The Destin Triathlon October 13th

The wife and I are considering doing Destin as our first Tri as well. Neither of us are strong swimmers and we just started doing lap swimming in the pool a couple of weeks ago so it's up in the air as to whether we'll have enough swim skill/conditioning to complete the (admittedly short) ocean swim.

Other than that is seems like an ideal first Tri - short distances, a fat tire division (we'll be on mountain bikes), a fast, flat course and a fantastic location.

Does anyone know if they do a mass or wave start for this race?

Event website: http://multisport.com/?page_id=32

Registration at imAthlete: https://www.imathlete.com/events/TheDestinTriathlonatSeascape2012

I"m doing a long standing one in Mexico Beach in 2 weeks, then the White Sands in Panama City Beach the week after the Destin race. I might try to squeeze that one in. Very familiar with area.

Be glad you are not having to swim it this weekend! Hurricane!~

Regardless of distance, if you are just getting swimming in a pool, swimming open water in the Gulf of Mexico can be a kick in the face- not even close to pool. You need some OWS practice -especially if little swim experience to date.

We've had 12-14 drownings between PCB and Destin this year- (obviously not in Tris), just people not famliar with currents etc. How long is this swim distance? Won't be wetsuit legal, so, i'd at least want some ows practice before doing it.

Taylor, I lived on Beach Dr in PCB for several years and frequent the area quite a bit since I'm only an hour and a half away, so I've done mannnyyyy OWS's! Not to mention I was a surface diver in the USCG, so I'm not too concerned about the swim. Thanks for the heads up though. I heard the Jellies were bad this year, hopefully they'll thin out though by race time. I'm doing the Destin Tri by myself then me and a few friends are doing the White Sands the week after. It'd be cool to meet if we can find you in the chaos before the tri. I've met several tri-athletes here recently and most have been some of the nicest people I've ever met. 

On a different note, I don't have a dedicated road bike yet, only a hybrid. But I rode a friend's Trek today and fell absolutely in love. The hybrid is good for conditioning, so needless to say when I got on the Trek, I was FLYING. 

Gallon: I think 'Taylor' was directing his swim comments towards me since I brought up our swimming experience (or lack of).

We were down in Destin 9/4-9 and got some ocean swims in. There seemed to be some swells and chop, residual from the storm that had just passed through. Despite this, I really enjoyed the OWS and have more confidence that I can (slowly) make the race distance without a problem. I was expecting to be eating a lot more water that I actually did, and the buoyancy provided by the salt water vs. swimming in the pool was a huge assist.

No jellyfish encounters while we were there, but I did get "attacked" by some fish while treading water. Not sure what that was about, they were pecking away at me like I was a block of fish food. I'm pretty freckled on my torso, maybe they attracted by the assorted spots on my otherwise pale skin?

We did one of our swims as part a mini-training tri linking up a 12 min swim with a 40 min bike and 20 min run (close to projected race times...run was a bit short). We've done swim/bike and bike/run bricks before but wanted to get a feel for coming out of the salt water then doing the bike and run. It was a blast.

We also did a separate bike ride back and forth on Scenic Hwy 98, from Henderson State Park to the other end where it dumps onto Emerald Coast Parkway. I assume this is where the bike course is for the race, beginning at or near the host resort (Seascape)?

The Destin Beer Festival looks like a promising post-race party, anybody been to it in past years?

You know all about our lovely area then! Alright, basically a local- welcome back and hope you have a great first race experience. With your military background, you may also consider in the future, the "Tynman" Tri- held at Tyndall AFB- swim is in the bay and usually slightly calmer than gulf etc. Good sprint distance and supposed to be a good race. (small and local).  I am planning on doing White Sands (did the spring race) and it's usually well done and you bike and run along Thomas Drive etc.  

We were trying to race a Tri in MEX BEACH this past weekend when those squalls came through. It was rougher over toward where we were and the swim/and eventually race was cancelled. Some rescues from the water for the first wave were in order as well. It was bad weather that blew up in short time. Next day, water was glass.  Great you did some bricks- this will help big time. Especially with the sand issue coming off beach and trying to put shoes on etc. I use powder and clean water to squirt on feet and baby powder removes sand quickly.  Good luck on your race and I hope you enjoy our pretty beaches this time of year!

YOu probably also noticed the fact that in swells and chop, it's great to be able to breath from either side. I still have to work on that for me.

also on a personal note, I love Dothan, AL. I was born in Dothan! (from small town in panhandle called Bonifay, FL originally and that's where you went- Dothan - or PC to have babies, go on dates, eat, see a movie etc) Dothan is a great area. Great folks. Met a guy at the Mex Beach Tri this weekend from Dothan and he works at Farley Nuclear Plant. Small world.

The wife and I are officially registered in the First-timer division.  We've been hitting the pool 3-4 days a week and should be good to go, albeit a slow go, for the swim in the Gulf.

A search for more info on the Destin Tri led me the these links from a previous year's race (pictures are low res for some reason:

A close up of transition -

http://destintriathlon.com/images/destin%20tri%20transition.jpg

And one of the entire course, including the bike course that apparently loops up and around the main road 98 for a third or so of the course.

http://destintriathlon.com/images/destinmap.jpg

This was a bit of surprise to me, for some reason I figured the bike course stayed on Old Hwy 98. There is a 3-4' shoulder or a designated bike lane for this section of the course.  I'm assuming there are police at the intersections with signals to control traffic.  Can any previous year participants shed any light on this?

The race also claims a "Great post race party!" Is that legit? Or should I plan to BYOB?

Good luck to everyone else racing.

I have done the race a number  of times. The intersections are well controlled.  Be ready for wind...races along the Gulf Coast are almost always windy.  There's beer.  If you want wine or anything else, you'll need to bring it.  Make sure it is not in a glass container.  The post race party was in a pool area last year. They made us ditch our wine bottle.

Have fun! Hopefully the water will be as wonderful as it was this weekend. Slight rolling waves and very clear.   I'm racing the 70.3 at Austin and am doing the SRI race the weekend before Destin, so I volunteered for water support in lieu of racing this year.

I am also from Dothan and did this event last year and my girlfriend and I are signed up for this year.  Last year was well organized with an informative first timers meeting the night before.  The swim was cancelled, the bike ride was fun but windy and the run was scenic, out and back,  along the road next to the beach.  I look forward to actually swimming this year as my girlfriend and I go down often for open water swimming near the site of the triathlon.

Sorry about the swim distance. That current was so strong that the buoys were drifting really fast.  I was on an SUP and got the safety guys on the jet ski to pull the last buoy back right before the start, but it started to move again right away.  The anchors were pretty substantial too.    At least the current was flowing in the direction of the swim!

No I didn't, but I did see you go by.  Glad you got to race!