DFL good enough to get me a spot on Team USA

I wanted to tell this story to emphasize again that DFL > DNF > DNS, and one need not fear being the last finisher, because as long as you finish, you're a winner (figuratively, or not-so-figuratively, as you will see).

Early this year I hadn't been doing much swimming, so instead of enter the "World's Toughest Half" (Half Ironman distance triathlon) like I did last year, I decided to enter the corresponding duathlon. This duathlon happens to be a qualifier for Team USA for the USAT Long Course Duathlon World Championships, but that wasn't really a factor for me because, let's just say, speed is not one of my strong suits.

About 40 miles into the 56-mile bike course, after my stomach had stopped processing fluid (too many calories in my liquid diet) and I couldn't drink any more, I started having not only stomach pains but leg cramps. I had to walk a few hills and even a few flats, but I kept moving forward as best I could. I met a fellow as he slowly passed me on one of the hills (he wasn't able to pedal much faster than I could walk) and he asked me how I was doing. I shared my pain and he was in only slightly better shape. "I'm gonna ride it in and call it quits," he said. "Not me," I replied. "They'll have to drag me off the course before I'll give up."

My stomach didn't start feeling better until maybe half way through the run, after a lot of walking, worrying, salt pills, pretzels, plain water, and encouragement from the great volunteers. It didn't seem to hurt much less when I walked, so when possible, I jogged as much of the rest of the course as I could. My finishing time was 8:18 and change; I was 46 of 46 finishers, 5th of 5 finishers in my division. (There were 7 DNF's, my friend on the hill being one of them.)

Being a Team USA qualifier, there were 3 slots per division allocated for this race, rolling down to 10th place. Turns out at least one person who finished before me in my division must not have wanted his slot, because a slot rolled all the way down to me in 5th place!

DFL. Team USA. Go figure.

So, if you think that being "Dead Friggin' Last" is worse than "Did Not Finish", remember my story. Even slowpokes like me can be winners... as long as you finish.

Mike