RACE REPORT BY: Susan Davidson (PICTURES)

I went to Gulf Shores for the Brett Robinson Coastal Triathlon. Brett Robinson is a local realtor who sponsored the race. They had two races: the Tri-It-On Sprint Triathlon (300 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run) and an Intermediate Distance (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run). I opted for the Sprint Tri. We did a staggered start every 3 seconds beginning at 7:00 a.m. with a Gulf Swim – out 150 yards and back 150 yards. Didn't look like a long way, but the water was rougher than I expected. The surf was pretty rough, and even when I got past the waves, the swells were bad. So much so, that I couldn't see the buoys out in front of me unless I timed it just right. My goal became to make in to the turn-around at which time I thought the surf would carry me back in without much effort. It didn't exactly happen that way. The surf did help carry me in, but in between the waves, it pulled me back out a bit. So it was ride in a good ways, get pulled back a bit, over and over again. My swim time was 12:00.

Ran up the beach into T1. I did a little better with my transition times this race. T1 was 3:17.

The bike was a 10 mile out and back ride. We rode about 1.5 miles east down Beach Boulevard and turned north to go inland. I felt really good about the ride. I was averaging 16.5 mph during the first 5 miles. On the way back, I hit a wicked head wind which is when I realized why my speed was a little faster than average on the way out. I averaged 14.5 mph on the way back. Total bike time was 38:32 with an overall average speed of 15.5 mph.

T2 time was 1:34 which has to be a PR for me. I'm gonna go back and look at my transition times to see how I can shave some time off.

The run was 1 mile west on Beach Boulevard out and back. It was starting to get hotter during the run and there was very little breeze blowing. I planned to run slow so that I could run the whole way. I bagged that plan and opted to walk. I tried to keep my pace at 12:00 min/mile. My total run time was 24:50.

This event was well planned and executed. The only complaint I had is that they combined the awards for the two groups, so I had to wait 3 ½ hours after I finished to get my award. There were a lot of participants, so I think it would have made things easier to go ahead and do the sprint awards and let those people leave. Then focus on the intermediate. Just my personal opinion.