Friday, December 15, 2017

Swim Run NC 2017 race report

Bri has already written a nice report about our swim-run race, but here is my version.

It was difficult and fun. The course includes some serious terrain, including a bit of cliff-like climbing, harrowing descents, and overall slippery conditions. The total elevation gain was around 2,800 feet in 14 miles of running/hiking. The swim portions were not bad other than the sub-60 water, which you do get used to.

Our approach was to enjoy ourselves and not dilly dally more than necessary. As first timers, our transitions were slow, and we probably gave out too many high fives to our friends. No more high fives!

Bri and I did several workouts in the preceding weekends at Jordan Lake.  A few friends joined us along the way. It was good fun training and a nice way to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning with my wife.




Our toughest workout was a ~11 mile run and 1.2 mile or so swim broken up into 3 separate legs.



The actual race was fairly chilly and we enjoyed our steady approach to the race. Neither of us is a great descender, so we gave up some time on the way back down.  Had a lot of fun with our buddies cheering and Junior Awesome slapping high fives.

photo by Richard Hill






In the end we finished as the 9th place coed team with a time of 4:25, 31st overall.

The course is not for sissies. There is some serious ascending and descending, and the water temp was about 57-58 degrees. The final swim through the Dan River is more like a crazy otter float smash through shallow water and small boulders.

I was going to write a more recent update but realized I never finished this one!

Also in October, we watched FSU play Duke football.  A couple fun pics here.





More updates next week, I hope!

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Summer, summer: You turn me upside down.

Wow.  You know what I'm talking about. The whirlwind. The chaos. The crying. The screaming.  The angry rants and pounding on tables. Begging for mercy at the end of the day.

And that's you, not your spawn.

"I kid, I kid," as my Dad likes to say.

As you may have noticed, I haven't bothered sharing anything with bloggo world in a couple months. I have been on full bore summer dad duty / family trips / height of the triathlon season. We did a lot of fun stuff and I am going to document it here, even if it gives me a hernia.

Let's start with racing and training. This summer I kept it completely local:

Rex Wellness Garner sprint tri on July 23. It was good. The run was 2 miles. It was hot but I ran really well. I took 4th. The end.

Rex Wellness Wakefield sprint tri on August 12. It was good. It was a bit hot. I ran OK. I biked pretty good. I swam good. I took 3rd. The end.

Rex Wellness Knightdale sprint tri on September 17. It was good. It was not hot. The run was 2 miles. I ran pretty good. I biked really good for how much I ride. I took 3rd. The end.

Now, onto the next segment of our show: Travel tails!

Hi, I'm Space Eagle with a new report for Travel Tails! Let's get right to it, shall we?

Taking it back to June, in step one, Space Mom & Space Dad had a great time at Boone camp.  That really deserves a separate write up so I'll table that till who knows when. You're lucky I'm here right now.

It was super awesome, so here's one picture (ok, two).


I am the scary guy in front

Then, Bri went back to work/life while I toted the little Admiral up the Shenandoah Valley towards New Jersey.  I need to simplify the trip and stories into snippets and pictures:

We stopped in Harrisonburg, VA, home of James Madison to overnight on the way.  Home of JMU.  Nice little town.

 Heeeya!

 Blue Ridge on the way out of Boone area

 Playing in the hotel room in Harrisonburg

We went to Massanutten WaterPark in the morning. Off the hook for a fife year old, know what i'm sayin', dawgs. I didn't get many pictures inside, because my camera is a phone, and my phones are allergic to chlorine and water. And stupid decisions.

 The waterpark.

 The valley seen through our car. It is very pretty. This is a terrible picture and representation of it. You should look up other pictures on google images.

Into WV, home of the WV peoples.

To NJ for family fun with my sister and extended in-law family. Visited Ocean City, Point Pleasant, Avon, Ocean Grove, and the Asbury Park pinball machine museum (summary).

 Avon by the sea

We got suprised by a wave here. Genuine laughter. Not the usual fake kind I exhibit.

Our buddy's son and Junior Awesome take over Ocean Grove

Cousins and cousins-in-law on a fishing excursion

3 generations of your favorite porky-tellers

Uncle Timmy is the only one more funnier than me

Does this picture need a caption, or would a caption ruin the picture? Time will tell.

Cousins cruising the boards with ice cream and attitudes.

Boards in Bradley Beach

Pinball museum in Asbury Park. This place is really neat.

My sis and I

Adorable.

More cousins and cousins in laws

The Ocean City boards!

Fun times.


On the corner of our hotel block. Grilled cheese and quesadillas. Can't go wrong.

Our hotel room. This is $250/night in OC primetime.

My 4th zone bueno amigos from the 1990s. The middle fella (Fran) is now a Lt on the beach.

Where I spent six summers and got my perma-tan marks.

Return home over the Cape May - Lewes Ferry.  Overnight on the Southern Shore.

Time for a milk or whatever is in his hand.

Bored.


This place had great food. It was in Exmore VA. Sunrise Pizza in a gas station across the street from Hampton Inn.

AM fun before hitting the road to get home.


This was a 9 day journey all told, and we had a great time. I love my boy. He is great. He is so much fun. I was comatose for two days.

Then we did stuff around here. Lots of fun in between the work and the chores.  I don't recall what. Here are random pictures of things on my phone.




















Daycare officially wrapped up on August 10. Kindergarten didn't start until Aug 30 (1 day on the first week) and for reals after Labor day. Daddy Daycare commence.  Went to Boone area to hang with Gigi. Went to see Guns n Roses with our buds.  More stuff. A blur.






Mr. Daniel feeding the deerzs



Yes, I wear ear muffs at concerts. I also say, "pardon," and "sorry" and "what was that" a lot because I CAN'T HEAR YOU GODDAMMIT IT



Then in early August, it was off to see my Mom, sis and nieces in Orlando; visit my Dad in Miami; then back to Orlando for a re-visit. Junior Awesome & me again. Goddess Bri has some job she has to get into the office for.

Went to the Venetian pool in Coral Gables, very neat if you've never been. This went OK, he was hungry and the water was cold so we had a 45 minute emotional journey.  A giant ice cream sandwich fixed this. I am not sure what grade of parenting I give myself for that one.

Got to hang with my best man Tom and his son Tommy for a night in Miami.  Went snook fishing with my Dad and Junior.














Then we had a Five Family beach vacation week. This was awesome and I highly recommend it, if you can make it happen.  We went to the Outer Banks with some of our good buds and rocked the banks. Like we beached the shells outta that beach, you know what I'm saying?  We made that beach an offer it can't refuse.  I need to break that into a different blog for pictures.

Then we came home for the final week of Daddy Daycare. Daddy Daycare was closed for Wednesday, when Junior Awesome had his legit orientation day at KG. I think I biked and slept.

And then, Junior Awesome lost his first tooth (at/on the first day of KG for real).

And that brings you up to speed on me/us.  Bri has other things to tell you but those are her stories, not mine to share. I bid you a good day.

I said, Good Day Sir!