Denison Dash Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I was in the last wave so at least I wouldn't have to worry about getting in the way of faster swimmers in other waves. Placed myself on the left side of the pack and tried to grin and bare it when the horn went off. The girl in front of me would swim freestyle of a minute, then freak out and roll onto her back. I'd try to go around her but she'd roll back over and begin slapping and kicking me again. This happened twice before the first turn. I took the turn extra wide to finally get away from her. This is the point where I realized that if I kept my right arm bent then there was much less pain. So this became my strategy for the rest of the swim and I picked up my pace. It worked well for a minute before I realized that I was off course. I corrected my heading and started again. A minute later I was off course again. Apparently this is one of the effects of only extending one arm in the water. Rounded the last bouy and used the shore as my guide. Had to correct my approach twice more before I reached the dock. I could tell people were walking beside me, but I knew the sand underneath us was VERY soft and trying to stand up and run too early would get you nowhere. So I swam until my arm hit the ground and then I was up and running.

Not try to race with an injured shoulder, or figure out how to swim painfree much earlier.

By this time I didn't even remember that my thigh was bruised. I knew which rack was mine but as I looked at the numbers I thought I had passed it for some reason. I was right the first time and this mistake cost me a few seconds. I also had problems getting my socks on (that shoulder thing again) but otherwise it was a good transition.

Never second guess which rack my bike is on. I must have counted those racks 10 times and I knew that mine was the 6th rack.

I had some trouble getting my right shoe clipped in, but once I got it I was off and flying! I hit just over 38MPH on the first down hill leaving the park. I was passing people constantly. On the down hills, the flats and especially the up hills. This was a slaughter! I finished the swim near the back of the last wave, so there were plenty of people ahead for me to hunt down. And I enjoyed every second of it. I even made sure to compliment the people with nicer bikes and wheelsets than me on how sweet their rides were as I blew past them (I never got passed today). A good quality bike is important, but it's the engine which powers it that counts. I did a very good job of choosing which gear to use to attack each hill as they came (only needed to get out of the saddle twice). About midway through the bike leg I realized that I hadn't passed anyone from my age group in the last 10 minutes. Just then, while going up the longest hill of the day, I passed a 20 year old guy. He was hauling pretty good as well so I knew that he must have been the last of my competition and that I'd have to put some distance between us if I didn't want to see him again on the run. I got caught up behind two other cyclists at the bottom of that same hill as we went around a narrow turn. I quickly passed them once we went under the freeway and into the next hill. I made sure to drink CytoMax every 5 to 10 minutes or so and felt good the whole time so I never got around to taking the Hammer Gel I had with me. I never stopped pedaling except for one long, steep, FAST and curvy down hill. Finally came up the last hill and got out of my shoes. There was a large bump going from the street into the driveway where the tansition and dismount line were. I decided to hop off my bike a few feet early so I could run with my bike over the bump and avoid any kind of mishap. I found out after the race that a girl was balancing on one pedal as she hit the bump and wiped out. As I ran full speed into transition I could hear Jack (the race director) yelling, "Great job Aaron!" so I knew that I had a good ride and was at the front of my AG.

Looking at the results for the bike leg afterwards: I won my age group by 3 minutes and was 10th overall!!! Can't get much better than that.

Learn to clip my shoes onto my pedals beforehand and get into them once I'm up to speed.

I should have left my unused gel behind but that's a minor detail. I've got racking my bike (both going out and coming back in) down to an artform. I've even learned to put Body Glide on the ends of my flag pole so that I can put it together while I'm running.

Glancing over the overall results: it looks like my T2 was 5th best.

Not much more to improve here.

I started out on the run faster than I should have (just like always) but this time I was determined to hold my pace the entire run. There was an older guy ahead of me who was obviously a better runner. So I used him as my mark even though I knew it would be a struggle to keep up with him. The trail started to get tough (aka: FUN!) once we got past the treeline after the initial clearing. Most of the trial was sand and wound back and forth through the trees. You had to pay very close attention to where you stepped on account of all the exposed tree roots. There were several good hills that I had a blast sprinting up and down. I caught up to Steve (he started 3 swim waves ahead of me) just before the first mile marker and made sure to ask him, "You do realize that there's a race going on today?" as I passed him. Got a good boost of energy from him as he told me that there wasn't anyone in their 20s ahead of him. There was a 16 year old, but I was winning my age group. Hit the aid station at the one mile marker at 8:00 flat and expertly drank the entire cup of water while going full speed. We made our way around the lake through the short grass as the crowed cheered us on and we started our second lap. I could start to feel my legs wanting to slow but I knew I only had to hold on a little longer. My mark started to pull away from me as we entered woods again and I knew I'd bonk if I tried to stay with him for another lap. So I just focused on where I was stepping and pushed as hard as I could without losing it. The trail was starting to get crowded now that the slower cyclists were getting off their bikes and on to the run. This was the first time I've ever had to yell, "On your left!" during a run. Everyone was good about it and tried to stay out of the way of the faster runners. Hit mile 2 and I knew I couldn't keep going like this for long, but there also wasn't much left. Then as we hit the last bridge before the final clearing I got passed by the 20 year old guy who I passed up on the bike. "Son of a b!tch, you caught me!", I yelled. He (Tyler) waved for me to keep up and said, "Let's go!". I did what I could but he was a much stronger runner and he was pulling away once I hit the last aid station. So I put what attack together I could, but it was too little too late. I crossed the finish line exactly a minute behind him and he was there waiting to congratulate me. We introduced ourselves and talked about how much we each had surprised ourselves and each other.

I was able to hold a hair under an 8:00/mile pace the entire way. 39th overall on the run came as a shocker to me. Another great run.

This was about as good of a run as I could do. Carrying the flag through the woods was a little ackward since I couldn't rest it on my shoulder as usual, but I'm not complaining. I got beat. That's it. But I was beat by a really good runner.

Finished talking to Tyler and then I walked along the end of the course until I saw Steve and jogged to meet him at the finish. We congratulated each other and then I needed to find the drinks and food. Felt a little dizzy at first so I knew I had pushed myself just to the brink of exploding. Peferct! Had two cups of Gatorade, some water and a banana. I went back to walking the course in reverse to cheer on everyone else. I ran into Chris who I had met at the TCU pool before Tri the Rock (his first tri). We sat and talked about how we did and bikes and all that good stuff tri-geeks talk about. Finally the results were posted and we went to check them out. As soon as the first page was taped up Chris said, "There you are! 21st!". I couldn't believe it! I knew I had 2nd in my AG but I didn't realize that I did that good overall. This was by far my best overall finish ever. If I wouln't have hurt my shoulder and instead put up my usual time on the swim; then I'd be looking at 15th overall. But that was only wishfull thinking today. I put my flag, race belt, etc. away in my transition bag and found a place to stretch. Talked with a few strangers here and there as we watched the last few people trickle in and waited for the awards ceremony.


Injuries.


Definitely one of the best races Ironhead puts on. The bike course is hilly but not daunting and the run trail is tough but SOOOO much fun! It's a really good course. Not one to be missed.