymphoma, then training with a group of survivors. She was hooked, and in the years since, she has changed her lifestyle -- eating better, working out more often and losing weight (20 pounds so far).

This summer she ramped up her training and raced with other cancer survivors in the half-iron triathlon. She finished in roughly 9 1/2 hours.

For Boyd, it was an accomplishment. Her lungs had been damaged from chemotherapy and she worried about biking at a high elevation.

"The great thing is you don't have to be fast to enjoy it. You can just race against yourself," she said. "It was a completely exhilarating experience. ... I can't wait for my next."

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