danskin 2008

I did it again this year- the Danskin sprint triathlon in Seattle! 800 meter swim, 12 mile bike and 3.2 mile run
I'll walk you through it below...

I got a new shirt this year- so it was easy for David to find me. This is the obligatory muscle photo. David had me do it again at the end of the race- you'll be able to tell the difference in terms of the energy I had when you see the photo at the bottom below.

Anxiously awaiting my turn. My co-worker D also did the triathlon.

Here I am waiting for my wave to get the go-ahead. The water was surprisingly nice. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was cold when I got in, but once I got moving it didn't seem cold at all. Good thing, because I still haven't bought a wetsuit.

I was cracking up at David here- he just kept on moving 200 feet forward and snapping a new photo of me.

Done with the swim and on my way to T1 (transition 1)...I think I had stopped running here and was just taking it easy. The swim this year was longer than last year (it was 500 m last year) and this year it was 800 meters-- I predominately swam freestyle, but occasionally when I was knocked by someone's foot or couldn't get around them, I reverted to breast-stroke. But it seemed like it sapped so much more of my energy to do breast-stroke so I tried to do freestyle as much as I could. I definitely felt more comfortable on the swim this year!

Running with my bike to the bike start.

I'm coming back from the bike here-almost finished with this leg!

I think I saved a lot of time on the bike. I was passing people most of the time, although people certainly passed me. I'm not cool enough yet to have aero-bars on my bike, so instead I used the lower part of my handles to get a little more aero.

I am beginning the run here. Decided to get a drink right off the bat. I had water at every aid station. I probably walked half and ran half of the distance. Toward the end I was running more because I thought I might be able to beat my time from last year (that certainly is a motivator!). ps- I did beat my time!

Check out the 2 second video above that David shot of me as I was rounding the last curve and had about 100 yards left to go. I'd say I look pretty good for being on the homestretch.

I'm finished! I did it!

This is hardly a muscle shot. I don't think I could have actually flexed even if I wanted to...I was pretty darn tired--but you can tell I'm happy!

Total time: 1:49:32

Last year's total time: 1:56:36