Beach Tri

This past weekend I got to enjoy a nice weekend at the beach with my hubby because he was participating in the Bridge 2 Bridge Triathlon at Oak Island!  So far he's only done and signed up for sprint triathlons, but this one was longer - 600 yard swim, 18 mile bike ride, 4 mile run.  He's been nervous about it but he did outstanding, finishing in 1:51:51!  He had done a practice run the weekend before with the same distances and it took him about 2:15:00, so he was thrilled with his time.  And he actually enjoyed it than all the other shorter triathlons - I think it had to do with the ocean swim!  That boy does love the ocean.

We left after lunch on Friday and arrived Saturday evening.  We stopped by the beach to pick up Pete's race packet and go check out the beach.  Neither of us had ever been to Oak Island before and we were stunned to see that when the tide was in the ocean came right up to the dunes!  It was beautiful though, so quiet and less crowded than the beaches we usually visit.

We had dinner that night with Pete's law partner, Earle, and his family.  Earle is the one who really got Pete started doing all of these triathlons.  He is super fast though, he always wins his age group and usually the Masters category as well at our local races!  He cooked his traditional pre-race meal - whole grain pasta with chicken, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes.  It was delicious!

Friday was an early night to be up early for the race.  Pete left before me and then Earle's wife, Laura, picked me up so we could go spectate together and not have to leave quite as early...but we still left at 7:15am!  Another lawyer from Salisbury was also participating so we hung out in a big group waiting for the race to start.  I brought my sign, which is going to be a staple at any race Pete and Earle participate in together!

The participants were assigned to waves by age group, so Pete went out first.  I knew as soon as I saw him go into the water that he was going to love it and do awesome!  Swimming is his strong point in any tri but I knew the ocean would be great for him...he will ride waves all day long if you let him.

Since the bike ride was long and I knew I'd only be able to see Pete at start and finish, I went for my own run on the beach during that portion of the race.  It was my first ever beach run and I was nervous about how the sand would feel.  It was certainly a challenge and it took me about a half mile to feel warmed up to it, but after that it was amazing.  The sand was packed hard and the tide was out so I had plenty of space to run.  Oak Island is a pretty non-crowded beach in general, but at that hour there was hardly anyone out and I felt like I had the beach all to myself!  It was beautiful, perfect temperatures with a light breeze, and I wish I'd had time to do more than just 3 miles!

After the race, Pete and I hightailed it back to the hotel to clean up and then we headed straight to the beach for some relaxation.  I brought a book to read but ended up just talking with Pete and enjoying the views.

We had dinner that night with our little group at a delicious restaurant called the Provision Company.  I had grilled tuna and Pete had crabcakes, and it was just a great evening of hanging out with friends and talking about races and training strategy.  The other 2 couples had kids about the same age so they all sat at the end of the table and played card games together.  Afterward we took a walk out along the pier and enjoyed the weather and the sunset.  A wonderful end to a wonderful weekend...just wish we could have stayed longer!