July 9 - First Mile in the Pool!!

On a quest to escape the "summer" in SF, Knupps and I skipped out on the captain's run at Ocean Beach and drove down the 280 to sunny Palo Alto. Forty five minutes, and some 35 miles later, we were putting in the laps in Stanford's gorgeous pool. Not sure whether it was the long-course 50m pool, the sun, or the proximity to the ribbing I took in Stanford's water polo pool (see reason #5), but things started to come together - and I logged a 1600m workout. It still wasn't pretty, but it was my first mile in the pool.

We followed up the pool workout with a killer run to/around the Dish - about 8mi total - including the notorious 3.3mi loop with over 600' of elevation. I definitely forgot how hard that run was... Thank god for the friendly Canadians in San Mateo who offered hot dogs, bananas, honey, nutella, peanut butter, toast, pretzels, and home made banana bread to replenish our glycogen levels.

Check out the video below... Oh, and 6 weeks to race day!!!

July 4 Weekend - Lake Tahoe!!!!

I took the training up to Tahoe for July 4th weekend to celebrate Independence Day in style - complete with hiking gear, skis, bikes (yeah I finally figured out the bike rack), and of course - board shorts and Rainbows. Didn't get a chance to use the skis (we did see some fantastic pond skimming at Squaw - complete with a gnarly tandem wipeout into the safety fence), but got in some great hiking and biking, paired with the requisite amount of celebratory drinking and phenomenal company.

Check out the videos...

Saturday hike up to the snow-covered summit of Rubicon peak - 9183' - just over a 2mi hike with 2300' of elevation:

And the "ride" down:

On Sunday, I rode down 89 towards Emerald Bay... those rolling hills definitely pack a punch at 6300'...

The parting view of Chambers Landing:

Saturday June 25th - First Day on the Bike Course

So I rationalized sleeping through the Captain's ride this morning by promising myself I would ride the Alcatraz bike course in the afternoon (after catching up on some much needed rest)... 26 miles and some wicked hill climbs later, I realized this bike course is no joke...

Baby Bella Vacation and Training in Hood River

I ventured up to Hood River last week to spend some time with my family and my sister's new baby - Isabella June. It was an awesome trip - lots of family, beautiful weather, amazing food (including salmon Matt caught on a recent fishing trip, and a spontaneous strawberry rhubarb pie he whipped up sans recipe at 9pm), tons of training, and requisite amounts of sleep.

Baby Bella, flexing like a champ:

Awesome views on the way down to the pool:

Running through downtown:

Gil's steps:

Saturday June 18th - First Fundraiser!!

Knupps and I hosted our first fundraiser on the 18th - Flapjacks and Flipcup at the Fortress, complete with post sand ladder pancakes and pre-North Beach festival shenanigans. Thanks to everyone that came out in support from spring and summer team!!

Be sure to check out the videos below...

Flapjacks and Flipcup - that's what the Fortress does!!

Uncle Buck on the grill:

Summer Team with the come-from-behind victory over Spring Team:

Scouting Escape from Alactraz

We're now two weeks into coached practices... the training's been pretty broad - everything from swim technique drills, intervals on the track (1st time since high school), run technique work, bike maintenance, and a timed 100m swim marker set (yeah, that wasn't so pretty).

Earlier today I watched 2,000 triathletes compete in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, including my TNT mentor, Lisa, who swam as part of a relay team. Escape from Alcatraz is the closely related cousin to the SF Triathlon at Alcatraz, slightly longer swim, shorter bike, and the same grueling run. The thunderstorms held off and the weather was gorgeous (proving once again that meteorologists in SF have a tough job). Biggest takeaway from today was to pick the right line in the swim... you definitely don't want to overshoot and get stuck fighting the current back to the swim exit.

T-minus 11 weeks until I'll be in a similar picture...

It's Official... Let the Training (and Fundraising) Begin!!

We had our big kickoff meeting this weekend for Team in Training's summer season. I met a ton of new people - from participants, to mentors, to coaches... and most importantly, this season's honorees. To date, Team in Training has raised over $1 billion for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society - money that is used to fund research into new drugs as well as patient services for those diagnosed with a range of blood related cancers. Meeting and talking to the honorees really highlighted the positive impact that Team in Training and the LLS has in the lives of cancer patients and their families.

Please join me in helping these cancer patients by donating using the box on the right. No donation is too small - every little bit make a difference.

Thanks and GO TEAM!!!