I didn't know you liked to get wet?

No, not like Wayne Brady and Dave Chappelle. Though, I wouldn't judge you if you were down with that.

Today I took off on a "walk/run" out to the good ol' Golden Gate, truckin' along with 4 bricks, and about 70oz of water sloshing around in the backpack. Most of today was focused on time/not speed, since last Saturday I did a 14 mile RUN with a full backpack of bricks that was weighing around 30-35lbs with everything in it. Of course, if you know me, you know I don't take much of anything "easy". Fortunately I was able to keep the pace to a fast walk - with one minor exception.

Once I had descended the Lyon Street steps (my old friends) and passed the Palace of Fine Arts, I decided to get a little beach running in - except today I decided to actually run through the water. After the initial cold and accepting the fact that my shoes were now FULL of sand, the experience was rather "nice" - mainly because the 50 degree water was cold enough to numb most of the pain in my joints from last weekend's workout. I mainly wanted to break in the trail running shoes that I picked up today - and this was definitely a great test to see if they'd hold up to the GORUCK. Overall I was pretty pleased.


*Ignore the fact that it looks like I have munchkin feet. I have only slightly smaller than average feet for a male, thank you.

Anyway, the length of beach along Crissy Field is about a mile, and as I trudged through the sand and water (and sandy water), I got more than my fair share of strange looks from other beach goers. This is actually something I've been training for, as I know come May 21st our cadre will get more weird looks and photos taken of us than the crackheads at 6th and Market. No matter how many times I drop down at a red light and start doing pushups with a weighted backpack on - people are still going to stare at me like I'm doing the pushups completely naked.

Once I reached the point at which I could go no further, I snapped a photo and turned back. The picture actually turned out rather well - at least I think so:


I also ran through the ramnants of what looked to be an old fishing pier - but I actually think is a "wave wall" of sorts meant to break up the incoming waves from the Pacific. Being that the Hipstamatic was in full force, I figured snapping a shot couldn't hurt. Another one I think came out pretty well.

All in all, the shoes held up, though they let in a ton of sand. Two miles in the sand and waves, and fact I was running in the part of the water that was carrying the most sand were mostly responsible for this, I'm sure, as opposed to the actual design of the shoe. All told I did 7 miles (including the 2 in the water) with about a quarter mile of uphill lunges, and about a hundred pushups thrown in there as well. Not bad for a "light" day, I suppose.

The coolest part, is the fact that I was able to take in one of the most highly sought after views in the world, and it only took me less than an hour to get there - walking. It's pretty awesome to think sometimes that people travel from all over the world to see something I get to see anytime I want. Amazing.