My kind of stress relief

We are finally getting perfect So Cal weather lately, and thankfully I haven't been overly bogged down with work--training or the "real" kind--so I've been able to take advantage a little. The beach, laying out, time in the sun. Turns out the activity added up quicker than I anticipated!

Recap of the recent fun:

Laying out at home = play time for Sydney....
Dog in action: thrashing her toy, her signature move...

On Thursday, after a quick LCM swim at masters, the afternoon = quality time in Laguna Beach with a mellow workout. Well, mellow in the sense that is was short duration, but it definitely didn't slack in the intensity department (a key formula for tapering).

One of my favorite beaches at Laguna because getting there is a workout no matter what...

The workout: Stair repeats!

Going up (like my artsy photo editing? Note: "NO KOOKS" haha)...A view from the top looking down....

In action (love my new zoot shoes!).... ~~~~~

The weather stayed perfect for the weekend--finally!--and Saturday was all around epic. Kicked off with a fun set at 6 a.m. masters. After the swim I immediately hopped on my bike at ~ 7:15 a.m. to test the weather and my attire at that time of day in anticipation of Oside (most likely will hit T1 at 8 a.m.).
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Glad I rode: I can honestly say my hands have never hurt so badly from being cold. I've snowboarded millions of times including at night and in freezing whiteouts and I've surfed pre-dawn in cold-ass water, but naked hands while going fast on a bike in 45- to 50-degree weather was downright painful! I almost quit and went home. But I didn't :) Kept to the plan, but modified by riding a sunny route--no shade (i.e. no canyon brrrr).
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I now know I can't "tough it out" at Oside like I was thinking I would (for time's sake) and I need coverage on the hands/arms. Last year I did wear gloves but I spent probably 2 stupid minutes getting them on in a state of rushed panic, so I have to get creative this year. I have a plan inspired by Linsey Corbin.
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After that I headed to Fullerton where I hosted a Triathlon Transition Clinic for the CSUF Tri Team. It was a riot. So much fun. By then it was hot out (80s?). We set up our transition areas and mini course (mount/dismount lines and all) in the parking lot. I gave my transition schpiel then it was race time. Wetsuits on, we lined up by a cone. Instead of swimming we did pushups to get the HR up, then sprint to T1. Fyi: stripping your wetsuit is really hard when you're all sweating & sticky. From T1 we rode around the lot then into T2 and off on a mini run. We definitely had onlookers who stopped & stared, jaws dropped, probably thinking we were completely insane. My kind of clinic :)
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I timed the final round and had a sweet prize for the winner... a little incentive always gets 'em to push harder, but I had to DQ a couple guys. Harsh, but there are rules! All in all, major success at the clinic... no one played the "I'm too cool" or "this is lame" card.
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Check out the belly dude... haha... We just happened to have a bike rack to work with... .
The Saturday fun continued... a grad school friend & I headed to San Onofre for a surf session. I figured I had to get in the water at least once before Oceanside, and I didn't want to swim again. It turned out to be one of those perfect days at San-O. Clear blue skies, hot, no winds, gentle waves and pretty warm water (low 60s?)! My friend, Tanner, is from North Carolina but has totally converted into a California girl. I love it. She's new to surfing and was perpetually stoked out in the water.
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As for me, I was stoked, of course! Surfing is like this therapeutic-spiritual-'one-with-nature' experience for me. No clutter, no technology... just me & mother nature. I always say this, but I need to paddle out more. Thankfully, after a few goofy moves, muscle memory kicked in and I had a some amazing rides, even impressing myself after the long hiatus. We ended up surfing for 2 hours I think... so something like 4.5 hours of activity for the day, oops.... taper?

San-O perfection; me & tanner... I then cooked a full-blown meal for my grad school buds who were over for a study session (midterms tues/wed!). Cooking like I did probably counts as another hour of working out. But I see it as another stress-relieving activity for me even if it is "work." On the menu: BBQ chicken (first time lighting up the grill in a while!), polenta-quinoa-sauce mix and a veggie saute of green beans, bell peppers and onions.
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I pooped out on our Saturday-night study sess by 9 p.m. I was soooo tired! Plus I had a trail run planned in the morning with a new client, so I had to get some solid sleep.
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Sunday I woke up with a bit of a scratchy throat, but nothing too major. Since this run was technically a "meeting," I didn't want to bail and really didn't feel all that bad anyways so I headed out. We had a great time; I have a fit new client on my hands! Fun!! The trail we ran was possibly more green and more flower-filled than last weekend's run at Black Mountain. Wish I'd had a camera. Gorgeous!
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The remainder of the weekend is pretty easy to explain: rest + compression!
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As for the caffeine/no coffee experiment. I am down to just one small cup of joe a day. I tried none, but the headache was too bad, even when drinking black tea. Not so easy to wean myself off. Good news is, tummy is doing alright. I think all that stress-free beach/sun/outdoor action was the key :)