By Candice Taylor
April is my favorite month because the weather is nice and Triathlon season is finally here! I took on two events offered locally this past weekend, the Deluna's Beach Games Open water swim race and Pensacola triathlon. I was fortunate to have beautiful weather, good conditions, and great fun at both races.
DELUNA'S BEACH GAMES
Open water swim races are hard to find and I take advantage of it whenever I can. (Yes, I am one of those crazy triathletes who LOVES to swim). This was my 2nd year participating in the deLuna Beach Games Open water race. The event took place early Saturday morning behind Flounders in Pensacola Beach in the Bay. They offer a sprint distance (.6 miles), short swim (1.2 miles), and long swim (2.4 miles). I chose to race the long distance and my division started first. I zipped up my wetsuit, waded out in the water to the start, the cannon sounds and we are off. Slight headwind heading out, the water temp was just right and the warm sun felt great. The course was out and back and the third “pink Flamingo bouy” was our turn around point. With a Slight tailwind, I draft off a few other swimmers on the stretch back between. As we swim around the dock the water is shallow so we wade in the water to the finish. The event ends with a nice little after party at Flounders with food and beer. I highly recommend adding this event to your race calendar. The water is clean, with plenty of buoys and water support throughout the course.
PENSACOLA TRIATHLON
Sunday morning I woke up ready to roll! It’s the first triathlon of the season and I am stoked!
I arrive at the Pensacola Triathlon at the Martitime Park in downtown Pensacola around 5:15am. I pop in my headphones and listen to my raceday playlist as I walk to transition.
After battling windy conditions the past few weeks in training, I was happy to see the water is like glass and the temperatures were perfect with a very light wind. This year swim course was a quarter of a mile from transition so it was recommended to bring running shoes to run over the gravel to T1. It was organized with a spot to place your shoes for your race number. I warm up a few minutes in the water and line up for the start. It was a Time trial start so I line up towards the front (crazy swim chick) with teammates Jayme and Christine behind me. The swim was almost like swimming in a lake, smooth with little current, and great temps. As I exit the swim Jayme is right with me. We both find our shoes and step in the kiddie pools to wash off the feet. I decided to run with my wetsuit pulled to my waist to T1 and that was a little challenging.
The bike course has a little bit of everything with a few small hills, turns, curves, and some flat areas. My favorite part is riding by the water on Scenic Hwy. As I bike towards the turnaround I spot Jayme on the other side looking fearless and peddling strong. I felt good about my bike and was ready for the run. The run course is two loops in the downtown area, I ran out fast and tried to maintain the pace as long as I could.
The race ended with a nice after party on the water, and racers received a cool finishers medal and comfy race t-shirt. An awesome to kick off the Tri season. Thank you to all of our sponsors for their support and giving us the opportunity to race the multipart.
DELUNA'S BEACH GAMES
Open water swim races are hard to find and I take advantage of it whenever I can. (Yes, I am one of those crazy triathletes who LOVES to swim). This was my 2nd year participating in the deLuna Beach Games Open water race. The event took place early Saturday morning behind Flounders in Pensacola Beach in the Bay. They offer a sprint distance (.6 miles), short swim (1.2 miles), and long swim (2.4 miles). I chose to race the long distance and my division started first. I zipped up my wetsuit, waded out in the water to the start, the cannon sounds and we are off. Slight headwind heading out, the water temp was just right and the warm sun felt great. The course was out and back and the third “pink Flamingo bouy” was our turn around point. With a Slight tailwind, I draft off a few other swimmers on the stretch back between. As we swim around the dock the water is shallow so we wade in the water to the finish. The event ends with a nice little after party at Flounders with food and beer. I highly recommend adding this event to your race calendar. The water is clean, with plenty of buoys and water support throughout the course.
PENSACOLA TRIATHLON
Sunday morning I woke up ready to roll! It’s the first triathlon of the season and I am stoked!
I arrive at the Pensacola Triathlon at the Martitime Park in downtown Pensacola around 5:15am. I pop in my headphones and listen to my raceday playlist as I walk to transition.
After battling windy conditions the past few weeks in training, I was happy to see the water is like glass and the temperatures were perfect with a very light wind. This year swim course was a quarter of a mile from transition so it was recommended to bring running shoes to run over the gravel to T1. It was organized with a spot to place your shoes for your race number. I warm up a few minutes in the water and line up for the start. It was a Time trial start so I line up towards the front (crazy swim chick) with teammates Jayme and Christine behind me. The swim was almost like swimming in a lake, smooth with little current, and great temps. As I exit the swim Jayme is right with me. We both find our shoes and step in the kiddie pools to wash off the feet. I decided to run with my wetsuit pulled to my waist to T1 and that was a little challenging.
The bike course has a little bit of everything with a few small hills, turns, curves, and some flat areas. My favorite part is riding by the water on Scenic Hwy. As I bike towards the turnaround I spot Jayme on the other side looking fearless and peddling strong. I felt good about my bike and was ready for the run. The run course is two loops in the downtown area, I ran out fast and tried to maintain the pace as long as I could.
The race ended with a nice after party on the water, and racers received a cool finishers medal and comfy race t-shirt. An awesome to kick off the Tri season. Thank you to all of our sponsors for their support and giving us the opportunity to race the multipart.