Ironhead Dallas Triathlon-1500 Meter Swim - 42 Km Bike - 10 Km Run
Up at 4:30 for the 5:30 arrival time. God, I wanted to crawl back in bed. Knowing Kent felt the same way kinda helped. Misery loves company …..
We packed the car and headed down the road to the nearest 7-11 for our much needed pick-me-up cup of coffee. We arrived at the race in plenty of time an ahead of the crowds. They parked us in the middle of a incredibly wet field, due to all the rains, that was full of hungry mosquitoes. Thank God I brought the Off. We hiked the half mile to transition where we squeezed our bikes in, sardine style, on the racks. I have to stop and comment here, I’m a short person and everytime I have done a Ironhead Productions race, they use these incredibly high racks that cause my bike to swing. During the Woolman, in San Angelo, Tx, also put on by IRP, my bike swung into the bike next to it which pushed my break into the rim of my wheel. I didn’t discover this till I had gone about 10 miles on the bike. Ugh.
Back to the race.
Kent and I had set up our bikes, walked back and forth to the car about 3 times, finally decided we had everything and set off for the 7am race meeting.
Now, if you have never participated in an Ironhead Production race you should know that you MUST attend the race meeting. Also, you must follow every rule, to a “T” or else face Jack Weiss’s wrath. He will call you out and not hesitate to kick you out of his race.
A friend of mine calls him General Anus.
After the race meeting, we promptly entered the water for a 7:15 am start. The swim was slow. I’m not sure how everyone else felt, but I think it was about the slowest 1500 meter swim I have ever done. It was one big loop. Nothing wrong there. The water was warm, about 80 degrees so no wetsuits allowed. The buoys were large and easy to see and the water wasn’t too choppy so not sure why my time totally sucked. Kent’s was ok but he hasn’t swam in 3 months so he has an excuse for a "not so grandiose" time.
Out of the swim, up the boat ramp and on to the bike. Out of the transistion in a not so swift time, wasted some moments fiddling with my powertap, which decided to quit working for the race, and on to the wonderfully flat 26.2 mile bike course. It was two loops of just about as flat as you can find road. There were a few potholes and tar bumps and the bridges had those weird grooves in them that make you think someone with a really large rake went over it, but other than that, the road was flat and smooth, ie. non-chip seal!
After the second loop and the one mile trek back to the transition area, I tried my new trick of pulling off my shoes but leaving them clipped in. Kent had caught up with me by this point. He started in the wave behind me so had already made up the four minute difference. He cheered on my shoeless dismount effort. Into the transition, racked my bike, off with the helmet, shoes and on with the cap and running shoes. Here there was a bit of a glitch. I had some how gotten the free sample of body glide shoved up into the toe of my shoe. It took at least 20 secs to dislodge it. All the while, Kent is waiting for me so we can run out of transistion together. What a sweetie.
Finally running shoes on and off we go. There is a water stop right outside of the bike transition area. Kent grabs the first and second cups of water that I go for. So, no water for me. If he had been any other participant I would have kicked him. But, because he’s my boyfriend, I just called him a goober and laughed about it.
The run was flat (yay) but hot (boo). IRP, knowing this was a sinister heat, had tons of water stations out on the course, for us. I used most of my water to pour on my head in hopes of cooling me off and bringing my heart rate down a notch. The run took you through about 2 miles of picnic area, on the road, and then up on to a dam that had not a sliver of shade. Once I reached the dam, I had finished "riding the highs" and had entered the “managing the lows” stage. Two miles on the dam, out and back, then back off the dam for 2.2 miles home. I have never been so happy to see a mile 6 marker.
Thank goodness for Kent and our friend Tricia (who totally kicked ass), otherwise there would have been no one there to cheer me over the line. There were few spectators on the course.
Highlights of the race- they had Smart Water at the finish. Kent handed me two Smart Waters and we headed off to the lake for a quick cooling off and then over to the refreshment tent for bananas and pizza. Afterwards, Kent bought Tricia and I smoothies. (He rocks!) I had the banana HIGH protein. YUMMY.
We hung around for the award ceremony. I pulled out a 3rd place finish, in my age group and Kent got 4th. Yay Hardware!
We packed the car and headed down the road to the nearest 7-11 for our much needed pick-me-up cup of coffee. We arrived at the race in plenty of time an ahead of the crowds. They parked us in the middle of a incredibly wet field, due to all the rains, that was full of hungry mosquitoes. Thank God I brought the Off. We hiked the half mile to transition where we squeezed our bikes in, sardine style, on the racks. I have to stop and comment here, I’m a short person and everytime I have done a Ironhead Productions race, they use these incredibly high racks that cause my bike to swing. During the Woolman, in San Angelo, Tx, also put on by IRP, my bike swung into the bike next to it which pushed my break into the rim of my wheel. I didn’t discover this till I had gone about 10 miles on the bike. Ugh.
Back to the race.
Kent and I had set up our bikes, walked back and forth to the car about 3 times, finally decided we had everything and set off for the 7am race meeting.
Now, if you have never participated in an Ironhead Production race you should know that you MUST attend the race meeting. Also, you must follow every rule, to a “T” or else face Jack Weiss’s wrath. He will call you out and not hesitate to kick you out of his race.
A friend of mine calls him General Anus.
After the race meeting, we promptly entered the water for a 7:15 am start. The swim was slow. I’m not sure how everyone else felt, but I think it was about the slowest 1500 meter swim I have ever done. It was one big loop. Nothing wrong there. The water was warm, about 80 degrees so no wetsuits allowed. The buoys were large and easy to see and the water wasn’t too choppy so not sure why my time totally sucked. Kent’s was ok but he hasn’t swam in 3 months so he has an excuse for a "not so grandiose" time.
Out of the swim, up the boat ramp and on to the bike. Out of the transistion in a not so swift time, wasted some moments fiddling with my powertap, which decided to quit working for the race, and on to the wonderfully flat 26.2 mile bike course. It was two loops of just about as flat as you can find road. There were a few potholes and tar bumps and the bridges had those weird grooves in them that make you think someone with a really large rake went over it, but other than that, the road was flat and smooth, ie. non-chip seal!
After the second loop and the one mile trek back to the transition area, I tried my new trick of pulling off my shoes but leaving them clipped in. Kent had caught up with me by this point. He started in the wave behind me so had already made up the four minute difference. He cheered on my shoeless dismount effort. Into the transition, racked my bike, off with the helmet, shoes and on with the cap and running shoes. Here there was a bit of a glitch. I had some how gotten the free sample of body glide shoved up into the toe of my shoe. It took at least 20 secs to dislodge it. All the while, Kent is waiting for me so we can run out of transistion together. What a sweetie.
Finally running shoes on and off we go. There is a water stop right outside of the bike transition area. Kent grabs the first and second cups of water that I go for. So, no water for me. If he had been any other participant I would have kicked him. But, because he’s my boyfriend, I just called him a goober and laughed about it.
The run was flat (yay) but hot (boo). IRP, knowing this was a sinister heat, had tons of water stations out on the course, for us. I used most of my water to pour on my head in hopes of cooling me off and bringing my heart rate down a notch. The run took you through about 2 miles of picnic area, on the road, and then up on to a dam that had not a sliver of shade. Once I reached the dam, I had finished "riding the highs" and had entered the “managing the lows” stage. Two miles on the dam, out and back, then back off the dam for 2.2 miles home. I have never been so happy to see a mile 6 marker.
Thank goodness for Kent and our friend Tricia (who totally kicked ass), otherwise there would have been no one there to cheer me over the line. There were few spectators on the course.
Highlights of the race- they had Smart Water at the finish. Kent handed me two Smart Waters and we headed off to the lake for a quick cooling off and then over to the refreshment tent for bananas and pizza. Afterwards, Kent bought Tricia and I smoothies. (He rocks!) I had the banana HIGH protein. YUMMY.
We hung around for the award ceremony. I pulled out a 3rd place finish, in my age group and Kent got 4th. Yay Hardware!
posted by Marlawanda at 9:20 AM
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