Many Random Updates

In case you were worried, I didn't die in the first San Francisco area earthquake (in fact, I didn't even know it happened until a NYC friend sent me an email). I have no excuse for my delinquent blogging other than the fact that I've been traveling, training, and avoiding my computer :)

But, I have been reading your blogs (mostly on my phone, thus hard to comment), and I'm so impressed with everyone's training and races so far! Keep up the great work!

This post will be full of random things that I've been meaning to write about...

Today marks 4 weeks since we arrived in San Francisco. I took advantage of my time off and headed back to Minnesota for about two weeks to hang with my family. It was wonderful to spend so much time there, my longest visit since I last lived there in 2003, but it also made me miss my family even more... I spent oodles of time with my nieces and we had a blast. I can't wait for my next visit (or for them to come to San Francisco, hint hint).
Last weekend we went up to Sanoma with a few other members of the Golden Gate Tri Club (GGTC) and did the Vineman 70.3 bike course. It was a great course and a very beautiful ride (and the weather was perfect). Much of the ride looked like this:


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I think this is the longest continuous ride that I have done. I felt good, although I will need to work on my nutrition for longer rides. I was starving by the time I got back to the truck. I ate a pack of Sport Beans and then went out for a 40 minute run. After the beans I felt better and the run felt pretty good.

On Sunday we went for our first open water swim in Aquatic Park. It was beautiful and cold. Very cold. It is going to take awhile to get used to that water... Also, I get a little queasy swimming in salt water. Has anybody else had that problem? Any suggestions? I think I'm going to have to eat a peanut butter sandwich or something between the swim and bike for Escape from Alcatraz.

Monday night was the monthly GGTC meeting. We had a presentation by the Night Trainer Swimmers. According to their website: Night Train is a group of open-water swimmers dedicated to raising money for charity through ultra-distance swimming events around the world. Founded in 2008 to raise money for a local San Francisco Bay Area Charity, the team is now 12 members strong and completing multiple events each year.


Image: Peter Sorcher, Sorcher Films
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Several Night Train team members joined us to share their experience of just completing a swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands, about 30 miles. This is the first time that this swim has ever been completed. This was their fourth attempt (the first success after three failed attempts) and it took their six person relay team 14 hours, 45 minutes and 8 seconds to complete. The water was 50-54 degrees and they do the swim without wetsuits. The relay is done in 1 hour shifts, where each swimmer goes for an hour and then they tag off and repeat for as long as necessary. If you have 10 minutes, I would highly recommend watching this video about their 4th attempt! It is amazing, inspiring and uplifting. Some of these guys have been swimming for many years, but I know that the blond girl, Kim (a computer programmer from New Zealand) told us that she just started doing open water swimming 18 months ago. Now, she is breaking world records. Unbelievable.

That's all for now folks. I hope to post again sooner rather than later :) Happy Training!