Naylor's Beach Triathlon

Camping with Caden was a new experience, to say the least! It was a little chillier than we would have liked. He woke up around 2:30 a.m. and wasn't very happy. I took him out of the pack and play and he snuggled with momma the rest of the night. The other difficult aspect was heating up his food and keeping it warm. Apparently Caden is not a fan of cold food! But all in all, it was not too bad. We went out to eat that night so Brian had some good pre-race food.

The race was at Naylor's Beach, which was about an hour and 45 minutes away (although I am still wondering where the beach was?!). It was a USA Triathlon sanctioned event so there were a lot of good athletes. Brian was apprehensive leading up to it because he did not feel adequately prepared. His cold didn't help either.

However, apparently his lack of confidence (and lack of sleep!) did not affect him because he performed awesome! He placed 20th overall and 5th in his age group with a time of 1:31:16. There were 117 male competitors. He was just a minute and a half off placing in his age group.

The race started one hour late due to fog. It was so thick they could not even seen the buoys when they swam. Brian said he had to stop a few times and focus and look around. Not good! But he was pleased with his swim for the most part, especially since he was unable to do any open water swims leading up to the event. The bike portion was difficult. Twenty-six miles is a long way and Brian has never done a race that long. He felt okay and averaged about 20 mph, which is what he expected. His run is always his strongest portion. He had the 5th fastest time out of all the runners in all the divisions at the race. He managed to pass quite a few people and move back up.

Helping Daddy prepare

Look at that fog

Coming out of the water (on the "beach")

The bike part was tough

Great job Brian!

So all in all, it was a good experience. He's still sore from the race and had to drive all the way to North Carolina that night for work the next day. Not fun! He is excited for training next year. He figures, if I can do this well without training a ton, just think what I can do if I REALLY try! Oh no. A fellow Marine approached him at the event and asked if he was interested in the Marine Corps Triathlon team. He contacted the coordinator yesterday and hopes to hear back soon.

The race motivated me too. I miss racing! I've been running a lot lately, with Caden in the jogging stroller, and am almost back to pre-baby shape. I want to run another half marathon next spring...maybe Virginia Beach? It looks like a fun race. Laurie and I always talked about doing it and now that I live here, it's only three hours away.

That's all for now. I tacked on two more fun pictures of Caden. We play peekaboo with him in the kitchen. He'll hear us calling him and come sneaking around the corner, straining his neck to see us. It's so cute. He also enjoys playing with my curtains lately. Hmmm...I have learned that a baby's favorite toys are usually not toys.

Peekaboo!


Drapes are fun

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