Swimming at Aquatic Park, Running in the Presidio, and Riding in West County

Wow, the last two days have been pretty incredible! From Saturday morning's swim in the cold (55 degrees supposedly) in San Francisco Bay at Aquatic Park, to running to Baker Beach in the Presidio, to today's amazing ride from Santa Rosa to Bodega Bay; I feel so lucky!!

On Saturday morning I met Mark and Holly Pepper at Aquatic Park in San Francisco. We donned our wetsuits and headed down to swim in the 55 degree water. Probably over half the people in the bay were NOT wearing wetsuits. We all were. Mark and Holly had neoprene caps, and I had two swim caps, plus ear plugs for the first time. So, honestly the first 5 minutes were miserable. Putting my face in the water was so hard. It gave me that beating headache instantly. But somehow, we just kept going, and after 5 minutes or so, it was fine. We swam around the cones back in forth for about an hour. The current swimming towards the Golden Gate was pretty strong, and you'd get pushed towards one of the big boats there, when swimming between the buoy and the boat. And then, about 30 minutes into it, my neck started to just sting. Not from a jellyfish or anything, but just the sheer fact that the wetsuit was rubbing against it. It hurt! Next time, I guess body glide is a good idea; that and perhaps not using a surfing suit.

At any rate, we all made it thru, and felt great getting out. My blood sugar had been 96 before. I ate a clump of old cliff bar samples from the SV triathlon I had brought and 1 cliff shot. Post swimming it was 124. I at 1 shot block. Then, we set out to run thru the Presidio. It was beautiful. I think we went about 11 miles or so (although I'm not sure). But it was great!

Then, today, Blair and I went riding in west county. (http://www.mapmyride.com/user/3589126/anniebacon). It was epic. From the beginning, cool early afternoon, to the Coleman Valley Rd. climb, which was a little brutal in parts, to the amazing view from the ridge, down to the ocean. There was a point (see photo) that we began to feel the cool ocean breeze. We cruised down to highway one, went along it for 8 miles or so, then headed up Bodega Hwy to the Wild Flour Bakery in Freestone. Wow, it was amazing, and then we headed back to Santa Rosa. It was just over 60 miles, and beautiful. I had a low about 2 blocks from home, and couldn't make it without stopping and eating a bunch of dried fruit very quickly. Then, I ran a yellow/red light and wasn't thinking too well, but luckily made it, but learned that I really need to slow down at yellow/red lights.

It's been an amazing day. I love the connections with people that I'm making thru Triabetes. I'm so thankful for the friendships already forming. Blair and I have been talking a lot about what Triabetes means, and I've really been trying to articulate the ultimate goals. I keep coming back to: "getting people with diabetes to talk to each other, build community, and friendships". There is more to it than that, and I look forward to exploring and discovering and helping to be a part of it.