Justification Finally!!

This past weekend was the 10th annual Frantic Frog (FF) Triathlon in Scottsboro, AL. I have always competed as a team at this event, but last year I decided that I would give doing the whole thing a shot this year.

It was a great day for racing: 68 degrees and overcast. We arrived at the race site plenty early (2:15 before race start), and this allowed me to do some "other" things that morning. I got to help a guy air up his tires because he didn't have a pump, I helped a couple of people set up their transition areas, and I got to talk to some folks that I don't see much anymore (shout out to--Andrew and Sarah Hodges). Something odd always happens on race day though, and this race was no exception. Just after the national anthem and prerace prayer were completed, I started walking towards the dock to prepare for the swim. Little did I know, one of man's best friends had left a little treat in the grass which I, of course, didn't see. Yep, I stepped in dog doodie. This is gross, but it squished up in between my littlest and next toes---EEEWWWW!!! I just kept walking hoping the other grass and sand would take most of it away because I didn't have time to clean it up at all. I also thought the swim might help wash it away.

Now that episode has been documented, so onward for the race details. The swim was decent for me. There were plenty of buoys on the way out, but scarcely one or two on the way back. That made it tough to see where I needed to be going. Anyway, I was somewhat pleased with my swim (7:20), and I really just wanted to minimize any time lost from the other competitors.

The bike ride was fair to decent. There was a north wind (only 5-8 mph) that just didn't let me get to the speed I wanted. I did hit my power numbers just fine, and I had one of the fastest bikes in the race (24.5 avg), but I just didn't feel like I did all that well.

When I started on the run, I saw who I thought was probably the leader about 75m ahead of me. I knew that he had started much earlier than me on the swim, so I just needed to close the distance on him in order to beat him. As a side note, I had competed in a triathlon last Monday that finally allowed me to break 18 for the 5K this year (17:33 was my time), and I had run that race a little more like I prefer (run the first mile somewhat hard, then just try to hold a good pace after that) rather than the way I've attempted to run this year (run conservative on the first mile and pick it up after that). Back to the FF run, I decided that I would run the first mile harder than I had been running the first mile in my other triathlons this season--all the while trying to catch up to the guy ahead of me. I ended up finishing only 5-10 seconds behind him, and I knew that I had beat him because of when he started. The exciting and yet somewhat maddening truth was that I had run 18:01! If I would have pushed just a tad harder, I could've broken 18 minutes in a triathlon (which I've never done). Anyway, I found out about 30 minutes later that I DID win the race overall!! That's only my second win ever, and this was a much bigger triathlon to do it at than my other win (600 competitors at the FF). So, as the title of this posts says, I have finally received some justification for the work I've put in this year. I am so thankful for the win, and I hope it's not the end for me. My next race will be a 5K in Winfield, AL (Mule Day 5K), and my season will wrap up with the Heel and Crank Duathlon in Huntsville, AL. I'm looking forward to both of those as opportunities to do well!!!