Nice way to start the racing season

Little Miami has usually been the first triathlon race of the year, and this year it was no different.  I never know what to expect from Jeff.  Pre-race jitters can attack him and I didn't think it did this year.  He has his typical "head up his rear" the day before, which actually can be a good thing for racing.  That means he is totally focused on the race, but bad for me - he develops his very limited memory.

The ride down to Morgan's was a fairly quiet one.  We both kept our eyes on the black cloud that seemed to following us.  The race was a go when were left home, but typical Ohio weather can play havoc with a triathlon. 

The closer we got, we found a beautiful blue sky.  A river that seemed to be at a great level.  After loading his canoe we headed to the start.  Bike setup in "his" place (he has had the same place for years!) we headed down killer hill.  They had changed the route of the trail, added new wood steps but couldn't get rid of the slippery mud.

Jeff started in the second wave, which is always good.  As they said "go" Jeff got his one and only nervous start for the year.  A deep breath and he settled down.  He was determined nobody would beat him down the river, and he was right, nobody did.

He said he was happy with his run, as he said .... every year it gets just a little harder to run.  His transition was very smooth and fast (which made me happy). 

I headed up to the finish line not knowing what to expect.  There were a couple of bikes that took off around his time, and you just never know what can/will happen.

I saw a bike heading into the finish line and was very happy to see it was Jeff!  He let out a "hell yes" for me and finished running his bike over the line. 

Since I had to photograph Tipp's Graduation, we didn't stick around.  It stinks having to wait for them to post results, but needless to say we were both thrilled wit the results.

Jeff placed 1st out of 88 single competitors (beat the 2nd place by almost 4 minutes) and 7th out of 852 finishers.  Now that deserves a "HELL YES"!