Team Member: Sam Morgan

Race and Date: Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl 5/16/09

Race Placement/Time: 1st OA 1:49:37

Tell us about your race (limit 250 words)…: This was the first Tri I ever did a year ago, so this is the first chance I’ve had to compare my performance on the same course.

The course at this race is one of the flattest around and the wind actually helps you. The swim is with the current and on the bike you have a tailwind when you’re exposed, but when you turn around you’re in dense trees which block the headwind.

Anyway, I had a solid relaxed swim. It was wetsuit legal which I now like due to the added buoyancy for my legs (which I didn’t used to need… my legs have become a lot more dense as I’ve added more muscle over the past year). I had a relaxed bike as well… controlling my HR for the first lap and then working slightly harder the 2nd. I probably negative split this bike. The run was a bit nasty. I had never experienced such a painful cramp. Usually it’s in the side but this one was about 6 inches above my bellybutton. I tried to run it out but simply couldn’t so I walked (for the first time) in a triathlon twice trying to work out that cramp. It did eventually go away and I finished the run relatively pain free, but not with a very impressive split. I still dropped 13 minutes from the time I did last year and have a new “virtual” PR.

Sport Factory Team Members Keith Marshall, Kat Tindoll, Dennis Reardon, and Sam Morgan