From the Worst of Times to the Best of Times

While the Gates half of the "other Allen & Gates" was playing on the East Coast (visiting family and going to the theatre in NY City) after successfully completing the New York Metro Danskin (see the entry on the New Jersey Danskin), the Allen half enjoyed a spectacular day at the very first Seattle Trek Triathlon (Sept 20, 2009).

I went from my worst race ever (the Seattle Danskin in August 2009) to my best race ever... this is in respect to both experience and finishing time... my total time for the 2009 Danskin was about 2 hrs 42 minutes; for the 2009 Trek, it was approx. 2 hrs 20 minutes, which was a few seconds faster than my 2008 time. I thought there was a typo when I read it When I analyze the times, the only thing I seem to be getting better at is the transations - ha!

Yesterday was AWESOME. It is so true that you need to get back on the horse after you've been thrown off. I had such a hard time in the swim leg of the Danskin that I was frankly a little scared even though the farmer-john wetsuit I wear has the effect of making me float like a cork (and the course is lined with swim support).

- more later - have to catch up and frankly, I'm moving a wee bit slow today... :)

ps, if you want to see more photos, use this link... they got some pretty good ones :) http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=49438&PWD=&BIB=3185


.................Danskin Triathlon Series..................Trek Tri
.................2007..........2008..........2009..........2009
swim.............00:24:12*.....0:34:22.......00:39:35......00:34:24
swim rank........3104 of 3495..3444 of 3710..3554 of 3710..801 of 821
transition.......00:14:51......0:09:59.......00:08:50......00:07:07
bike.............00:55:40......0:48:32.......01:00:14......00:54:43
bike rank........2765..........2955..........3277..........707
bike mph.........13.3..........14.8..........11.9..........13:1
transition.......00:04:57......0:03:20.......00:04:29......00:02:10
run/walk.........00:43:41......0:44:08.......00:49:30......00:41:52
run/walk rank....2856..........3089..........3341..........696
pace.............00:14:05......0:14:14.......00:15:58......00:13:30
final............2:23:24.......2:20:34.......02:42:39......02:20:18
overall rank.....3066 of 3495..3251 of 3710..3471 of 3710..766 of 821
class rank.......222 of 259....261 of 290....61 of 68......67 of 72

* the 2007 swim course was not the full 1/2 mile


As you can tell from my times above, I'm not exactly speedy Gonzoles, but I have a lot of fun, and preparing for the event keeps me motived to stay fit.