South Coast Triathlon

Anyone signed for the South Coast Seaford Triathlon in August? anyone did it last year? how was it? what's your experience? it would be my first triathlon. 

Comments

  • Hi Orsi,

    I'm sure FB will be along in a bit - I think hes done it a handful of times and its his local tri.

    I did it last year as my first tri. The sea was incredibly choppy the day I did it - so much so the swims distances were halved (I did 300m instead of the 750m). Of course, the very next day the sea was as calm as anything, so its the luck of the draw.

    Other than that, the bike and run course are loops and therefore you're never far from the start / HQ. Its probably as ideal for beginners as it gets. The bike is a slight incline on the way out, and then the decline on the way back. The run is just along the promenade and therefore essentially flat.

    So, if you get the chance to sea-swim beforehand take it. Failing that, attempt to be able to get by doing bi-lateral breathing just in case the chop is against your favoured swimming side on the day.

    Enjoy it! image

  • Thanks MovingAlong. I think swimming is going to be the most challenging part for me  image a bit worried about but let's see. I am not sure if i am able to sea-swim before but at least i am doing open water training and trying my best to be able to breath on both side image will enjoy it thanks!

  • fat buddhafat buddha ✭✭✭

    tah-dah......

    I am here

    it's not my local tri but one of a few close by.  and yes, me and the missus have done it a few times (and marshalled like last year).

    the swim will depend on what the weather throws up on the day - it varies every year and has been cancelled, shortened (last year and previously), and been like a millpond (possibly - never seen it like that on race day!!).  if you get some sea practice in beforehand it will help a lot with confidence

    the bike, as MA says, are loops of the closed seafront road - easy enough but mindnumbing if you're doing the standard distance (12 laps), and then a flat run up and down the prom.

    it's very beginner friendly because of the closed bike course; well organised (Vic and his team do a good job); and a good one to do as a starter - it was my 1st tri back in 2003

    have fun

  • Entered Seaford Sprint as a first Tri. Ride a fair bit, completed half marathons in under 2 hours... Figured it would be fun! I am a bit concerned about the swim. I'm sure I will finish as it's only 750m but I suspect there will still be people frustratedly trying to applaud me on after 1hr of me breaststroking out the water after I've quit FC after 100 metres of struggling. Oh well, in at the deep end as they say! image

  • This is going to be my first tri/practice tri, I was originally going to do the sprint but as I have been ill last couple of weeks I decided to just do super sprint.

    I have the London Tri in a few weeks so just wanted to get used to transition etc. Hopefully it will be okay for me to use a wetsuit even for the short distance as getting out of that is a key area I wanted to practice.

  • Hi Andy,

    I am also doing the Supersprint as an re-introduction after illness before doing Chantilly on the bank holiday weekend and will be using a wetsuit for the same purpose as remembering the quickest way out of it so I am sure you will be fine - plus although its a short distance swim it will not exactly be warm water so wetsuit all the way!!  image

  • Excellent News!!

    I think it is a beach start, so could be fun trying to get into the water to begin swimming...

  • Seaford has a shingle beach which is fine for getting in, but can be uncomfy when getting out as you have to run up it to transition.  depending on the state of the tide, this can be a short stretch of shingle - or long!  there's usually some coconut matting down to help get up the shingle but many take some shoes to run in.

    when you get out of the water, lower the top half of your wetsuit as you run and then take it off fully in T

    sea temp at the mo is around 18C - I was in last night and it was lovely but it was also flat calm which helps!!  I think the forecast for the weekend is for light winds which always helps

  • Whoop! I got 4th, shame I got lost on the swim and had to walk 100m down the pebble beach before transition!!



    Still loved every moment!!
  • I heard there were problems with the swim and the shoreline current causing havoc as it was on a rising tide??   

  • My Mrs told me that they changed the length of the Olympic event as they had to rescue a few dozen people during the super sprint.

    I basically failed on rule 1 of Triathlon Open Water Swimming: dont follow other people. I can see my swim mapped by my timex watch and I think I swam like 600m instead of 200m, was totally ridiculous.

    I have also bruised the bottoms of my feet trying to run on pebbles.

  • Andjsg I had the same issue!  Ended up swimming about 700m too much!

    It was a shame as the weather was awesome but the swim bordered on dangerous because of the under cuurent (as you well know) and with the run and cycle not being the best organised etc it made for a let down of a day.

    The highlight being the guy who left T2 and ran through the finish line collecting his medal before turning around and running off as he had got lost!  His time is recorded as 1min20 or something for the whole run!!  image

    Still not every event is perfect and it was a chance to do some quick transitions and brick sessions.  Still not sure why the matting wasn't brought further down the beach though?  My feet weren't happy!!

    Hope you enjoyed it and maybe better organised next time.

    Still a fun day in the sunshine in a great location.

     

     

     

  • I heard that they had to rescue some of the swim support who were on boards as they got swept down to Seaford Head??

    the problem they have with the swim in this event is that it's the same time each year, but the tide doesn't follow the calendar so it will be at different levels each year. and of course they can never predict the weather either so you'll always end up with a swim that isn't quite right.  I've done the race a few times and marshaled as well and I don't think I've ever seen a perfect swim there.  shame really as it's otherwise a good event.

    and I did warn about the pebbles and suggested you have shoes handy....image

  • Swim bit wasn't fun, but otherwise it was my first triathlon and I loved every second of it and helped a bit that I was relatively competitive (technically I won my age group - lets ignore the fact that two of the people who finished ahead of me were older than me). My first transition wasnt great but the second one was really good so pretty happy with that. Weather was fantastic and even had to buy myself a cap for the run.

    Roll on London in 5 weeks time, I think I will struggle, but its all a step in the right direction. I have 2 lots of open swim coaching booked between now and then so hopefully with that and some long bike rides I will be in good enough shape to finish the race.

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