more Wrightsville Beach sprint triathlon details

If my teaser of an ending on my last blog post didn't hook you in, then you're just not a good reader.

We enjoy the Wrightsville Beach sprint aka the Wilmington YMCA sprint because it's at the beach and is short, all things considered.  The swim is 1500 meters but with an incoming current so more like a 1200-1300 swim.  The bike is under 12 miles and the run is usually a bit short of a 5k although this year is was a bit over a 5k.

The past 3 races we have rented a house with a few of our friends and athletes and had a great time hanging out, racing, then hanging out some more.  Over the years I've been 5th, 7th, 32nd or so (bad year of training) and DNF'ed last year with a busted up foot -I did the swim-bike but had to walk through transition to get to my bike, then was not able to run.

My Mom came up to hang out with Junior Awesome for the weekend and give us a couple days to ourselves, which is a real treat.

Here is the beach we stayed at:

It is very nice.

Bri and our friend Alysia signed up for the beach cruiser division.  Here they are practicing.

Later that evening I danced with myself in the pale moonlight.

The race: My training has been going pretty well as I'm getting into 'better' shape for the Beach 2 Battleship Half Iron on October 26.  Riding 2-3 x a week with a long 65+ miler in there.  I usually do1 harder swim then 2 easy shorter swims.   Running is up and down as far as intervals go but I've been consistent with a 10+ miler each week and in the 20-25 mile / week range.

In the days before the Saturday morning race I ran 11 miles on Thursday and rode 75 miles on Friday; this is just how the week worked out for me and historically makes little difference in how I feel on race day.

Race day:
Swim: 3rd out of the water and felt pretty good for how much I actually swim hard.

T1: pretty good but it is a long run and I'm not a sprinter.

Bike: Felt strong, wound up getting caught or passed by 5 other riders as the race progressed and it turned into a legal type 'group' ride. 24-25mph type pace.  Since it was raining we had to dismount at the bridge and run across and 2 more guys caught up to me here.

T2: Super duper fast.

Run: Hung with the fast guys for about 5 minutes then realized I could slow down or blow up. 20:06 which is a 2013 triathlon-season best PR.

Finished in 10th overall and 4th in the open masters category.  It is great to see my fellow older guys still kicking some butt on race day.

Here is how Junior Awesome felt on hearing my splits and results.

Adieu.

Wilmington YMCA sprint and word explosion with Junior

It has been a while since I have blogged anything in earnest.  This time of year is very tight on free time with high school cross country season as well as a lot of end of season racing for my adult kids.  I am also in the process of sculpting myself into a pretty fit triathlete for a handful of weeks in prep for Beach 2 Battleship half-Iron on October 26.  Anyway, most of what I do is fun but the time adds up sometimes.

First things first: I meant to make this post a month ago.  Junior is at that stage of toddler-dom where the words are about to explode.  He is 21.5 months old as of today.  Here is a fairly comprehensive list of the words we have heard him say.

Momma
Dadda
Tassie
Gigi (grandma)
Nana (grandma)
hi
dog
ball
meow
rarrr (lion)
woof (dog)
elmo
agua
mas
no mas
ayuda
book
poo (Winnie the)
owe (owl of Winnie the)
boo-boo
poo-poo
pee-pee
nana (banana)
appa (apple)
mil (milk)
mout (mouth)
eye
noss
eeh (ear)
teef (as in my teef needs to be cleaned)
hea (head)
too-too or tat-too or thak-too (thank you)
choo choo
tren/train
bye-bye
bike
modobi (motorbike)
bus!
car!
carro
baby
bebe
cheese (food or pictures)

a few others not springing to mind right now.

new as of this week or so
pizza
running
light
cheers (we clink glasses at dinner)

In the triathlon world, things have been going well.  I did the FS Series aquabike on Sep 15 and felt good with a 21 swim and 2:30 bike on a tough course.  The swim was a little short.

I have been getting out 2x a week during the week for longer sessions on the bike in order to reserve the weekends primarily for family fun times.  Up to 75 miles on the long ride and planning to do a 125 or so next weekend with some buds by riding to the beach from here.

This past weekend we met up with our crew in Wrightsville Beach for the Wilmington YMCA sprint.  I like this race and enjoy hanging on the beach for a couple of days.  I raced well and was 10th overall.  I would post pics but this stupid website won't let me copy the sample pictures of how awesome and fit I look at the moment.  I would also write more details about the race but am already tired of typing. 

So in the words of Junior Awesome, "bye bye!"
 

bathtime with Junior

Junior: Whee la la la la whale ball agua agua haahahhahah
Mom: Yes that's right it's agua, don't drink the bath agua it's not for drinking
Junior: -takes cup and fills it, drinks agua- hahahah
Mom: Yucky water!
Junior: fini shunu neeno toombo? Bawena agua tawnee denonah
Mom: Uh-huh.
Junior: -takes a crap- - acts surprised- AAh! Aaah nononono bawanee nona toonee nasoo!?! Translation: who crapped in my tub and OMG get me out of here!
Mom: OK buddy, bathtime's over!

Fini.

Being too busy means you are a schmuck

14 reasons you are too busy:

1. You are wasting time on the internet/tv.
2. You sleep too much.
3. You spend time trying to convert frenemies. Absolute waste.
4. You don't know how to say no.
5. You crave power and influence and wealth and try to keep up with the Jones'.
6. You find downtime leaves you with nothing but yourself, and you don't like you.
7. You are in love with your Facebook profile.
8. You write lists that sum things up in 14 succinct points.  What other word has 3 Cs in it? If you think about that too long, you're wasting time.
9. You read number nine!
10. You procrastinate.
11. You justify your procrastination with self-publishing on a blog.
12. You read semi-historical fiction novels then write fan fiction on minor fictional characters, giving them depth and substance.  Wait, that might make you some dough.  I'd scratch out this line but that would waste my time.
13. You didn't maximize your earning potential with quality choices early in life and now blame others for your misfortune while singing bad karaoke in your local dive bar.
14. You can't count past fourteen, which is absolute hell on birthdays.

mountain weekend

Bri and I headed to the mountains in the Asheville area last weekend to enjoy some clean mountain air and get in a couple of events at the Lake Logan Multisport Festival.  This part of our state is absolutely gorgeous and if time and circumstance allowed, we would spend significantly more time there.

We brought Junior with us (we left Tassie with her boyfriend Mocha) and met up with OSBer Frank R and sis-and-bro-in-law Shana and Scott at the Wicked Weed Brewery. The beer was really good and I have had lots of them so you must just take my word for it.

Afterwards we headed to Bri's father's Maggie Valley cabin.  Bri and I have spent 3 or 4 anniversaries here as well as random other weekends for relaxing and fun.   It is situated on a stream and has a nice porch on which to just relax and forget about your problems for a while.

Bri won the international race on Saturday while I played cars chase crash go go go with Junior at the cabin.  We opted to take turns going to the races rather than get little man up at 4am.  Bri had a great race and you can read about it here.

While she raced Junior and I took a few selfies around the cabin.

We also watched all of Elmo goes to Grouchland (in pieces), which is awesome.

She had driven over with Frank and on their return they took over entertainment of the little guy while I got in a short bike ride in the Maggie Valley area.

Frank is a genius with toddlers so if you ever need someone to entertain your kids for a few hours, or a mortgage refinance, give him a call.

On returning from the ride we played around and took a few fun-time pictures.

That evening we headed into Waynesville so we could check out the Bear Waters Brewery.  Their beer is also very good (the wheat is excellent) and worth a visit if you get out that way. 

After that we visited yet another brewpub called Tipping Point Tavern.  These guys are more of a restaurant and bar with a small brewing operation.  The decor/setup is very good and their Punch in the Face IPA is worth a visit.

On Sunday it was my turn to do the Aquathon - 1500 meter swim then 5k run.  There are not many options to do races like this and this year it was the USAT national championship so I decided to give it a whirl.

Pre race I ran into the DeHart's, who have done and won several of our own Old School Aquathons over the years, as well as my old racing and training buddy Andy Farrell.  I first raced Andy in 1998 at a sprint triathlon in Clermont and we have gone back and forth many times since.  Here are selfies:

The race itself went OK, not great, but not terrible, and I am happy to just get out and move around without a broken foot and all that.  I had a really good swim and came out in 3rd.  Might have gone harder than my training has really been geared towards. :) On the run I felt a bit heavy and stiff - the effort and HR was there but the legs were not responding as well as it did at the Cary 5k the previous weekend.  I also have not done a swim-run workout in about a year.  Ah well, you cannot feel good-great all the time and this was one of those.  The run is 1.5 miles essentially uphill then back down.  I survived the uphill then pushed the return trip as well as possible and finished in 16th overall, 4th in my age group.  

After the race we packed up Mr Junior Awesome and hit the road.

Next up will be a local race on August 18 at the Rex Wellness Wakefield facility, then a month until the Wilmington YMCA triathlon on September 21.

July 2013 racing updates

July has been a good month for racing here at OSB headquarters.

Early on July 20 one of our super babysitters got to the house at 5AM so we could head up to the Burlington area to race in the Mission Man triathlon.  We'd heard great things about it but never had the chance to go for various reasons.  It is a great venue and race.

Neither of us were feeling particularly well rested after something of a strenuous week, but we enjoyed our Saturday morning date.

 Bri and the FS Series contingent

Bri and Your Humble Narrator, The Royal We

I have not had the time or desire to train like I did in the old days, and have been gracefully adjusting my expectations and goals.  It can be a little hard at times to confront the reality of not being as quick or spry as We used to be, but with some slices of humble pie and a little bit of grace, We make do.  Focus on the fun and fitness!

Bri did great as usual, taking 2nd OA to some fast young Yankee from up north.  

I also did well, finishing 10th OA (also behind the fast girl) with a good race across the board.  I Powerstroked (shameless plug) my way to first place on the swim then went backwards from there. :P

We finished the morning with a breakfast date at Denny's on the way home.

Sunday July 21 we hosted the Little Uno and Big Deuce open water swims.  Had a great turnout with 200+ swimmers.  Our major concern with these is swimmer safety, everything else is secondary.  We always buy 50-75% extra t-shirts and almost always come up short as a ton of folks sign up late.   Anyway, the swims went well, you can see a bunch of pictures on the Triangle Open Water Series Facebook page.

 Start of the 2 mile Big Deuce swim

Onto this weekend, we signed up for the Cary Roundabout 5k here in our adopted hometown.  It was close enough for us to jog to the start, which we did.  Bri did great again, taking another 2nd OA in 19:04 which is jamming.  Junior Awesome and I also had a solid run, hitting 20:46 and scoring 3rd in our age group.  Afterwards we hung out and cheered on other runners.

Go go go!

On the way home we had a tire blowout on the stroller which scared everyone but Junior, who was like, "whatever dude, keep running!"

Next weekend we're off for a quick trip to the Asheville area to race at the Lake Logan Multisport Festival.  Bri will do the olympic distance race and I've opted for the Aquathon on Sunday, which is the USAT Aquathon National Championship.  The past couple years have seen a low turnout so I was hoping to poach some dubious bragging rights with an age group placing at 'Nationals'.  But, there are 100 or so people signed up so it's not a total cakewalk this year.

That's what we've been up to.  Keeping it real, D!

14 reasons to think in lists

1.  lists grab your attention and imply that we can fix the issues with just several simple steps

2. #lists are trending on twitter

3. any imbecile can put some numbers before some random sentences, you see what i mean?

4. it gives the writer both a goal and an end point which is awesome, because writing is hard work

5. there were ten commandments and seven deadly sins, so there is precedent

6. lists are easy to write

7. they really are.  see?

8. we are doing the mission man sprint triathlon tomorrow morning.  it will be fun.  we're both exhausted from a long week but looking forward to it.  neither of us have done it before.

9. lists make you think in an orderly process.  re: step 1 is getting out of bed, step 2 is putting on shoes so my feet don't cramp going down the stairs and i don't break my neck crashing into the wall, step 3 is making the coffee, step 4 is chugging the coffee and then pouring another cup.

10. if you have just 4 reasons you're not successful or 7 steps to success, it's an easier pill to swallow then telling you you've got 1900 variables that really make you one big clusterfudge of screwed up ed ness.

11. so sick of this list

12. make it stop

13. oh yeah lucky 13 thank you baby

14.  right. the end.  14 reasons list rock. #lists