Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon

I came out very strong for the first 200m trying to break out of the pack and get to the front. I had a guy draft me for about the first 250 and then he couldn't swim a straight line and fell off. Next I started passing all the guys that went off 1 wave earlier than me and then the people trying not to drown themselves from the olympic which started at 0700. My sighting was absolutely the best I have ever done, I was able to look every 10th stroke and I was always dead on with the buoy. The waves were very small due to low winds, southeast at 5mph. I swam all the way into the beach and garmin watch time was 8:51 which equates to 1:20/100 yards. There were only 2 people that really beat me on the swim, 1 by 2 minutes and another by a minute, all 6 other were within 10 seconds of each other for the race. During the swim I felt the KT tape starting to come loose on my left foot, knew I would have to address this in T1.

Nothing 9/255 is my best swim ever

Tried to be efficient but I never move incredibly fast. My rack was at the far end of transition, so I had to run in and all the way across transition, go the wetsuit off with no issue and then decided to put socks on now and minimize the loss of the KT tape during T2.

KT tape the night before, still need to attempt flying mount practice because the the s-works tri-vents do not go on fast.

My race kit was castelli paint bike shorts and the castelli T1 2015 long sleeve bike jersey. normally i don't race with the bike jersey because it is impossible to put on in T1 but with a wetsuit swim I can have it on with no penalty. I came out of transition and immediately felt the slight tailwind and took the speed to 26mph with a HR of 177-178BPM thinking I needed to establish a strong start in case the wind was hard on the way back. I took a gu as soon as we started. I rounded the northern tip of the island and still was putting out 24-25mph with a HR of 174-177BPM and I decided that I could get a 24.5-25mph bike out today. I was flying by all the people in wave 1 of the spring and the olympic group. I hit the mid ooint of the island and got stuck at 22mph due to a car that would not pass some bikers. After croosing over the main road to the island I was back at in but trying to keep my HR at 172-175 because I could feel the fatigue in my legs and my left calf was starting to get tight. I was trying to drink but couldn't keep it down due to the pace that I was pushing. I passed my friend Cody at mile 12 and he looked shocked, he had a new felt IA, and a 3 minute age group head start. I kept pedaling as hard as I could until he roundabout where I took another gu and got setup for the flying dismount. As I came into transition there was not a single bike in the transition area and I knew I was in first place and i would just have to survive the run to win the race.

nothing, killed the bike. my best tri bike ever. lots of credit go to Jim at probikefit in St. Augustine Florida, my Dimond bike, and lots of riding time the last 6 weeks leading up to the tri.

nothing amazing here, got my shoes on, bike racked, and grabbed all my stuff and headed out. I drank a hotshot to ensure cramps wouldn't set me back.

maybe one day practice transitions.

Going out I knew I just had to survive the run which was the plan all along. I was playing the metal math game in my head trying to guess how much of a lead I could have based on a great swim and a phenomenal bike. My guess was about least 3 minutes which meant I had to run a 21 minute 5k and I hoped nobody was going to be able to run better than an 18 minutes 5k. I hit the half way point and I was hurting but I saw the next guy back, I couldnt see his calf but I knew he looked late 30's or early 40's (he was 37). I did the math based on my lead and knew I had to maintain a 7:00/mile pace of better and he would have to run 6:00/mile pace or better to close me down. This allowed me to settle in and as soon as mile 2 hit I gave it all I had, which got be below 7/mile pace but not by much. I saw my wife and a ton of friends and everyone else was shouting huge encouragement about me being first place which was awesome. I crossed the finish line and knew I had my first overall finisher ever! turns out I wone the race by 3 minutes and 16 seconds.

nothing, pushed with everything I had. I would like to have more weeky mileage but PF had limited me for the last 2 months.

laid in the shade for 10 minutes, drank some water and powerade. went out .1 miles and waited for the wife so i could cheer her in. she took 2nd in her AG.


maybe PF in my left foot but not much at all. I have been taking victory boost caps for the last 6 weeks and i feel they have helped with my VO2 max allowing me to go harder but it also could be because I have lost 10 pounds and am training consistently everyday.


This race is a hidden gem in the southeast. The swim is with the current, so you will have a fast swim. The bike is very fast and cars respect cyclist, if you opt for the Olympic it's 2 laps of the island. the run is flat and has drinking stations but can get very hot at the end of the sprint and definitely during the Olympic. Post race has lots of activities and drinks but food selections was low. Everyone gets a medal for participating. AG winners get an extra medal and overall winners got a commemorative candy dish.

http://triathlon.competitor.com/next-family-racecation-jekyll-islan...

I highly recommend this race, venue was great, support was great, awards were great. Stay for the weekend but bring your own food as dining options are limited and expensive.