Dewey Beach Race Recap

First of all, I'd like to thank Igor for staying way, way, WAY offshore last weekend.  Some surf forecasts had called for up to 7 foot waves for Saturday.  I guess Mother Nature took pity on those of us who had been put through the ringer in 2009 and gave us something we could deal with instead.  That being said, I think the race organizer (or at least the guy with the starting gun) still had it in for us.  He sent the first wave of racers into the water just as a nice sized wave crashed onto the beach. It looked like the scenes from Braveheart when the two armies clashed.  Except instead of kilts, my brethren were clad in tight fitting triathlon gear or wetsuits.  While some were knocked back, all made it through the initial salvo, past the crashing waves, out to the first buoy and hung a right, where the current took over.  I was not in this first wave, I was in the second set of racers to head out, 4 minutes later, and without a wave crashing over us as we hit the water.

The Dewey Beach race is a short race, half mile swim, 7.2 mile bike, 3.1 mile run.  In 2008, the first year that I participated in this race, I completed the course in about 1:14.  This year, I was hoping to make it in 1:10.  I had done more swimming that I did in 2008 or 2009 and certainly felt better about my run.  But I really hadn't spent that much time on the bike since getting back from Ohio.  I mean, we only had two kids start school, a sister-in-law get married, work, and an ungodly heat wave during the one week I might have gotten in a ride.  So I don't understand why I haven't been riding more.  Anyway, 1:10 was my goal, but I wasn't convinced that I could do it.

The race started simply enough.  I walked as far up the beach and I thought I could without looking like I was lost.  In an ocean swim you have to swim about 100 yards out before you can turn and swim parallel to the beach.  The biggest mistake most first-timers make is assuming that you can start on the beach at the same spot as the buoy that's 100 yards offshore.  This is where the current comes in.  If you've ever swam in the ocean you know that you slowly move in one direction or another depending on the current.  Well, this effect also applies when you swim and has caused more than a few first timers to turn around, go back to shore, walk up the beach and start their swim over after repeated futile efforts to swim directly into the current to get around the buoy.  Others just give up.  Not wanting to suffer that fate myself, I always seem to err on the side of caution and start as far up the beach as I can without seeming out of place.  This strategy paid off again this year as I easily rounded the first buoy, navigated my way past the midway buoy and happily found the buoy that indicated the turn for home.  If you remember my last post, this buoy didn't exist last year because it was washed/blown away.  I managed to dodge a few breakers and found myself on the beach about 16 minutes after I had started.  Just a quick walk/run over the sand dune and then to find my bike.

There are over 1,000 people who participate in the Dewey Beach Triathlon every year.  This makes for the largest transition area of any of the races that I take part in.  Most transition areas have one side for coming in (either from the swim or the bike) and one side for going out (either for the bike or the run).  Due to the size and layout of this race, bike in/out is in the same place and run in/out is in another place.  I was well positioned for the run in/out, but that meant jogging through the entire transition area in cycling shoes with my bike....twice.  Not to mention being almost as far as you can get from the swim entrance.  But I found my bike, managed not to slip on the pavement in my cycling shoes, and took off.  And I mean took off!  I was averaging about 22-24 mph on the way out.  I was flying.  In my first race at Dewey I remember feeling the same way and thinking "I'm going to crush this bike ride!"  Fortunately, I remembered the hard earned lesson from that first race.  Going out fast on the bike only means that you're riding a tailwind, which, when you make the 180 degree turnaround, turns into a headwind.  22-24 mph out turned into about 16-18 mph coming back in.  Still, it was a good, but not great bike ride.  Back into transition with the bike, back to the back of the transition area without slipping in my cycling shoes and it was time to run.  45 minutes into the race.  I'd have to do a 25 minute 5k to make 1:10.  I haven't run a 25 minute 5k in a long time, much less after swimming and biking, but I decided that I'd go as hard as I could for as long as I could and trust my training.

It should be noted that I can't seem to do a triathlon without feeling like I have to pee from the start.  I've tried going before the race, but it doesn't seem to change anything.  Apparently I just hydrate well precarb loading" for the next one (see the pic above).