Wrightsville Beach sprint report, long workout breakdown

Combining a few days into this post.

The Wilmington YMCA Sprint Triathlon at Wrightsville Beach sprint went well.  I felt solid in everything and finished 6th overall, 1st in the Masters category.  I like the race since it has a long saltwater swim followed by a short bike and fast (slightly short of a 5k) run, and is as flat as it gets around North Carolina.  Here are pictures.

I like to nap between sports. (4th swim split - 16:23)

My shoes are falling apart. (7th bike split - 29:47)

Where's the food? (33rd run split -19:16)

Last week was uneventful.

This past Saturday I wound up doing a funny super-dork-style triathlon workout.   Met my XC kids for a run at 7AM (6 miles).  Road with one of my athletes for 24 miles.  Stopped at the lake to swim for 1.2 miles.  Famished after the swim and having eaten 4 gels already, rode to a nearby store and replenished.

Finished the ride (another 24 total) and then ran 3 miles off the bike.  I have a cast iron stomach and this meal did not phase me.  Note that I didn't eat all the Doritos.

Throughout the weekend I painted the baby room.

I was covered in paint by the end of the day, hence the shirtless look here.  

No more racing until Beach 2 Battleship Half on October 29, just some long training days!

Tomorrow morning I'm going to attend a Dave Ramsey Entreleadership workshop here in Raleigh.  A friend's company is sponsoring the event and it looks interesting.  I will summarize the session on this blog if I am inspired and have a few minutes to spare.

Wilmington YMCA triathlon

Tonight we're headed to Wrightsville Beach for the Wilmington YMCA Triathlon tomorrow morning.  It is a sprint with a long swim and a slightly short run, which is great for me.  In days of yore I could use the swim to put a big gap on most of the field and then hold them off as long as possible, but these days my 5,000-6,000 yards per week just holds a small lead on most and loses a lot to the real swimmers.  Regardless, I enjoy the race and am looking to have a good run, the weather is going to be cool which helps me tremendously.    My run is my strongest leg right now on a personal basis, relatively speaking the swim is still best but not what it used to be. 

If I can finish top 10-15 overall it's a good day, the race has 1200 people and a lot of top competitors from the Carolina area.  A Masters division podium finish would be nice but am not counting on it.

I may do the Pinehurst sprint on October 2, and then all that's left after that is the Beach 2 Battleship Half on October 29.  I am training to break 4:30 at that race.

On Sunday we're doing an open water swim clinic at Wrightsville Beach.

Have a nice weekend, y'all.

family weekend

We had a fun but short visit to Fl to see Bri's sister and then my sister and father and their significant others.  We stopped into Jacksonville and ran a local 5k on Saturday morning.  I turned a several year PR with 18:53, flat course with moderate humidity.  I have been fighting to get back under 19 for a while so it was satisfying to see the clock on the run in.  I also finished 2nd male, 3rd overall, which is fun.

After that it was beach resort relaxation time with my relatives.  While we stayed right on the beach we did not actually a get an ocean swim or even a body surfing session in; there was very little time to just sit and chill.  Bri and I are headed to Wrightsville Beach this weekend so we'll make up for it there.

Pictures below

 The in-laws

 My sis and nieces and big dumb brother-in-law

 Me and my lovely baby-momma

 I'm not flexing, really

 The progenitor

 The whole gang

Life is flying by

Time is flying by as we cruise along the highway of life.  Our dog is snuggled up next to me while Bri drives and I hide from the sun in the backseat in order to work on the laptop, having enabled the hotspot feature on our smartphone.  I am a slave to technology, there is no stopping time or the timely requirements of my job.  Today blends into tomorrow blends into next week and pretty soon we will have a little son to accompany us, laugh cry poop eat and learn how to sleep all in one ferocious tiny ball of life and love.  I am up at 515 most mornings and check out mentally around 9pm, settling down on the couch for a few minutes of mindless entertainment or open an equally pointless book about dragons and elves and ghosts and cops and robbers.   Life is good but don't forget to stop and smell the roses now and then!

We are off to sunny FL for the weekend to spend some quality time with my family.  5k tomorrow morning then just chilling out.  See you later!