After several reschedules, I finally left the compound in SLO Town and head north to the great City of San Francisco. I tossed all of my training gear in my car, including my bike, so that I could do whatever activity that suited me.
I will say that I was very glad that I did not bring my truck (I was tempted to bring my Kayak and take it out on the Bay). For one thing, it is enormous. Another thing - it is a manual transmission. Holy Hills! I would have had a very difficult time dragging that 7,500 pound beast up those San Francisco hills. So, it was me and my little Prius zipping around San Francisco and squeezing into impossibly small parking spots.
Workouts for the Week of October 4, 2021
Monday, October 4
I didn't do any workouts today! With Sunday's drive home from the mountains, I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning, which was work enough for me.
Tuesday, October 5
Today I did Sunday's Long Run that I had skipped out on. It was a pretty warm day and I was feeling groggy and slow.
I started the run headed up Johnson Avenue, which is the famous SLO TRI hill at the end of the race. In all honesty, it is not a bad hill at all. Then I ran through the new neighborhood that is about 50% constructed and checked out the progress on the homes. I finally got to the "other side of town" and ran along the nicely shaded trails. And then back.
Overall, the run felt good and I was glad to have done it. I needed the body movement and it helped me dust off some cobwebs.
Total Distance: 16.9 km
Total Time: 2:27:09
Wednesday, October 6
I finally dusted off my bike trainer, a Wahoo Kickr variable resistance trainer, and I reactivated my Zwift subscription. Today's session was a spin out of just 45 minutes.
It has been so long since I've done Zwift that there is a new world, so I jumped in the flattest route listed and just watched as the fake scenery rolled by.
No aches, no pains, which is very nice. Just a nice little spin. After my Zwift session, I jumped in the car and head north to San Francisco.
Total Distance: 19.2 km
Total Time: 45 minutes
Thursday, October 7
Today I was in San Francisco! First order of business, do a bike ride! WOW! I had completely forgotten just how STEEP the hills are in San Francisco. I had jumped on Strava to find some bike routes and mapped one out and sent it to my Garmin Edge. According to my Garmin, some of those hills were 18% grade! YIKES. Once I got up and over Twin Hills, I head for the ocean and enjoyed some flats along the coast, before turning into Golden Gate Park.
Did you know that there is an entire road blocked off just for bikes, runners, and walkers? How cool is that? No cars! I eventually found my way back AROUND Twin Hills (decided I didn't have it in my tank to go back OVER Twin Hills) and back to my place.
Total Distance: 29.1 km
Total Time: 2:11:23
Friday, October 8
With my legs fully cooked, it was time to jump in the water. Having been to San Francisco before, I knew that Aquatic Park would be my go-to for open water swimming.
I jumped in my Prius and head toward Aquatic Park, knowing that I'd have to find a place to park near the cove so I could leave my gear bag in the car and walk, fully suited, to the bay.
I was shocked to find soooo much traffic and parking was insane. I caught a glimpse of Aquatic Park and noted the thousands of people, all staring out at the ocean. Oh. An event. Got it. I snagged a 30 minute meter just a block away and walked over to the Park to see what was going on, just as the Blue Angles zipped by overhead. Ah. Air show!
So I watched the Air Show while keeping an eye on my 30 minute meter spot (which more than expired as I watched the show). What a fun surprise! As soon as the show ended, I got back to my car and stalked front-row parking spots and easily grabbed a spot as the spectators departed.
By the time I got in the water, it was late afternoon, the wind was whipping, and there was chop on the water. It was a very cold, slow, miserable swim. But, I did it!
Total Distance: 1,838 m
Total Time: 48 minutes
Saturday, October 9
The Run
I got two workouts in today. I started out with an hour run in Golden Gate Park. It was all about finding the parking spot, which I eventually did, and then just running from there. I didn't pre-map my run, so it was just wherever looked interesting.
After the fact, I realized I didn't even get to the west side of the park at all. Next time!
Total Distance: 7.4 km
Total Time: 54 minutes
The Swim
Undeterred from yesterday's miserable swim in Aquatic Park, I went back for more. And what did I find? MORE AIR SHOW! Holy parking. I finally found a parking garage with spots, paid $60 to park (gulp), and packed my bag down to the sea of spectators. I watched the show for a bit and then decided to suit up (in front of a few thousand people). Nothing like a deck change amongst the crowd.
The water was much, much warmer and nicer today with good swimming conditions. I was quite distracted by the air show and kept flipping on to my back to watch planes zip back and forth across the sky above me. I'm not going to lie - it was fun. Although, it was very intimidating looking at the hundred thousand people along the shoreline, of which I'm sure the vast majority looked down at the water and took note of me and my flotilla.
I never really stop my watch on open water swims, so my "swim time" includes a lot of floating and watching the air show. I stopped a lot...
Even more intimidating than getting in the water in front of thousands of people is getting OUT of the water in front of thousands of people (and doing a wet deck change).
But, once dry and warm, I sat in the sand among the throngs of people and enjoyed the air show.
Total Distance: 1,761 m
Total Time: Something less than 55 minutes.
Sunday, October 10
Fortunately, my coach scheduled a rest day for today. Time to go explore the city and just go on general walk-about.
Totals for the Week
Swim Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes, or thereabouts
Swim Distance: 3,600 meters
Bike Duration: 2 hours 56 minutes
Bike Distance: 48.3 km
Run Duration: 3 hours 21 minutes
Run Distance: 24.3 km
Total Time in Motion: 8 hours 2 minutes
