Race Report: Tri Santa Cruz (Dip and Dash)

Posted by Katie

Half Ironman training has been going pretty well... I must admit that I like it more than I thought I would. Some weeks are better than others of course but for the most part it has been going really well as far as hitting the distance (well okay I have definitely cheated the running) and not getting injured (check). The week leading up to this race however was pretty dismal so I was not feeling super confident about our planned olympic distance "Dip and Dash".

My motivation for signing us up (and peer pressuring Matt, which for the record in endurance events is easy) was to conquer my fear of the swim. My first (and only other) triathalon was a sprint and I spent ~60% of the swim doing the doggy paddle and/or freaking out. I knew I had to address this or 1.2 miles would be just about impossible. We had originally talked about doing the Tri Santa Cruz Olympic Tri instead of just the Dip and Dash but we decided against it for two reasons.... 1) cost: the tri is $130 and the dip and dash only $65 so take out one event and you cut the cost in half and 2) the bike course: the olympic distance is four loops... FOUR loops?! it just sounded a little monotonous to be honest... Dip and Dash, it was.

Yup that's right my bib number was 666...made for a lot of funny comments

 Matt and I like to joke that we never really look like we know what we are doing... mismatched clothing.. the wrong gear, etc. Below is a picture of Matt demonstrating the "gaper" look by hydrating with an iced coffee while everyone else is getting ready and going towards the beach.

Matt nailing the "gaper" look

 

We were able to get to Santa Cruz and check in that morning which was nice, and because our wave started last (at 9am) we only had to make it to registration before it closed at 7:30 which left plenty of time for coffee drinking. Soon though it was time to make our way to the beach and get serious. We got in the water to warm up a little and practice getting in and out, everything I've read talks about dolphin diving...run in, dive when it gets just deep enough, stand up, run, dive again. I'm sure this is a solid technique but since neither Matt or I had ever done it we decided today was probably not the day to start. Matt's technique, which I think works great for us tall people, is to run and whip your legs to the side above the water. Two benefits that I can see right away.. 1) more efficient than dragging your whole leg through the water and 2) creates space around you because who wants to run right next to the crazy person with flailing limbs?! Also as soon as we got out of the water from our warmup a SEA LION popped it's head up right where we had been swimming and barked (?) super loudly. I'd like to think he was cheering on the swimmers.

Photo Credit: Finish Line Productions

The Swim:
Aquathon (aka Dip and Dash) sprint and olympic distances all start together probably 30 people total. The sprint distance does one loop and exits, while the olympic gets out of the water, runs around a buoy on shore and gets back in for another loop. That meant we had to do the crazy leg kick jump technique twice. Good times. Also I am sort of afraid of waves crushing me as I try to get into the water but luckily both times the waves were pretty small so it wasn't a huge deal. From the start to the first buoy I could just not get it together, super panicked. Had my heart rate monitor been working I'm sure it would have registered 200 beats per minute. I basically just did the breast stroke with a few crawl strokes mixed in here and there. Once around the first turn I felt better and started swimming a bit more and picked out a group ahead of me to try and stay with. As we turned toward the beach I realized all the people I was staying with were getting out (Sprint distance) and only one lady a little ahead of me was looping around the buoy for the olympic (great). The second lap started off MUCH better. I caught up with the lady in front of me and stayed with her for a while then eventually passed. I was super thankful to just be done with the swim. Certainly not as good as I had hoped given how much I have been swimming.

The Run:
Running out of the water and to the transition area (0.3mi) felt sluggish, but once I got out of the wetsuit and into sneakers the run felt great! Running was like an old familiar friend, definitely more comfortable for me than swimming. The run course is flat out and back along the bluffs and there was lots of cloud cover so basically ideal running conditions. Because of the staggered wave starts I got to run with get run over by all the super fast guys (and gals) from the olympic distance tri. Matt did awesome on the run and earned himself a 10K PR. Clearly he has more room to PR there. I was also pleasantly surprised to finish the 10K in 55:47 which is only 27 seconds off my 10K PR.

Lessons Learned:
1) I swallow a ton of water when I swim. My new hydration plan for Tahoe is to not drink anything before the swim and just realize that I will drink ~half of the lake. I didn't take any water on the run  this time because I was already too hydrated and would have had to stop if I did (and I didn't notice any porto-potties on the course so that wasn't even an option).  I wonder if this is normal or if my swim/breathing technique is just a mess... probably the latter.
2) Don't forget to GU. Before the start of the swim I was planning to take a honey stinger gel because my bagel breakfast had been 3 hours prior at that point. Also right before the swim I wanted to use the bathroom one more time, so while standing in line I put my spare gu in my sports bra so I wouldn't have to try to hang onto it in the bathroom. Two hours later when I changed I found that gu, still in tact, and right where I had left it... whoops.

At the end of the race there was pizza (yay!) but after 1 slice we decided to change and seek out some brunch type food. It was 11:29am and they had announced that awards would start at 11:30, we considered sticking around but it seemed like they were having trouble with the computers so results might take a while. We strolled down to the boardwalk and ate at the Ideal Cafe. Fitting name because it really was the ideal spot, not too far, outdoor seating, and brunch/lunch options.

Keep Calm and Drink Coffee... my life mantra.

 After a great brunch we strolled back past the finish area on route to the car and were surprised to see that awards were only partway through. We soon also realized that they hadn't done the Dip and Dash yet and were giving out awards 3 deep in 5 year age categories and decided to stick around just in case.

2nd!

1st!

 It ended up being sort of a painfully long wait... I had flashbacks of the Mermaid 5K waiting hours for poor Sandi to get a hat. The Dip and Dash Olympic category was somehow skipped and ended up being the absolute last awards and literally everyone had left except ~6 of us. Sort of a bummer that the awards must have taken a long time to get started or just dragged on for a long time (now 1:30pm at that point) but I am glad we stayed to receive our awards! Matt first in his age group, and me second in mine. We got these sweet glasses and a discount coupon for a future race, sweeeeet! All in all a really fun day!

Age group award glasses and cookies from SC!