Took it out pretty easy. Forced myself to stay in Zone 3.

They were supposed to start the Sprint 30 minutes after us, but it was more like 10 minutes, because I had to wade through lots of Sprint athletes. Very crowded.

Not much, I paced myself ok and didn't blow myself up like I was afraid of. Legs felt pretty good to start the bike leg.

I don't give a flip about transitions. Enough said.

Care?

Way crowded from the start. There were still people running on the right side of the road, so we rode on the left. That, then, begs the question, do you pass on the right or left if you are on the opposite side of the road? Apparently everyone else had the same question, as it was basically a free for all from transition to the park exit.

Once out of the park, it was still very crowded. The early wave Sprinters were out on the course as well as the Oly. Good news was that it gave me some motivation to pass people up, but it was still very crowded. Felt great on the way out. Lots of hills, but I was able to spin up them pretty easily.

Hit the turnaround and there was a slight headwind. Really started to watch my cadence at during this stage, keeping it between 85 and 105. Kept playing with some guy on a Cannondale. I would spin up the hills and pass him, then he would pass me going down them. Then we came to the Oly turnoff and he went straight as I turned left. Oh well. So long friend.

That's when the course got nasty. We turned off onto some random county road. I knew it was a bad sign when all I could see was loose gravel as I turned off. For the next few miles (seemed like 100 miles), it was nothing but dodging potholes, bumps, gravel. Worst stretch of road I've ridden on. At least they were well marked. Still, I was almost ready to DNF. My shoulders and elbows were killing me.

Finally we got out on the main road again and I started feeling better. Laughed to a guy as I passed him that we should turn around and ride that stretch again.

Then it was back to the park road again and back to transition. Glad that was over.

Nutrition: Aerobottle with 1 serving of Inifinit, 20oz Polar bottle, 1 Powergel at mile 20.

I rode a pretty smart race. I pushed without killing myself, and I was able to joke about the rough parts.

Meh.

Meh.

I'll divide this part up into 2 sections: My race, and the race course.

As for my race, it's amazing what happens when you use your HRM. I ran the first 2 miles as slow as my legs would let me, even starting to walk when I got into Z4. Walked the aid stations and did 2 cups of water at each. Had a gel with me, but didn't use it. Felt like I would cramp up with any more calories.

The first 2 miles went by fine, then I opened it up a little bit on mile 3. It was hot! I really started passing people at this point. Met Aaron, David (Barron), and David (Gillen) on their way back. Hit the turnaround feeling ok. Drank a cup of water and poured another over my head. Wanted to drop the hammer here, but I held back a little bit. Still had 3 miles to go. Easy there. Met Steve on his way out onto the road and made some kind of comment. I don't even remember what I said. Either something about the heat or the bike course. I dunno.

Did my usual motivation trick, trying to pass double digits on the way back. There weren't that many people in front of me apparently, so that was tough. Once I got back into the park and caught up with the Sprint folks, it was easy to go. Think the final tally was 27, but most of those were Sprint folks. I figure 12 of them were Oly athletes.

Once I hit the trails again I was flying. Another drink of water, another water shower, and I was ready to go. Didn't even look at my HR number, just did a few distance checks. I was feeling great and was reeling folks in like crazy. Saw Steve (Webster) and Marcy on their way out. Then I caught David (Gillen) with about 3/4 of a mile to go. We had a few words and then I kept going.

Finally hit the finish line. Felt like I could have kept going, but was glad it was done. My socks were drenched.

Now, the race course. This course was confusing. Once on the trail, there was a left turn at an aid station that was basically a 1/4 mile out and back, then back to the aid station again and take a left. But people were coming from all different directions so it was hard to tell what was going on. This intersection was even worse on the way back. They were telling us to go "straight" here, but from the angle I was coming from, straight was not straight. I had to slow down and try to figure out which way they were pointing.

Next, they were telling us to run on the left side of the trail, which is completely opposite of how any normal runner would run. It's always stay right, pass left. Silly planning.

Next, at one point in the race, here's what I saw - On a 2 lane park road there was 2 way running traffic in the left lane, people still coming in from the bike course in the right lane, and then vehicles driving (not too slowly either) in the middle of the road. That's not safe.

Finally, the aid stations. You have to be kidding me. There was the mindjob aid station that you passed twice in the first mile, then one at the 5K turnaround. After that, there was nothing from the 5K to the 10K turnaround. And you only passed it once. So you have a 1.5 mile stretch with no shade and no water. Then you only pass the station once rather than twice. Then it's another 1.5 miles of hot before more water. More poor planning.

Nothing. I executed my race plan perfectly. Rather than going out early and dying at the end, I started slow and got faster and faster.

Water, watermelon, some of the nasty vitamin water crap that DA gives out at their races, and more watermelon.

Declined the nachos. Who the heck would want nachos after a race? Gross.

After walking around and changing into sandals, grabbed a slice or two of pizza.


Socks. I don't ride in socks normally, but I didn't feel like taking them off after a 2 mile run only to put them back on for the "real" run. So of course my socks and shoes were drenched. Luckily I didn't prune.

Otherwsie, the rough section of the bike course and the totally jacked up run course.


What can I say that hasn't been said? Yes, it's not DA's fault that the swim was cancelled, but I am just underwhelmed with this race and DA in general.

Unannounced cancellation of the HIM race
Poor communication about the race in general
DA's continued crappy shirts and swag
Race website mentioned finisher's medals but none were seen
Insufficient number of portajohns for the number of racers
Terrible conditions on the bike course
Ridiculous run course
Overall lack of detail on race traffic flow, safety and timing of the event.

I'm done with Dallas Athletes events.