Race Report: Dunedin Sprint Triathlon

This past Sunday, June 7th, I participated in the Dunedin Sprint Triathlon.   This race is in its 12th year and has received numerous good reviews.   It has a field of nearly 1,000 so it isn't by ay means a small race.  I put it in my schedule as my first race of the year since I started late with training.  It's odd to have my first race so late. 

The venue is Honeymoon Island, a barrier island and state park just off of the coast of the city of Dunedin.  There is only one causeway onto the island and the park encompasses the entire island.  No hotels, beachside bars or any of the touristy features at other beaches in the area.  

Race organizers made it clear that with one way in, you need to get there early as traffic would back up.  Over 1000 people were trying to get in through a two lane road.  I arrived around 5:30 and had no issues driving right into the park and finding a very close parking spot.  Many didn't take the warning and had to walk over a mile and a half from their car to transition.  It pays to follow directions sometimes. 

I was disappointed to find out at packet pickup that this was not a USAT sanctioned race.  I should have checked that when I registered but most races of this size do get sanctioning.   Regardless, since it really didn't count, I could still use the race as a great training exercise.  I assume most elites and competitive athletes who did this race also were using it as a fun race or training as these result will not count in USAT rankings or for USAT nationals. 

Swim (9:55)

The swim was in the Gulf of Mexico parallel to the shore.  It was a straight line point-to-point quarter mile.  In reality, this looked like a long quarter mile.  There was also a considerable run from the swim exit to transition (probably well over a quarter mile) that was included in the swim time. 

Not mentioned anywhere in race communications were the rocks.  Along the shoreline and extending 10-20 feet into the water was a band of fist-sized rocks that you could barely step on.   Athletes were tip-toeing over these to get past and into the softer sand further out.  It wasn't deep enough to swim over so you had to navigate the rocks to get into position for the swim.   It was an in-water start so you could climb over them slowly before the gun.  However, you had to navigate them at the swim exit.   

I spent about 10 minutes during warmup trying different strategies to get over them on the way out.  Some people were crawling on hands; some floating on their back until they hit shore; some were trying other ways.  I oped to crawl using my hands to push myself forward.  I could float over the rocks better and not put weight down.  

The swim itself was so shallow due to low tide and sand bars and the water was never deeper than waist deep.  I'd say it was 3 and a half to four feet the whole way.  I elected, despite this, to swim the whole thing.  About three-quarters of my wave of near 100 people did not.  Basically, many walked the whole thing.  I only had one or two sections where I hit sand but switched to breaststroke until I could swim front crawl again.  I guess others opted for a wade-bike-run.  

T1

After the lengthy run to transition, I changed to bike mode.  It was crowded in transition as everyone in my wave seemed to be close to each other in rack space.  

Bike (37:43)

The bike was a two-loop out-and-back on closed roads within Honeymoon Island SP.   There was a considerable headwind heading back toward the mainland and we had to navigate the causeway bridge (four times up and over in total) but it was a pretty straight and flat course. The roads had some rough patches but the roads were generally straight and in good shape.  

I started out by taking a gel and drinking my Gatorade.  Navigating the swim and crawling over the rocks took more out of me than I expected.  It was also getting hot.  Since the race didn't start until 7:30, the sun was up and it was already pushing mid-80s at the start of the bike.  I knew this would be a hot one.  I took it moderately during the first lap making sure not to push too hard.  It felt good and I did get into a nice rhythm by the end of lap one.  The field never had the chance to spread out with people doing two laps so it was pretty crowded for the entire bike course.  

Lap two was a different story for me.  I felt good so I put the hammer down on the second lap.   I felt better at the higher speeds and was able to shift to a higher gear and cruise on the way back to transition.   At one point I was crushing down a straightaway sustaining 26mph, which is pretty good for me (not downhill).  The chicane-like twists coming back to transition were a bit tight and stretched for a good distance.  It did succeed in slowing people down who otherwise may have come into dismount pretty hot.  

T2

Nothing eventful here.  Did not try a flying dismount to embarrass myself.  Still under a minute transition.

Run (23:57)

The run was a single loop run but was a mix of pavement and trail (read: beach).   The trail sections were pretty sandy and soft, not the hard pack that typical trails are made of.  It was a pretty trail run and did provide some shaded portions.  

The run was hot.   It was not my best run by far.  I just couldn't get traction nor could I get my legs moving after the bike.  I took on nutrition right at the start because it was hot.  I also carried my water bottle with me.  I typically wouldn't carry the bottle (I hate carrying bottles) but it was too hot not to have water.  This way, I could also pour water over my head to cool off.  I finally felt loose and running well at mile 2.  Too bad the race was almost over.  

Overall (1:11:37)

This is my best sprint time so far.  However, with the highly competitive field, I managed 11th in the AG.  To podium, I would have had to be under an hour.  That's crazy.  The good thing is hanging around here with the fast people will just make me push harder.

I'll probably need to work on running off of the bike.  That much was clear here.  Adding a short run after all of my long bikes might help get the legs going earlier in the run.  After they got going, I felt much better but I spent two thirds of the run struggling to get turnover.  

The race was well attended and well supported.  Post race had a sizable athlete area and a beer truck with local beer on tap.  Transition was cramped with very tight conditions but it wasn't impossible to deal with.  The bike course was very good and only had a few spots of rough pavement.  However, I would not recommend this race simply due to the conditions in the swim.  Given that the rocks seemed like a natural phenomenon, this isn't something the organizers can fix.  The last thing you need is getting cut up or turning an ankle trying to get out of the water.  They may be able to move the bouys to find deeper water but I'm not sure how far out the sandbars go.  With plenty of triathlons in the area, there are much better swim venues, most of which are sanctioned and would count towards USAT rankings (for those that are interested).  I will be exploring Ft DeSoto in July, another very popular venue in the area.