Yesterday I did the Duke Half Ironman for the third time, and my results were mixed.

This time the race was not wetsuit legal, yet my swim time was 48:03, which is only a little bit slower than what I did last year in a wetsuit. The water was also very calm this year, whereas last year it was very choppy. So I'm pleased with my swim split.

I also had a good bike split, 02:51:37, which is more than 3 minutes faster than last year. 

But this year the weather was brutally hot, and I really suffered through the run. Last year I made it through the run in just under 2 hours, without doing any walking. This year I did a fair amount of walking and thus my run split was 02:16:23.

My actual finish time ended up being 06:00:24, which is about 17 minutes slower than last year, but still 48 minutes faster than the first time I did this race, in 2005. However, I also got a 4-minute position penalty, which is the first time I've ever gotten a penalty. So, my official finish time was 06:04:24.

Despite having what I would describe as not one of my better performances, I moved up from No. 15 to No. 11 in my age group in the North Carolina Triathlon Series. 

Now it's on to Pinehurst on Oct. 4, which will be my next-to-last triathlon of the season. (The last will be my second running of Ironman Florida, on Nov. 1.)