The Gillens.net

This past weekend, I flew up to Rockville, MD to hang our with my dear friends, Mike and Peggy and their 13 month old son, Jack. Peggy and Jack picked me up from DCA, and then we went to this great Thai place with Mike next to his work in Crystal City. Jack has gotten so big and cute since the last time I saw him in person. He is such a wonderful combination of Mike and Peggy.

After some eating some delicious food and throwing the rest on the ground, Jack’s favorite activity, Mike went back to work for a few hours and Peggy, Jack, and I went back to their house to play with all his cool toys. We build a small “Little Tikes” slide in their living room and Jack loved it, although he liked to walk up the slide and come down the other side. Later that evening, we picked up Mike from the Metro station and had a nice dinner at a Lebanese place.

Saturday I went for a nice 6 mile jog on an incredible wooded and paved trail right next to their house. Afterwards, we took Jack to a birthday party at a really neat indoor playground area that had a sand pit, firetruck, ambulance, legos, and all kinds of other toys. After that, we spent the rest of the day biting our nails watching the too-close-for-comfort UT game. In the end, with Jack’s support (see picture above), the Horns pulled out a win!

Peggy was very thoughtful and found a really nice half marathon to run on Sunday that started right by their house! I had searched the web for a race to do this weekend, but obviously not hard enough b/c this race was perfect. After 2 miles on big road, the route ducked in the Rock Creek Park trail system that is really quite scenic as it winds through the forests surrounding Rock Creek. The 2 miles on the road and a wave start prevented the trails from becoming too crowded. This race was well thought out. The weather was perfect with temps in the 50s and I ran hard.

It was great to see Mike, Peggy, and Jack cheering me on at the finish where they helped to push me to a new PR by 30 seconds with a time of 1:37:11 (7:25 min/mile). This race had some serious competition as they were actually paying $25-50 for the top 3 finishers in EACH age group! I’ve never seen this done before! I came in 33/107 in my AG, and the top 13% overall. Not too bad for a spur of the moment race.

Overall, I had great time catching up with Mike and Peggy and playing around with Jack. A perfect weekend!

More pictures here.

This past weekend, Sarah and I embarked on our 2nd triathlon adventure/destination race of the year, Timberman 70.3 in Lake Winnepausakee, NH. Our first destination race/vacation was the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in San Francisco where it was cloudy and cold. The 70/50 weather for this trip however was an awesome break from the 105 degree heat in Dallas.

On our way up to NH from BOS, we drove most of the 56 mile bike course and I got my first glance at the steep and semi-long hills that I’d be stuggling up in a few days. A little intimidating, but I was glad to have seen them before race day. Later this day, we went on scenic hike up to the summit of Mt Major in Alton Bay. The description of this hike said it was only moderately difficult 1.8 mile trip to the summit, but we soon found out otherwise. It had some really steep sections with large boulders to climb. However, the effort was well reward at the summit with incredible 360 degree views of of the lake and surrounding mountains.

On Friday morning, I went for short swim to get used to my wetsuit again and Sarah went for jog. After cleaning up, we boarded the famous M/S Mount Washington cruise for a 2.5 hour trip around the lake. After getting over my anger for forgetting my camera, we really enjoyed ourselves. The cruise offered an unique perspective of the lake and its 272 habitable islands! We also met an interesting local who told us all about how they’d ice fish on this lake in a few months when it’d be completely frozen over. After the cruise, we drove to the other side of the lake to visit the Castle in the Clouds. On the road up to the house, we stopped by this wonderful waterfall and snapped a picture. Once at the “castle”, we were treated to brief, but informative history of the house and then permitted to tour its unique interior. The views from the garden outside however were the real draw. You could see much of Lake Winnepausakee and many of its gorgeous islands, and the skies were clear and the temperature perfect.

On Saturday, Sarah went for another jog while I assembled my bike and went for short ride and run. Afterwards, I went to the triathlon festival at the Gunstock Ski Resort to pick up my race packet, check in my bike, attend the pre-race meeting and listen to a Q&A session with some professional triathletes. This was fun for me as I’ve never seen a ski resort in the summer, but Sarah opted to stay at the condo and study for her upcoming GRE. After the festival, Sarah and I went to a wonderful dinner in the Shaker Village about 30 minutes away.

Sunday was race day. It was pretty cold at the start and Sarah went for a run to warm up while I waited for my wave to start. Once I got going, I had blast the whole day. The lake was crystal clear and swimming in it was a completely wonderful and different experience from the murky lakes here in Dallas. The bike was challenging with some steep and long hills, but the cooler temps made a for a very enjoyable ride. The run was the toughest part as it too was hilly, but I pushed through and finished 27 minutes faster than my previous best for this distance. If you want to know more details about my race, you can read my race report. I later found out that if I would have stayed for the “slot allocation” procedure that I would have qualified for a slot to the World Championships for the 70.3 mile distance triathlon! I’m not too upset as I probably wouldn’t have paid the $295 fee to enter it because I’ve already done 2 destination races this year and I’m doing another 70.3 race in Austin in October.

Overall, Sarah and I had great vacation. She was wonderful the whole trip and really makes these adventures so much easier and enjoyable for me. I think she genuinely had a good time and enjoyed this wonderful area of New England. I have to agree with Triathlete Magazine that Timberman is the #1 “must-do triathlon adventure”. The event itself was really organized and a blast to compete in, but the true highlight of the trip was the area itself. This lake region was really spectacular.

More pictures here.

Sarah and I went out to San Francisco (SF) this past weekend so I could “Escape From Alcatraz”. But before I jumped off the boat, we had the opportunity to do some nice sightseeing. We did a leisurely, romantic hike along some coastal bluffs on the Peninsula south of SF. We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, braved the strong, chilly winds, and took in some amazing views of the SF skyline, Alcatraz, and the bridge from the Marin Headlands. Then, after driving the bike course, we warmed up by enjoying nice hot clam chowder in a bread bowl on Fisherman’s Wharf. We even squeezed in a quick trip to Ghirardelli Square to buy some chocolate before boarding our 2 hour sunset cruise on the bay. Despite the lack of a true sunset, it was very romantic and a definite highlight of our trip. Believe it or not, this was all on Friday.

Saturday, we slept in and enjoyed a nice big brunch at one of our favorite Bay Area breakfast joints called Hobee’s. Then, we drove back up to SF for the race festival so I could pick up my race packet and goodie bag. After attending the pre-race briefing, Sarah went for a nice jog while I hopped in Aquatic Park for 25 minute practice swim in my wetsuit. Afterwards, we walked around Alamo Square as Sarah had never seen the Painted Ladies.

Sunday was race day. 3 or 4 times during the swim, I’d stop and take in the amazing and incredibly unique perspective of the city skyline, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge from water level. Words cannot describe the view or feeling, but these pictures taken from a competitor last year do a pretty good job. The 1500 racers crowded on to a short course with steep hills and pot-holed filled roads made for a tough bike. The run was sheer blast as most of it was run on trails with great views of the coast and Golden Gate Bridge. Overall it was great experience. If you want more details, you can read my full race report here.

This was my first true triathlon adventure and I couldn’t have done it without Sarah’s support. She was absolutely great all weekend. She’d wait with my huge bike case as I’d take care the rental car. She’d drive when I needed to focus on the bike course. She waited in line for me at the festival so I could walk around and see the exhibits. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful and caring wife, and I never take that for granted.

More pictures here. You can also see a short 30 second video of me crossing the finish line. Click on the broadband link on this page, and then look for me towards the middle to end.

-David

I had been accepted this spring into another TRIO training program, this time in New York! I didn’t want to pass up the offer, even though I had just barrelled through finals, gone to San Diego, and am planning to leave for San Francisco in a couple days for David’s race, since NYC can be a great location to mix work with some fun.

The training took place at The Roosevelt Hotel on 45th and Madison Ave. Theater, shopping, Grand Central Terminal, and Central Park were all within reach. I’m not a big shopper, but I did have a blast strolling through FAO Schwarz picking out cute items for Molly and gawking at $7,500 hand-carved rocking horses. (Sorry, Molly, no rocking horses from FAO for you!) I spent the majority of my free time, though, either looking for new places to dine or running at Central Park. I did a short 4-miler on Thursday, followed by a 10-miler on Saturday. Within those two runs, I expect I dodged roughly 1,000 bikers, 5,000 other runners, 900 strollers, 700 dogs, 8,000 walkers, 20 horse carriages, and a few, unexpected taxis. I didn’t get an exact count, but that felt about right. Wow! Am I blessed to live in Flower Mound where a “busy” running day means I shared the side walk with 4-6 others, or what?

Of course the highlight of the trip was taking a short visit on Friday to West Point to see Clint. I was easily able to catch a train at Grand Central to Garrison. A couple of taxis were waiting to cart passengers to WP. Knowing that the next day was graduation, I didn’t completely realize how busy post would be the day before. I thought I had left the mayhem and people in Manhattan…but I guess they followed me! Clint and I met up at Thayer Statue and headed to find his pick-up and get away from the crowds. We took a short drive to see the new rugy complex, and I did manage to get a couple of pictures. (It’s my habit to forget to take pictures.) I offered to treat Clint to lunch, and the thing he had his stomach set on was chicken fried steak at Chili’s. So, we went. It was a great opportunity to spend a couple hours visiting about all kinds of things - the war, family, his coursework, and, of course, a few well-animated stories about various “crazy characters” he’s encountered lately.

Although the trip to WP as short, it was excedingly worthwhile! It was a tough realization afterwards, though, that not only was this one of the first times in the past few years that I had this much alone-time with my brother to talk, but it may have been the last before he graduates. I will definitely try to make it a priority to get out at least one more time to share some good conversation time before he is assigned to a mission.

More pictures here.

After a long and tough semester, Sarah had earned a well deserved vacation and we decided to go visit my sister in San Diego. Cyndee had to work on Friday, so Sarah and I went to our favorite attraction, the Zoo! We absolutely love this place, especially the hippos and the polar bear exhibits. There is something really cool about seeing such majestic and large animals underwater and up close! The elephants and sea lion show were also a lot of fun. After the zoo but before Cyndee got home, Sarah and I drove to La Jolla cove so I could get in a practice ocean swim in preparation for my Escape From Alcatraz triathlon in 3 weeks. After that, the three of us grabbed some burgers and then went to see Spiderman 3.

After a Saturday morning run, we went to eat a really popular brunch place called the Hash House. We then drove down to the Harbor and Seaport Village to see a street performers competition. The performers themselves were not as interesting as simply the scenery down there. We then went the Birch Aquarium and “Children’s Pool” in La Jolla. Children’s Pool is this small protected cove where a whole bunch of harbor seals lay around and play. After another nice meal at 60s diner called Corvettes, we just chilled at Cyndee’s place. It was a great, albeit short vacation.

More photos here.