The Solana Beach Triathlon + A Very Special Birthday {Weekend Recap}

Hi friends! How was your weekend?

Mine was a special one because my husband turned 30! Since I had surprised him with an early birthday trip to Mexico in June, his actual birthday was pretty low-key. A had signed up for a triathlon sprint in the beach town of Solana Beach with a friend of his, so his birthday morning started off with a very early alarm.

The Solana Beach triathlon consists of a 1/4 mile Pacific Ocean swim + 9 mile bike ride + 3 mile run. The event benefitted the Challenged Athletes Foundation: Operation Rebound, which is a program for American military personnel, veterans and first responders with physical challenges. It was a pretty fitting cause for my former Marine to support!

A has really gotten into cycling lately, and has been in serious beast bike mode going for 50 mile bike rides! He also has routinely gone on runs ever since I’ve known him, so while he knew that the sprint triathlon was very doable for him, it was more about challenging himself in a race and pushing through to get his best time.

The race was fun because I got to hop around the course to see my hubby in each leg of the event and snap a few photos. The wife of our friend that competed with A is my close friend, so her and I watched our guys race together.

A had set a goal of doing the triathlon sprint in 1 hour + 5 minutes, including transition times to switch shoes/gear/get his bike, etc. In the end, he came in at 1 hour & 4 minutes, so he was happy with his efforts. He did the swim in 10 minutes, the run in 22 minutes, and the cycling portion in 28 minutes.

Watching the race, I was thinking that the swim didn’t look all that tough, but A actually said that he found the swim to be the hardest part. 1/4 of a mile doesn’t sound like a lot, but I’m sure it feels longer when you’re out in the open ocean pushing as hard as you can!

 

I was inspired watching people of all ages and abilities participate in the race, and was proud of my hubby for a job well done. This was A’s very first triathlon, and I think it was a pretty sweet way for him to ring in a new decade!

After the race, we headed to brunch with our friends and their baby at a cute local spot called Claire’s. Their multigrain pancakes with strawberries = yum.

The rest of A’s birthday was very relaxed. We napped, took Harley to the dog park, and A opened some presents. In the evening, we celebrated with a lovely dinner at home together.

I had found Gold Crush chardonnay – the wine I raved about in this post – at a wine shop the day before, so I chilled a bottle for us to try. The vintage that was available at the wine shop was 2015, and it didn’t have as buttery and rich of characteristics as the wine that I loved at the restaurant, but we still enjoyed it.

A had requested his birthday dinner to be spinach, tomato & goat cheese ravioli, so that is exactly what I made!

For dessert, we had some mini cheesecakes to dig into courtesy of Shari’s Berries. They sent me the sweet treats in celebration of National Cheesecake Day on July 30th, and it was perfect timing for a birthday dessert for A!

I paired the cheesecakes with a bottle of Kendall Jackson Reserve late harvest riesling that we nabbed on our wine country trip earlier this year. It was really nice night outside, and we took our cheesecake + wine party to the pool.

Enjoying the nice breeze from our pool as the sun set & we sipped wine and noshed on cheesecake was a pretty perfect way to end A’s birthday!

Tell me… Did you eat any dessert last weekend? Which does/would challenge you the most in a triathlon – the bike, run, or swim? 

Disclaimer: While Shari’s Berries provided me with complimentary cheesecakes, this post is not sponsored and as always, all opinions expressed are my own.