Tie Dye Triathlon Race Recap

Yesterday was my final sprint triathlon for the season.  The YMCA of Norman hosts the Tie Dye Triathlon and it happens to be near my birthday so I refer to it as my Birthday Triathlon!!!  My sister and her family live in Norman and it is a great way for me to celebrate my birthday with them.  The race starts early on Sunday with packet pickup and transition setup at 6:00AM.  Walking out the door this year was quite the shocker with very cool temps and a lot of wind.  That made me nervous! Officials temps around my finish at 9:20 were still just 61 degrees and 13mph winds, but back to the race!

Brrrr...Fall is here!

The swim for the race is an indoor pool swim that is a snake style swim with racers starting every 15 seconds.  I had issues last year during the swim in that I got stuck behind people so I moved up my seed time to 8:55 for the 500yd swim.  I was hopeful that this would move me up in the starting order and also improve the swim experience.  I ended up with bib number 53...woohoo my wait time wouldn't be too long! Of course, just before the race start I had a last minute bathroom freak out.  My race nerves just got a hold of me and I had to make a mad dash for the potty.  With a pool swim you can't really take care of these things like you can in the lake! I hurried back just as my group was moving into the pool area.  It looked like people had seeded themselves pretty well.  There were a couple of clumps but things were moving quickly.  I jumped into the water and tried out a couple flip turns but just wasn't feeling comfy with them.  It took a couple lanes before I had my open turn and glide under the lane working smoothly.  If you haven't done a snake swim before here's how it works...you swim on the left side of the lane and go up and down each lane going under the lane rope and moving down to the next lane after each 50.  Things worked quite smoothly for about 350 yds and then I started to catch up to the guy in front of me.  At one point I hit the wall near another competitor and quickly said something like "Dude, let me go" to him in order to pass him on the wall.  It really is only safe to pass in the middle of the pool since things are so crazy! For the last 3 laps, I was swimming right on the feet on #52.  As I started down the final lane a very strange thing happened.  Another competitor came out of nowhere and started to pass me on the inside of the lane.  Very strange! We ended up hitting the wall seconds after the two competitors in front of us.  Mr. Crazy Rush came off the wall and swam dolphin style under water to pass the three of us.  Totally strange and upsetting for me...if you mis-seeded yourself by that much then deal with it versus screwing up the rest of us.  See the pics below of our blowout match!

On to the bike...after a short run through the hallway and out to transition.  It was a longish run and the blast of cool air was really shocking! At the last minute, I had thrown in a long sleeve shirt and was glad to have that to put on before heading out on the bike.  My transition was a little slow but I think it was due to the long run.  I got started on the bike and quickly noticed that the headwind was going to be brutal.  The course includes a ride to a stretch that you go up/down/up and then head back to the Y.  The two ups and the course was straight into the headwind and it was brutal.  I was pushing but had to ride in a much lower gear than I normally would to be at race pace.  Once I made the turn on the first loop it was like I was in a wind-free heaven! I got passed a little on the bike and managed to catch and pass a couple people too so it was an even match for me!

The dismount and run into transition were funny because I realized my toes were frozen! I took the extra time to change into dry socks because I knew my feet would thank me! I made it to the run out and realized I didn't have my race belt on so I hightailed it back to my spot and grabbed it.  I headed out on the run and saw #55 just ahead of me.  I made him my rabbit and decided to try to catch up to him and use him as a pace buddy.  We talked about the crazy guy on the swim and about other races and stayed together through the 3K mark.  I had a bad side stitch and decided to take a quick walk break so I could get in some good deep breaths.  I got started back up and enjoyed seeing everyone on the run...it is so great to pass along and receive a "good job" and it is one of the reasons I love this sport! One guy said "good job. relax" and it was actually really needed.  I was really stressing about having a side stitch and wanting to be done and needed the reminder to just relax and enjoy the moments.  I knew that with 1K left I was almost done! As with all races, I loved seeing the finish line and making it through another great race.

Heading into the finish line!

My time was 1 minute slower than last year but not bad considering how much more challenging the wind made the bike course.  My performance relative to the total number of women was better on the swim and bike but down on the run.  It was a little disappointing but I was happy to be around the top 26% for women in the race which is a much more competitive and larger metro area than where I live. 

Today I celebrated my birthday and was so happy to find out that I won Anne Marie's big Brooks giveaway for a pair of Brooks shoes and some new running shorts! What a great surprise for my birthday!