my ironman

I am proud of D for a million things. He is a fantastic husband and just about the best father I know. He works very hard to support the four of us and rarely complains about it. But this weekend I was proud of him for watching him push himself and do the hardest thing he has ever physically done before. Yesterday, D competed and finished his first Half IronMan triathlon. A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 run. Out of 2376 athletes, D finished 749th and finished 128 in his age group. His overall time was 5 hours 50 minutes and 54 seconds.

To see what he has accomplished physically is just amazing. This was only his 2nd triathlon and to finish in the top third is something to be proud of, heck, to finish at all is something to be proud of. I saw athletes left and right bailing out of the competition...but not my D. I would have loved him and been proud of him whether he completed or not, but it was awesome to see the look on his face when he crossed that finish line. Tears flowed from both of us...it was emotional. And I'll never forget it.

He has some smaller triathlons scheduled for the rest of this year, but training will start on his goal for next year: a full IronMan. 2.4 mile swim, 126 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. And I will definitely be at the finish line waiting.