SOAK UP THE SUN :)

Hope everyone had a successful week of training. My training this week went quite well, although I had to miss 1 or 2 workouts due to fatigue and work. Oh well, better to rest and recover than injure myself, right!?! The weather has been amazing in San Francisco. Mid 60's and sunshine all week. NICE, NICE, NICE!! Was able to squeeze in 10 hours this week. Was aiming for 12.5, but it is still really early in the season, and am sure the missed volume/time will be more than made up for in the coming months. For me, January is all about getting back into the swing of regular training, before the "real" workouts in the uncoming months. Was able to get in 3 solid swim sessions of 2500m a piece thanks to coach Lisa Graham, swim extraordinaire! The sets she provides me keeps me interested and not bored at all during this period of repetitive lap swimming. I can already feel I am pretty much where I was at last year, and am looking to make some improvement in this area this year. On the run, I got in a solid 6x1 mile repeat session on the track, averaging around 6:40 per mile which is on par for me. Not bad for January running. Also got in a 3x (4x400m, 4x200m) workout while was killer, and also a 20min brick run. On the bike, had a killer trainer ride. I HATE riding the trainer. It is mentally challenging despite having music, tv, roomates, dogs around. But today came a real breakthru workout for me. I did the famous "Paradise Loop" ride which a 90km-ish ride from San Francisco over to the Marin county and Tibouron: This ride is know by all cyclist in the Bay Area and is a staple for training. It is my favorite ride. It is around 90km, so perfect for a longer-ish ride, especially preparing for long course triathlon races. There are a few completely straight flat out stretches where you can work on your time trial efforts, and then there are some pretty significant climbs and rollers to keep it serious training! However, the best part are the sights that you get as you go along. It just never stops. Just when you are getting tired, another epic scene of beauty unfolds, and you remember just how lucky you are to live in California in January. While all my Canadian family and friends are dealing with a blizzard and cannot even leave their house due to heavy levels of snow, this is how my Saturday greeted me - Sunny, no clouds, and 70 degrees!!! As the Cheryl Crow song goes "I....just wanna soak up the sun....everyone needs to lighten up!"

Angel Island Alcatraz and San Francisco in the background

Riding across the Golden Gate

A view from the top!

After my 2.5 hour bike, I added on a 20min hard effort brick run thru Chrissie Field. I felt just amazing on the run, and was just able to blast thru everyone out today. I was able to build my way thru the run, and take in the awesome fresh smell of the crashing surf on the shore. I even got totally drenched by a huge breaker wave right at the end of my run. REFRESHING!

Oh, and did I mention I have a 5km race next week already. How did that sneak up? Totally excited, and lets hope for a sub 19-ish result :)

Stephen