Delaware Diamondman Triathlon

Time to get caught up on the blog entries. 

September was a very busy month -- starting the weekend after Labor Day with my last triathlon of the season, the Delaware Diamondman Triathlon.  This one was the half ironman distance:  1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run. 

As luck would have it, we were handed a day with blazing sun, 90 degree temps and no wind.  That was fine during the swim, obviously, and even during the bike.  But the run was a different story.  Although I set out on the run at what I thought was a conservative pace, deep suffering began began to set in about halfway through.  I had led the race after the swim, and finished the bike in approximately 9th position.  At one point during the run, I had climbed into 5th place overall.  But then the wheels fell off.  The sun was unrelenting, and there was no shade on the course.  I slowed considerably, and even began taking short walking breaks -- the first time I have ever had to walk during a race of any kind.  Getting to the finish of this race was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done athletically . . . and that includes brutal 10,000 meter workouts back in my swimming days.  I finally did get to the finish, and surprisingly only three people caught me after I had moved into 5th place.  So I finished 8th overall.

What a way to finish the season.  Here are the results if you're interested in taking a look.