Tuesday, September 30, 2014

2014 Wilmington YMCA triathlon race report

We made it down for another round of the Wilmington YMCA tri aka the Wrighstville Beach sprint.  Bri and I have done this one a number of times since moving to NC.  It is a fun weekend and we enjoy the flat and fast course.  Bri had first dibs on the race but ceded the rights to me as her training was hit and miss through the second half of the summer.  My training was a consistent OK to mediocre and I don't mind racing when not at peak shape (ominous foreshadowing and built in excuses commence). 

We arrived a bit past 9PM and got Junior situated in his travel bed.  It looks like an inflatable boat and raft combination.  He slept well in it.  We all shared a bedroom and our bed was super duper soft and small, so Bri and I were not quite as comfortable but we made it work.  The house is just across the street from the beach. I would like to buy it, but alas, we do not have beach house dollars, or much time to go to the beach, at the present moment.  Blah de blah.

Got to bed around 11 and up at 515 to chug coffee and clean out the pipes. Rode easy to the race site with one of my athletes and got my packet by 6AM.  She forgot her ID and had to make a mad dash back to the house to get it, but got back on time and everything.  I set up my transition area and said hello to other peoples I knew. It was dark. And a little chilly.  But not freezing. Like lukewarm cold soup. So it was all good.  I ate a PBJ for breakfast.  I drank water and had coffee in one of my water bottles.  Then I had a half a banana.  The other half is still in my transition bag, growing mold and smelling rather banana-y.  Speaking of bananas, have you heard the Banana song?  Singing this song is one of our family pastimes.  The rest of the channel is pretty bizarre.

Pre-swim warm up.

I digress. The water. The people. The wetsuit. I swim.  I swam through the channel with my buds.  They're not really my buds but for a moment we are all together.  Introspective life moments and confused ramblings about flowers ensue.

Getting psyched for the elite wave.

The transition run is long and I am not super duper lickity split there.  But I don't totally suck either. We bike.  People pass me and I cannot keep up with them, for they are more powerful at least on a watts to kilogram scale or perhaps more aerodynamic and equally powerful, and I am slightly less powerful or not as aerodynamic in this present iteration of myself.  Yay, though I do forethwith enjoy the ride, but as the ride progresses I grow thusly tired. Wheels keep on turning and winds keep on blowing. Rah rah rah.

Transition to the run. The first elite woman was close behind.

The run begins. I spot my honey and my sonny awaiting me at the run exit.  I get a high five and a smooch. Then we begin to run.  We don't feel tremendous and do feel just basically tired, but we also don't feel terrible either neither.  We hold even miles of about 7:00 or under pace. This is Our default no-intervals recently type of pace. People pass me.  We curse them profoundly for being faster and/or in better shape than the me who races. Two more pass Us close to the end and they are the victims of hateful stares at the back of their backs.  We finish.  The race is over but Our journey to the next race begins. Just a few hundred more sunrises until then. We shall meet on the beach, rub the sand in our toenail fungus and pee in our wetsuits.

Post race stretching.

In the end, I finished 12th overall and 3rd in the master's division. This is not shabby and I'm pleased to not be shabby in my athletic dotage.  Next up is time to refocus on some running - signed up for the Skinny Turkey half marathon on Thanksgiving and will do the Umstead Trail Marathon in March 2015.

Au revoir.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

New digs

Hello, my children.  How are you?

We outgrew our previous home with the arrival of Junior Awesome.  I work from home and while my work is all about sports and fitness, it is still a job and I need some space to get things done.  With our new house I have my own office (with a keep out sign on the door) rather than a shared guest room office.  We also have some space for Junior to play instead of having toys scattered all over the living room.  And a place for our bikes.  And so on. 

 Lightning McQueen and Mater are right at home

 Junior took this pic.  He is still working on framing.

 I moved all this stuff.

Welcome home, caped crusaders.

I moved a bunch of boxes on day one, then we had two movers come help on day two with the heavy lifting.  I also did some lifting.  Packing and moving was exhausting but we got it done.  Bri's Mom came into town and we toughed it out and went to see a Beatles cover band on Saturday night.

 The Revolvers and Bri at The Cary Theatre.

Lots more has been going on but there is only so much time in the day.  We are still unpacking boxes and all that.  Training for both of us took a major nose dive for several weeks but we're getting back on track.  Bri plans to race the Wrightsville Beach half-marathon and I will be giving the Umstead Trail Marathon a go, both in March.

Adieu.