Build your Alabama Coastal Triathlon plan
Your coach opens with the Alabama Coastal Triathlon set for September 11, 2027, asks about your week and your fitness, then writes every session of your Olympic-distance triathlon plan. Free, and you can start as a guest. About 46 weeks to go.
Start your Alabama Coastal Triathlon plan- Formats
- Olympic, Sprint
- Terrain
- Flat
- Taper starts
- September 2, 2027
Alabama Coastal Triathlon distances
- Olympic 0.9 mi swim, 24.8 mi bike, 6 mi run
- Sprint 0.2 mi swim, 12.4 mi bike, 2 mi run
Course
The Alabama Coastal Triathlon course
Race central is the Gulf Shores public beach and The Hangout on Gulf Shores Parkway, where the whole day happens. The swim is in the open Gulf as a time trial, with athletes entering the water about every 3 seconds in order of their estimated swim time: 300 meters for the Sprint and 1,500 meters for the Olympic, and a run replaces the swim if the surf is unsafe.
Read the full course notes
The bike is flat: the Sprint is a 12.4-mile out-and-back on West Beach Boulevard and the Olympic rides it twice for 24.8 miles, including a stretch along the beach. The run is flat too, out and back on East Beach Boulevard east of The Hangout, 2 miles for the Sprint and 6 miles (not 6.2) for the Olympic, with water and energy drinks about every mile.
- Terrain
- Flat
- Formats
- Olympic, Sprint
- Race-day conditions
- The race lists average water temperature around 84 °F and air around 78 °F, so plan on a non-wetsuit swim: wetsuits are banned at 84.1 °F and above and not award-eligible above 78 °F. Expect warm, humid Gulf Coast air that heats up quickly after sunrise, which is why the Olympic swim starts at 7:00 a.m. Start hydrating the day before, drink at every run aid station and pace the run a little conservatively in the heat.
What to train for
Get comfortable in open water with waves: practice entering from the beach, diving under or through small breakers and sighting on buoys over swell, and do your open-water swims without a wetsuit.
The flat out-and-back bike rewards a sustained aero position and steady power, so ride 60 to 90 minutes with long intervals at race effort and practice your U-turns.
Heat is the real challenge, so run some sessions in the warmer part of the day in late summer and practice drinking on the move. Off-the-bike bricks of 2 to 6 miles at goal pace will prepare your legs for the flat, fast run.
Sample week
A sample Alabama Coastal Triathlon training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Swim, 45 min: drills and technique
- Tuesday Key session
- Bike, 1 h with threshold intervals
- Wednesday
- Swim, 45 min: steady intervals at race effort
- Easy run, 40 min
- Thursday Key session
- Run, 40 min with tempo segments
- Friday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Saturday Key session
- Long ride, 1 h 30 min, then a 20 min run off the bike
- Sunday
- Long run, 1 h easy
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Alabama Coastal Triathlon
Start the taper seven to ten days before race day. Trim the volume in all three sports, keep short race-pace efforts in each, and do one last short brick so running off the bike still feels familiar. The course is flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on September 11, 2027, your taper starts around September 2, 2027.
Also in Claude
Ask Claude for this plan
Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a Olympic-distance triathlon season for the Brett/Robinson Alabama Coastal Triathlon on September 11, 2027. I train about [hours] hours a week, [days] days a week.
Alabama Coastal Triathlon training questions
How long should I train for the Alabama Coastal Triathlon?
Most athletes give a Olympic-distance triathlon twelve to sixteen weeks of focused training on top of an existing base. The coach counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
What is the Alabama Coastal Triathlon course like?
Flat. Race central is the Gulf Shores public beach and The Hangout on Gulf Shores Parkway, where the whole day happens.
How cold is the water at the Alabama Coastal Triathlon?
The race lists average water temperature around 84 °F and air around 78 °F, so plan on a non-wetsuit swim: wetsuits are banned at 84.1 °F and above and not award-eligible above 78 °F. Expect warm, humid Gulf Coast air that heats up quickly after sunrise, which is why the Olympic swim starts at 7:00 a.m. Start hydrating the day before, drink at every run aid station and pace the run a little conservatively in the heat.
When should I start tapering for the Alabama Coastal Triathlon?
Start the taper seven to ten days before race day. Trim the volume in all three sports, keep short race-pace efforts in each, and do one last short brick so running off the bike still feels familiar. The course is flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on September 11, 2027, your taper starts around September 2, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Alabama Coastal Triathlon training plan?
Start as a guest and save a free account later. Your coach writes your Olympic-distance triathlon plan and adapts it every week as you log your training. No card.