O.M.G. 2020

What a dumpster fire this year has turned out to be. Covid and the awful political/social climate of the U.S.A. 

We have been keeping it close to home. Dinners on Friday nights at outdoor seating restaurants.  Occasional outdoor get together with 1-2 other families. Limited playtime for Junior Awesome. Tele-schooling. 

So much for ambitious racing plans. 

On the good side, we have grown closer as a family. I get to be buddies with the little man quite a bit. We took a relaxing week-long vacation to the southern Outer Banks in late summer. 

We've all been able to keep up with regular exercise and training. Nothing crazy but staying fit, for the time when things return to some semblance of normalcy.

Doing a fair bit of reading. Playing games with the boyo and family. Lots of family movie nights. 

The dog is good and is happy we're all home so much.

I hope you all are doing as well as our dog.

Training and racing in 2020

No one would like the situation we’re in, but we’re here and we need to make the best of it. Clearly a number of events are going to be cancelled or rescheduled in such a way that it might as well be a different event.  I’m not a professional statistician, but a few predictions regarding endurance events:

April events 99% probability of cancellation

May events 80% “”

June events 60% “”

I would not want to take a shot at predicting any further, but it will all depend on if we as a world are able to contain, cure, vaccinate, eradicate, and what the timetable for all that is.  Suffice it to say, the spring and potentially summer seasons appears glum with regards to large scale athletic events.  I am hopeful that things are under control for later summer and fall events.

What does that mean for you?  While it will be personally disappointing to have to miss your planned events, it behooves you to maintain your healthy life and exercise routines.  One part of having a strong immune system is being fit. Another is getting good sleep. A third revolves around a healthy diet. And lastly, avoiding stress (bad for your health) and panic (bad for your mental state).  So all the things you are doing well now, you should keep doing. 

We are going to face some challenges regarding access to pools, gyms, and potentially even group workouts.  We do have accessible open bodies of water, and if you don’t have a TRX type setup at home, now might be a good time to invest in one.  

As endurance athletes we have the mental fortitude to do quite a bit (or all) of training alone, so you’re ahead of the curve on this one.

Don’t get discouraged or depressed about things that are beyond your control. Do the best you can, and keep on keeping on!

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay positive.

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.