July 4th Weekend: The All-American Workout Plan

For many Americans, the July 4th weekend was punctuated with BBQ, beer, bikinis, fireworks and some much deserved R&R.

I, however, spent the weekend training! (Ok, I had a few PBRs. Well, like 12 cans of PBR. And something called a “Central Valley Shot.” And then there was that pitcher of Sangria. But it was my patriotic duty, right?)

Saturday was spent in Marin. The TNT captains took us biking from Sausalito to Corte Madera, around the Tiburon peninsula and back. It was a great ride even though a 1.5″ drywall screw punctured my rear tire and forced me to learn how to repair a flat on the side of the road. The ride took about 2-2.5hrs and made me much more comfortable on my bike and using gears more efficiently.

Sunday was my first swim in open water at Aquatic Park in the San Francisco Bay! While all the other SF dwellers were wading around the cool blue waters of Lake Tahoe in their bikinis, I was stroking through the gloomy brown freezing depths of The Bay in my 3/4 surfing wetsuit, swim cap, and goggles. Hot.

Ahhhhhh! What’s that popping out of the WATER?! A rare sighting indeed…

Then, immediately after swimming, we did the Escape From Alcatraz run ~7mi. under the Golden Gate Bridge to Baker Beach and up the dreaded sand ladder.

This photo does not do justice to the steepness of the Sand Ladder

Yeah, God Bless America.