Sunday, July 24, 2011

Things good.

Things good.  Swim races went well yesterday.  Here are pictures.

 "Try to swim a straight line as fast as you can"

Everyone is always in such a hurry

Very hot around here right now!  Keeping busy. Off for vacation this week, going to explore the NE quadrant of the US.  Visiting the Boston area and coastal Maine.  Fun times!

See you next week.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Ch ch ch ch changes

Well if you have not been tuning in to my wife's briblog, you may have missed the news.  The Gaal family will be expanding by one in the next few months.  He is heir to the throne in our little hereditary monarchy.   King of the castle!  We are looking forward to the next chapter in the adventure we call life.  Time flies, life is a miracle, don't waste a second, and so on.

And that's all I have to say about that.  I may occasionally post some news about this most interesting development, but don't look to me to be a baby daddy blog.  In general, I am about as sentimental as a suitcase.

In other news:

Been very busy.  We have started a couple XC practices for the high school team each week and summer triathlon season is in full effect.  The next open water swim is right around the corner, coming up this Saturday.  As it turns out with all the various trips and what not I won't race again until mid-September.  This is fine since I've already done a bazillion triathlons and runs and swims.   Next year has been given to briblog to race as much as she wants, while we make googoo faces and clean poop.

Well, this doesn't count the 10th annual Margarita Mile in mid-August.  This is a mile race hosted by the Downtown YMCA Running Club in Orlando.  Bri and I ran with the group for several years and as it turns out were the inaugural winners of this prestigious event.  We made some great friends through the group and will be heading down in mid-August to cheer/socialize/race.  I don't think I have another sub-5 in me but it won't be for lack of trying.  Bri ran 5:17 and I ran 4:51 in 2001.  Those report are certainly buried somewhere on our old blogs if you have a ton of time to waste today.

 I have caught a few minutes of the Tour de France here and there but am not getting to sit and watch for a few hours straight, which is awesome.  It is like watching golf. 

I cannot wait to see Cowboys and Aliens.  I am just so geeked out about this movie.  If it sucks I will be escorted from the theater for screaming at the screen.  I mean, it has got cowboys, which are awesome, AND sci-fi stuff, which is awesome.  How could it be bad.  Seriously.

Rock on.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Old School #2

Old School Aquathon #2 went well despite storms on the horizon and some wind chop on the first swim.  It had been storming on and off in the Triangle area throughout Wednesday, and the "what's going to happen" emails started coming in from participants.  I sent an email blast to everyone explaining that we planned to host the race and only cancel if absolutely necessary.  Scattered thunderstorms = bad in some places and fine in others.

There was a dark cloud on the horizon rumbling at us, but it held off and we were able to start the race just a few minutes behind schedule.  We had about 80% of the field there which is good, considering 10-15% are no shows no matter what is going on.  (That is why Ironman overbooks its races).

The format was something I thought people would enjoy, and the location (Vista Point sailboat launch area) was perfect for it - a short swim with a good beach to dash in and dash out on, and quickly onto a quiet road for the out and back run.  3 x 300 meter swim and 1 mile run. 

The buoys both launched when a strong sustained gust came in, and pushed one of the buoys into a shallow area, allowing people to dive/walk for an extra 50 yards.  Just to keep it interesting.

All in all it looked like everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves.  We all then gorged on PBJ sandwiches and generic soda.

I would post pictures but have none this time, was in the water for most of the race.  We need to hire a staff event photographer.

It has been a busy week / month / year so far.  It looks like I won't be doing any triathlon racing in July or August, we are traveling a bit and the weekends I am around there is nothing local and I'm not interested in driving 2+ hours those days.   Will just get some good group rides in.   Will look for a 5k to do.

Next up are the Little Uno and Big Deuce 1 and 2 mile swims, also at Vista Point!