Monday, December 2, 2019

Another summer runs away

It was another fun summer here in the Gaal household. We did many neat things and took pictures of some of them.

My racing life was good when it counted, but toned down somewhat during the summer. I didn't feel like hitting all the local events, and the mid summer heat has gotten tougher to deal with as a 'not a youngster' anymore level.

Don't get me wrong. I can still work it, but the burning desire to crush my enemies is not so strong. :)

Anyway, in some chronological order the fun things we did include:

St Anthonys triathlon + beach / St Pete time with the Joiners

I managed 6th overall in the sprint, while Bri held up in the Olympic. We traveled with our also-from-Florida-friends and had a great time in a condo on the beach.












Crystal Coast Half + beach time with more friends

I managed 5th overall with a good swim-bike and not bad run.  We spent more time having fun with our friends the Joiners and the Honnolds.  We had a 'surprise' birthday for Bri here as well then another party for her later in the month.

If you're catching onto a theme of fun with friends, that is definitely the trend with our out of town racing.








Boone camp and New Jersey shore time.

We held our 10th annual Boone training camp, and then Junior Awesome and I hit the road to spend a week with my sister and her family. This was also fun and involved a lot of ice cream on the boardwalk.

















Outer Banks weekend

We spent a fun weekend with our friends the Hughstons and the Richards near the OBX.  Lots of kids running around for this one.







Junior racing

Junior Awesome finished his first and then second triathlon at the AE Finley YMCA tri and then the Tar Heel Youth Triathlon.  He said he enjoyed them, and btw he crushed the bike leg on both. Also, school started - 2nd grade. Also, a couple random pictures.














Return to racing

I hit the Rex Wakefield triathlon in early August and finished 6th overall. I didn't bother with any pictures for this one. Very sweaty. 

We took a quick beach weekend to do the Outer Banks triathlon, where I did the olympic and Bri did the sprint (she won). The location is nice and I enjoyed the race despite the humidity. The race itself needs some better signage/directions and car control on the course, so buyer beware if you opt for this one.

Bri returned to some racing with the Outer Banks triathlon and a super fun F1 Sprint triathlon at Sanderling Beach.  This was a bike-run-swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run. You should check it out. I managed to finish 3rd while she was 2nd.


We then closed out the season with the Dam Triathlon Sprinternational in South Carolina.  Bri caught me on the run for the overall win and a course record, while I finished as 10th male in a tough field.




Y Guides
Junior and I have also been participating in the Y Guides program with a great group. He has made some good buddies and I get along well with the dads in the band.

Life is keeping us very busy, as those of you with kids understand. It's a lot of fun and we're certainly making the most of it.

That is the seven month summary!  See you in a few more.