Race travel with a baby

A half Ironman should not be a big deal. I have done more than a dozen of them, and one May I did two, with a Saturday/Sunday Memphis in May double thrown in the middle.

I think it is the packing this time around. I haven't done a race lasting over an hour and a half in, um, almost 3 years? There's all that stuff involved. Then there's the baby stuff. How can such a little guy need so much? Plus the weather is going to be on the cooler side, which involves more clothing. Wetsuits, tire pumps, breast pumps, strollers, baby books, toys, sunscreen, and on and on. I'm lucky to have a personal bike packer this time around, and the actual travel should be relatively short with our direct flight (woohoo!) into San Diego.

My mind is jumping around from remembering where Hunter's birth certificate is to how scary a kelp-filled harbor swim will be. Should I go with the neoprene swim cap or not? And remind me again what 65% humidity feels like; does it make 60F feel colder or warmer?

And just like that, we are here. For a few more lucky months (can you hear my sarcasm?), Jeremy is active duty, so we get to stay in a Camp Pendleton resort with the ocean literally yards from our doorstep. Ok, so the beach is really wide, so it's like 400 yards, but a direct and unobstructed line.

The water is cold, the wind is strong, and sand hurts when it blows in your eyes, but Hunter's first wade into the ocean brought a big smile to that curly headed little baby.