Definitely not like an episode of Baywatch

This morning, we headed over to Tower One in Dewey for the Dewey Beach Sprint Triathlon. I was doing the swim and bike leg, while my neighbor Jenna was doing the run.

We piled into the car at 6am and as promised by the race director --- my rack was there! Bonus that it was right by the swim and bike out and I got an end spot on the rail.

After finding the neighborhood competitors, I headed down to the beach to check out the conditions. I was a bit anxious because the local surf report said that the chance of rip currents would be high in the morning and that waves would be in the 4-6 foot range.

The water did look rougher today vs yesterday, but the good news was that it was a beautiful day and the water was actually warm!

THE SWIM [Still waiting for the official times, but when I looked at my watch it was around 14 minutes]

An hour before the race the director confirmed that we would swim south down the beach to take advantage of the current and sent the beefy lifeguards out to set up the THREE buoys that would mark the entire course.

All the competitors walked a half mile down the beach to the starting line and congregated by swim cap color. At that moment the waves started really pounding onto the beach. Yikes!

The course included: a beach start, 200 meter swim out to the first buoy, a swim parallel to the beach, a 200 meter swim into shore and then a run up the beach and over the dunes.

Within minutes the first group of dudes were lining up on the beach and jumping in! There was an incredible energy as the first group ran into the surf and dove through the waves.

It was a great advantage to see how folks attacked the course. You start in the sand, run into the surf, get out hip deep, dive under the waves and start cutting through the surf

I saw a number of people struggle to get out past the surf --- getting pounded by waves or trying to go over vs under the waves. A few folks were pulled out by the lifeguards who were positioned in the surf and on surf skis just past the surf line. I just have to thank my dad for all those years teaching us to swim, body-surf and be comfortable in big surf.

Before I had time to think too hard about all the waves and currents, my group of dudes and chicks was up and waiting for our start. Now, remember the tall dude to my right. Him and I have an interesting encounter later in this story. Separately, Mark confirmed that Mr. Royal Blue Speedo biked and ran in that outfit. That's hot.

I took the advice Mark heard from a co-worker who also was racing and lined up close to the buoy with the plan of pushing myself into the mix and cutting the turn as close as possible. I noticed that most people were starting out wide with the plan to have the current push them toward the buoy.

Within three minutes, I was running and diving through the surf. Kowabunga! The bad news is that a tall super-fit guy in front of me (remember the tall guy I pointed out in the pix above???) kicked me hard in the lip within the first 200 meters. The good news is that I beat that bastard out of the water and into transition. It also was quite a rush to roll over the waves and swim with all the unseen ocean critters!
Overall, I had a great swim. I cut the first buoy tight and swam pretty straight parallel to the shore. I will say that you really had to keep focused on your direction because the course only had three buoys to use for sighting.

During the swim I came across a 50+ year old silver wave swimmer who was bobbing around the 400 meter mark. I stopped to ask if he was ok because he seemed to be in trouble. Luckily after he shooed me away a lifeguard picked him up. I was worried about him making it into shore.

Before I knew it I was passing the mid-course buoy and soon enough heading into shore. It was super exciting to see people lining the beach to welcome me in.

I took Max's advice and kicked hard as I felt waves approaching behind me and was able to body-surf a wave part way into shore. I stood up quickly, ran out and was out of the top half of my wetsuit pretty quickly. Seriously...the toughest part was running up and over the dune. Tiring!

T1
I planned for the sand and dumped a bottled water over my face and feet. I decided not to wear socks and instead jammed my feet into my cycling shoes. I was a bit slower than I had hoped because one of my shoes took a bit longer to get on, but I felt faster than those around me. Soon enough I was off and biking.

THE BIKE

The course was an out-and-back on Coastal Hwy from Tower One to the Indian River Inlet Bridge and back.

The way out the wind was slightly to your back and side. I felt good though honestly my legs were a little tired from running over the dune.

At the turn around I immediately felt the difference --- strong headwinds pushing me and my bike backwards. I could hear everyone around me shifting gears to compensate and struggling to get into a groove.

I ended up passing a lot of people on the course. In contrast, I seemed to get passed mostly by big dudes with fancy bikes. That's ok, because I don't think any chicks passed me on the way back.

Soon enough I was heading back into transition and handing over my timing chip to Jenna for the run. TAKE AWAYS

* Ocean swims require a completely different approach, but are super fun. More of a challenge navigating up, over and through the waves, but definitely something I'd like to check out again.

* Dumping water over your face after the swim helps to get the salt out of your eyes; dumping water over your feet helps to get the sand off too before hitting the bike.

* Getting out of the saddle a couple times on the bike helped to wake my legs up.

* The Dewey Tri is very laid back and a good race for first-timers or folks looking for a smaller crowd.

* After a dude kicks you in the mouth and bloodies your lip during the swim...don't worry about attracting marine predators, decide to be the predator and eat that guy up. :)