Ironhead Dallas Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I rated this swim 'below average' because of the slow pace. I'm not sure why I was so slow. Maybe the course was long (even though Jack insisted the course had been GPS'd). It was a good swim in the sense that I felt comfortable swimming. Navigation was decent. I did pull to the right some. After the first turn bouy, I started catching some of the slow swimmers in the previous waves. Getting around these swimmers cost me some time. My AHR was 156 which is quite high so I was working hard. Just wasn't fast.

Not sure. I know I need more open water swim practice.

Good transition. I didn't have my shoes clipped onto the bike. I put them on in transition and ran. After my BSLT experience with torn up feet I was a bit leary of trying the shoes on the bike again.

Nothing.

My plan was to gradually raise my HR to LTHR (166) by the half way point of the bike ride. The first couple of miles I concentrated on getting my HR and breathing under control and transitioning my legs to the bike ride. This worked well and after a couple miles I was ready to ride. I kept an eye on my HR and increased the effort to just below LTHR. An average of 156 (just into z4) means I did a pretty good job of staying just under LTHR. My average cadence was 93; a good number. I kept the cadence high even on the small rises on the course.

I was consistently passing people and was passed by several of the really fast guys.

The ride really was pretty uneventful. I just maintained focus and rode.

The only issue was my spare tubular. I hadn't taped it up well enough and it was dangling over my rear wheel. I could see it's shadow. I prayed it wouldn't fall off. You might ask why bring a spare on a short race like this. I figured if I got a flat changing it under race conditions would be good practice.

Nothing. Other than train specifically for this distance.

I did the 'feet out of the shoes flying dismount'. Worked well. Ran to the rack. Socks on, shoes on. Off running.

Nothing.

I headed out on the run and got my legs under me quickly. I think my high cadence on the bike helped with my quick transition to the run. At the first mile I checked my pace and HR. On track. Time to gradually kick it up. At mile 4 I felt a slap on the back. It was Aaron. I knew he would be coming up behind me at some point either on the bike or the run (he started in the swim wave behind me). I made a big mistake here - I tried to talk. The conversation went something like this: "Hey there you are. I was wondering when you would fly by me. Looking good Aaron". That was way too many words. My diaphragm immediately started to cramp. I had to slow down on mile 4 and work out the cramp. Also took an espresso GU here. Then continued running. I saw Karen at some point on the course. She was running well. By the time I reached the finish I was pretty well spent. Overall a good run.

Don't try to talk when I'm running full out. Train for this distance. I probably could have brought my HR up to LTHR sooner. That kind of decision comes with race experience.

Walked around. Walked back to my tranisition area and got my bottle of Recoverite. Drank that. Then went to find the food.

I have volunteered to be a USA Triathlon Ambassador. The USAT rep trained several of us this weekend. We had a table we had to 'work' at the race as part of our training. So I did that after cooling down. Then talked to Aaron and Karen for a while. And petted Shiner on his head.


Not training for this distance. Did not taper.


This was a very good race, well organized and safe. Jack puts on some excellent races.