Ironhead Dallas Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Mass start with a huge AG in the water. The gals and guys started together. Hate that.

I started strong, but a bit off course. I finally got it together and got back on course. Pretty uneventful swim. I never got globbered and I didn't push anyone out of the way. When I was swimming back to shore, I hit the bouys perfectly. Sighting was perfect.

I felt strong and smooth in the water. The swim seemed LONG... very LONG!

When I exited the water I checked my watch and my time was over what I had anticipated. I had hoped to get below 2:00 per 100, and that is typically very achieveable for me. As you can see, I went slower than that.

So, horrible swim. I'm disappointed in my performance here. I can't believe I was so slow!

I got out of the water... and WOAH! Not dizzy, just tired. I had felt the swim. Lesson learned. I can't skip on my swim workouts anymore... must do 2 times a week for the HIM coming up in October.

My time sucked, but I didn't have a bad swim. I felt good in the water and my sighting was spot on. Not sure what I could have done differently to improve my time. Maybe swim 2 times a week like my coach tells me to?

I'm surprised my T1 wasn't slower. Seriously. It was like I geeked out in T1 and didn't know what to do first. I put my hair in a ponytail, then tried to put on the helmet. Nope, wouldn't fit. Helmet off, hair down. Then the Camelbak went on... shoes all that stuff. Honestly, I mostly looked at my pile and wondered, "what next". It was like information overload.

Get focused and not wonder "what next".

Per my coach I needed to start out easy and take the first 1/2 easy while pushing the last half.

This bike was dismal. My legs were feeling tired and I was always shifting trying to find the perfect cadence. I wasn't in the big ring a lot, and that is odd for me.

I think I got kind of bored out there. I would pedal and then just feel like coasting. I would have to remind myself to pedal again and I would get back on it. There were moments of speed and sprinting and moments of "I'm tired".

The slight inclines kind of got to me (there was like 2 of them) and I wasn't powering my way up. Not like me at all.

I pretty much got passed by everyone. Typical, since I come out of the water relatively fast. I think I passed 2 people on the bike. Not the performance I saw on this course back in June.

Per my coach I was to take in a gel at 5 miles and at 10. Done and done. Although, MESSY and hard to multi-task eating a gel and riding at the same time. Everytime it went to eat on the gel my speed went down. Too bad my stomach can't do the shot blocks anymore, because they are so much easier on the bike.

The bike was finally over and I was really happy to be getting off the bike.





Not sure. Maybe get more focused on going fast. My focus just wasn't out there today. I know I can do better, I do it at WRL all the time. It wasn't like I was exhausted, I just didn't care to go any faster.

Ah, yea, not sure how this one was longer than the first one. Seriously. Although I did sit down and dry off my feet before putting on socks.

So we were told beforehand the run was going to be brutal. Yes, it was.

The first 2 miles were somewhat shaded, but my lower legs were screaming. Both legs tightened up and it hurt to run. Ok, fine, I run through this pain all the time. I then stopped before mile 2 for a bathroom break, that was a good minute. Back I went on the course, more walking thanks to my lower legs. I hit mile 2 with a 12 minute mile average. Good.

Mile 2-3, I did not hit my target of a 12 minute mile. Oh well.

After mile 3... it's a blur really. It was hot, and then we had to cross the DAM. We go up a hill and then on the dam... it's flat and hot. Luckily I found a run/walk buddy (Grady) and we chatted it up. If it hadn't been for him chatting with me, the dam would have been absolutely miserable.

Finally got to the turn around and then off the dam. I had about 2 miles to go. Yep, lots of walking. At the aid stations (which were appropriately placed) I would drink and pour ice cold water on my neck. AAAAHHHH. That felt good.

Then... along came the finish line. I was so happy it was over! YES! I made sure to run where the spectors were. I also made sure my race number was in front so he could call out my name. HA! It was simple though, "Here comes Karen Hicks".


Uuuuuhhhhh... not walk so damn much. I think I got it in my head that I was going to be walking a lot on this run, so I did. Didn't help either that so many other people were walking. It made me feel OK with walking. I should have done at least a 12 minute mile, even with the walking.

Finished. Grabbed some water. Ate some pizza. Talked with BTers... Aaron, Ashley, Sean and Tommy.


Ironhead always put on a quality race. Great volunteers (so many of them!), perfectly placed aid stations, and even a water bottle hand off on the bike. Very nice! The pizza at the end is always a winner too!