Coastal "Tri-It-On" Triathlon Race Report

View of Transition from our room!

Beach time... ahhhh.....

Raced the Coastal Tri-It-On Triathlon last weekend in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Signed up to do the sprint race again since I won it a year ago.  When I say Sprint I mean it with this race.  300 yard swim, 10 mile bike, and a 2 mile run.  It's pretty much "redlining" it the entire race.  Racing for the first time with my new sponsors Timex Factory Team and ICEdot and Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition!!

Duck Dive Time!

Was seeded as number 53,  they seed you according to the swim split that you provide when you register.  This is total baloney!  It might as well read on the entry form "Put down what ever time you want in order to get your place in line for the start."  There is NO WAY that all 53 people in front of me were better swimmers.  I put down the time that I did last year and was slower this year. They moved the timing mat from the entrance to the Transition area to down on the beach so you'd have a more realistic swim time but the swim was long.  My average pace per 100 yards if the course had actually been 300 yards was 1:43 per hundred.  That made the course about 45 seconds long - probably about 50 yards.  Anyway.. I passed so many people - it was nuts.


Long transition time - but a good bike split.  If the course was accurate at 10 miles I averaged 21.58 on the bike and when I got back to transition there were hardly any bikes racked.  Tiny bit of headwind on the way out but nothing of concern.  I was an idiot with my Garmin and not only forgot to turn off the "Virtual Partner" but also forgot to click on the "Include Transitions".  So when I hit the lap button when I got out of the swim it went into Bike mode.  I fumbled with it a bit while riding and then just gave up.  Had a better bike split than last year!  But then I didn't have the near car collision that I had when I big black SUV decided to cross diagonally in front of me on the bike.  Funny though.. I noticed when I was on the way back in on the out and back course that a big black SUV crossed in front of a girl on her way out.  There are cones giving us a full lane but it's not any guarantee of safety.

Saw Bill waiting at the run out and actually was able to smile for the camera!  Out onto the run and I made sure to get my new Timex Ironman watch that I had on my right wrist (Thank you Timex Factory Team!) into chronograph mode and hit start so I'd have some idea of my run pace.  Ended up with a 15:03 for the two miles - 7:31 average.  Happy with that!  I was faster in the run last year but the weather was cooler and perfect.  This year it was warm and typically humid.  Of course on Sunday morning a cool front rolled through and the water was calm and the temperatures were cool.

Found Bill at the finish line and we went to the hotel to clean up.  We had a place right next to the Transition Area!  That was nice!!!  Race morning I walked my bike over to transition and Bill was able to hang out in the room until just before my race started.

Waited for what seemed like forever for awards, Bill and I had a frozen margarita while we waited - I placed 2nd Overall Female!!  The First Place Female was 15!!  Third Place was 12!!  Got a big container of HEED along with my little plaque.  Alabama needs some Mississippi and Louisiana Award lessons!

So the big waves weren't the best thing for the race but for after the race they were GREAT!!  We'd brought along our boogie boards and beach chairs and umbrella and enjoyed some time in the sun.  We played in the surf for about 2 hours and caught a ton of good waves.  We started a trend too.  We met a couple little girls who were trying to catch some waves but didn't really know how.  They saw us having fun and came out so we started helping them and by the end they were getting to be pretty good boogie boarders!!

"Please Come Home!"

The only thing missing on our beach trip were the boys.  They love the ocean and would have had a blast in the surf.  We left them (the first time ever by themselves overnight) and had a good and TRUSTWORTHY friend come over a bunch of times and let them out.  I don't know who had more separation anxiety - us or them!!
Thank you, Geneva!!!!

Oh.. this is kind of funny.. while Bill was waiting for me to come out of the swim a gentleman next to him said "Hey Bill, here comes Ginger now."  "Do I know you?"  "No but I've met your wife and follow her blog."  They are the Howards and their son Brett is an up and coming triathlete from Brookhaven, MS.  We saw them after the race at The Hangout and had a nice visit.  Really nice family!!  "Hi Howards!!!"