Most satisfying gains made

Great thread.

Mine was simply finishing the first triathlon following a significant head injury. I was out of the sport for a year. My first race back, swim sucked. Bike was the best I've ever had. Run was good, but tough. I was really proud of coming back from the injury, obviously very slowly, and making it through the race without any hiccups. As a bonus, I made the podium, so that didn't hurt.

Seconded. I always have multiple goals for a race. Most goals are not time-related. I always have at least one, if not more, related to execution.

Without a doubt it's going from someone who could barely do 50 yards to being able to complete a 5500 meter swim workout, plus all the related speed gains.  And I also have a LOOOOONNNGGG way to go.

Second place would be the running gains I've achieved by following a plan (Daniels Running Formula) vs. just random running.

It's also swimming for me, too. I was a total non-swimmer. Starting with adult lessons at 28 years old. It was HUGE learning curve but i put in a ton of effort. My first few seasons were a total struggle - i even DNF'ed on a swim - and often was second last in my AG (I counted it as a win just to finish). My last 4 tris i had absolutely no panic at all going into the swim. One was even an IM with a mass start. I am more MOP today which i am perfectly happy with - just keep on practicing and going to my tri club swim. 

So proud to be able to do it today ... 

Getting my run times down.  I'm still slow by most standards but it's gotten me to I guess my most satisfying gain.

I started doing triathlons in my late 30's.  It was mostly a bucket list thing and something to do other then swim.  I quickly realized unless I was able to race into my 50's , probabl y60's that I would never podium in my AG.  Men AG 35-39, 40-44 and 45-49 were insanely fast.  Never really thought I ever had a chance to place.  I know it's a matter of who shows up but last year, my last year in 40-44 I some how managed 2nd in a fairly large field.  Bumped to first at awards since guy ahead of me was 3 rd OA.  That set off a freakish string of placing.  The first one last year was definitely most satisfying.   

Event wise, I'd have to say the most satisfying gains came on the bike, when I quit triathlon the first time... Stay with me!

I basically quit doing multi-sport events for several years as a way to gain back some time, and "scaled back" to biking only. I put that in quotes because it wasn't long before I was putting in as much or more time into riding and racing, and peaking at 60+ events per season (weekend and mid-week races). Yes, there were times I was racing 4-5 days a week. Anyway, the concentration on biking, and the riding necessitating me going well past what I thought I could do, threw my TT'ing to another level entirely.

And when I came back to tri, even after a few years off pretty much all aerobic exercise, the speed was still mostly there.

I would have to say as others it would be the swimming aspect. I was having such a difficult time with open ocean swimming and I have done 2 significant ocean swims without issues. I have also got much better at swimming overall, but I still have a long ways to go.

Overall I feel my mental strength gains have been probably the best, but that comes from just training and racing in general. I have completed 10 races so far this year, only 3 have been Triathlons.

My bike skills have increased hugely this year, but the swim aspect overall was the weakest in which I have made the most improvement..