Assateague Assault

Our primary reason for visiting Assateague the weekend of Father's Day was so Joe could participate in an early morning triathlon held at the park. The triathlon has a mandatory 6:45AM meeting for all participants. Staying at the campground meant Joe could get up early, attend the meeting and get all his triathlon gear set without having to drag his entire family out in the wee hours of the morning. It was a good plan.  Despite some unexpected bumps in the road the evening before causing a later than normal bedtime, Joe did wake early, attend the meeting and start the triathlon on time. 

The triathlon began on the beach not far from our campsite with a 1/2 mile swim in the ocean.   A later than anticipated start to the triathlon meant that the kids and I got to see Joe off for the swim portion of the morning.   Four things come to mind about this portion of the race:  1.  It looked intimidating.  Watching those big waves come crashing onto the shore would have been enough to convince me to quietly slink off the beach.  2.  I'm glad he was wearing a wetsuit.  Have I mentioned it looked intimidating?  3.  Pulling a stroller on the beach is hard work.  I wouldn't advise it.  4.  I forgot the camera.  It was 7:15AM.  I can't be expected to remember to capture these events on film, can I? 

After watching him run into the ocean and not knowing if we'd ever see him again, I decided we should head back to camp and get the van and drive to the transition area, just to make sure he survived.  After a quick survey of the parking areas, one of which was closed and one of which was full, I unabashedly played the "I have four small children aged 4, 3, 2, and 9 months and there's nowhere to park and they can't walk the mile from our campsite  card" to some higher-up with the race.  He very kindly pulled his sleek, sporty, cool-guy truck out of its spot and allowed me to park my nerdy, dirty, soccer mom minivan in his parking spot.  Next to seeing Joe come around the corning with his bike, it was definitely the highlight of the morning.

Truth be told I almost missed Joe come around the corner with his bike because I was staring at someone else who was running and carrying their bike.  I was contemplating if I should shout out to him that the bike had wheels and that he could roll it along the ground instead of carrying it and that it might make for an easier time, when Joe whizzed by us and waved.  He transitioned to the run 

and a half hour later, we were doing this

and this.

The final stats for the morning are as follows:

1/2 mile swim:  21:25

14 mile bike ride:  45:09

3.1 mile run:  24:13

Total time:  1:34:47

Well done, Joe!