Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ironman: the triathlon

My Ironman.

done!

Let's start at the beginning... shall we?

Photobucket

more than 2500 participants in the water all at once. they did not start in waves, it was madness. and amazing. 2.4 miles in the water with random arms and legs flailing about.

swim arms

D finished his swim about 10 minutes faster than anticipated. I almost missed him as I wasn't expecting him to be coming through transition so soon. Adrenalin was pumping!

d bike 5

112 miles on the bike. That's a long ways.

d bike 4

The wind out on the loop was not kind.

d bike

He quickly shed the bike and helmet, replaced them with running shoes and took off for 26.2 miles. a full marathon, folks. He'd been going almost 8 hours at this point.

d run 2

d run

this smile was for seneca. she didn't hesitate letting anyone know "that's my daddy!"

d run

coming down the finish chute!

d finish chute

he did it!!

d finish line

the finish line.

d finish

I hugged him two minutes later. He said he wanted to cry although the smile on his face was enormous. He was amazing. It went exactly as I had hoped in that he went into this completely prepared physically, mentally and emotionally. He pushed through the fatigue and the stretches of pain. He had a goal and he met it. It was a long year with training sessions often twice a day. I should be relieved it's over, but I have had a little sadness following me around for two days. I know I have other things to look forward to, but this was such a great experience for all of us. I'm proud of him. I'm happy for him. I love him. He's a freakin' Ironman, for heaven's sake! Wahoo!!


**I'll let Katelyn share Wade's awesome race and photos. visit here. she'll post something eventually.

9 comments:

Cammi said...

That is so awesome! I love the smile for Seneca and the pic of him at the VERY end with his hands up and his time behind his head! That is so awesome!!

K said...

Wow! That is a truly amazing accomplishment! Congratulations to Denten (and the whole family)!!!

Karen said...

That is so awesome, great job Denten. I am glad it was such a great experience

Jana said...

Seriously. . . I am speechless. He did amazing and so did you for all your support. It for sure takes 2 to pull something like that off. (Although I give the hardest credit to anyone that puts their body through that). And I can totally understand how you feel a little sad now that it is over. I feel that way each time I leave the hospital after having a baby. It's hard to explain, but I totally get you!! Way to go Denten. AMAZING!!!!!

Natalie said...

That is AMAZING! I didn't realize that an Ironman was a full marathon on top of the swimming and biking. WOW! Way to go Denten!

The Hunt's said...

now what?

Joni said...

I wish there was more!! It's like when you finish a good book and you just want it to keep going forever. I love this story, and i think it's so cool that you, denten, wade and katelyn all got to go through it together.

Emily said...

look out Katelyn and Ambers. Usually at the end of the race while they are so glad they did it they swear never again, but it's in their blood, and a few days/weeks later if you check their internet history you'll find they are searching for which race to sign up for next!

The Hansen's said...

Way to go Denton!! That is so amazing, what an awesome experience!