Route 66 Sprint Triathlon Race Recap (Long Post)

I have to start this recap with Whoo Hoo!!! As I posted yesterday, I won the Athena Division of the Route 66 Sprint distance triathlon in El Reno, OK yesterday.  The race site was about 45 minutes away from my sister's house and we were up and headed to the race early.  I was wearing my new tri outfit and was a little disappointed to see another girl there with the same top...she became my race twin for the day! I'm still working on growing out my hair so I went with pigtails because you can't not have a good time when you have pigtails in!

The weather was low humidity and a slight breeze before the start.  Sadly, the temps quickly warmed up and it was probably low 80's by the time that I finished.  The transition was unique with assigned spots...unfortunately someone had claimed my spot.  The head ref was standing nearby and I asked about it and he grabbed the race director to move the bike and stuff.  I proceeded to setup my spot and make sure everything was organized.  There was a pre-race meeting at 7 AM and the race directors gave instructions on the course and the head ref also covered penalties. 

The swim had a triangle shape with the men starting first followed by the women's wave 3 minutes later.  I started on the outside of the group thinking I could cut over but I ended up in water that was too shallow so I couldn't ever get situated.  Once I hit the first buoy, I was a little disoriented because the depth went from really shallow to deep water quickly.  I was able to get a little more relaxed after I made that turn but for a little while I thought I might have to make a grab for one of the kayaks.  As I made the 2nd turn, I noticed a lot of people cutting the swim short and not swimming to the final buoy.  I made the final turn and ran into the problem of not being able to tell when to begin the run out of the water.  The swim exit was on a boat ramp which made a run out nearly impossible with very slippery concrete in the water.  I got up to the edge and a nice volunteer gave me a hand up onto the carpet and then I could start my run into transition.

The bike course was broken up into several 2 1/2 mile sections with a couple small inclines.  I was surprised to not see the lead males until I was about 5 miles into the race.  The length of the bike course was 13 miles and it was fairly flat and included time on Route 66 and the old Route 66.  The bike felt great...I got passed a few times and I did some passing of my own. 

The run course was an out and back course that was a serpentine around the lake.  I quickly realized as I was leaving transition that I didn't take in any calories on the bike and that the run was going to be tough.  I was hungry and the temps were now hot.  I took walk breaks every 6 minutes or so.  I made up my walking ground when I went back to running never getting too far behind those that started near me.  Every one was looking hot and the water stop was a welcome relief and I was glad that they had it set up so you could go through it on both directions.  Finally, I was glad to see the finish and knew that I could suffer a few more minutes of pain.  I thought my run time would be a lot worse than it was but I know I can do better next time.

My time was 1:34:54 with the following breakdown: 12:24 swim, 1:36 T1, 46:32 bike, 1:23 T2, 32:57 run.  Overall, I'm super happy with my first triathlon for the season but I have room for improvement and will be doing a lot more brick workouts before my next triathlon.