2006 Season Summary
We started 2006 with a New Year's Day masters swim workout at LMU. We had originally planned on spending NY's in San Francisco to pilot the NY's Alcatraz Swim. The weather report for San Francisco was grim so we decided to stay in So Cal with warm weather and beautiful skies, it turned out to be a good choice. The Alcatraz Swim was unusually windy and choppy with at least one person in a kayak being overturned. Some of the swimmers were in the water for over an hour, way to go Dolphins and South Enders!
This will be our first year since 1995 not to participate in the Dolphin Club Polar Bear Swim (swim at least 40 miles between Dec 21-Mar 21, only in SF Bay). Sad, but we salute all those hardy souls out there in the cold bay swimming the polar bear!
Over the weekend of January 15th we were in Houston for a wedding so Sunny decided to run in the Chevron Houston Half Marathon while we were there. She joined 15,000 other runners and completed the run in 2:10:06 placing 26th in her division.
The triathlon season starts off for us in May with the Historic Wildflower Triathlon. This triathlon is one of the oldest running triathlons and it is truly an amazing, fun event. It takes place in the Monterey County Park of Lake San Antonio. There are 3 triathlons over the course of the weekend, Long Course, Mountain Bike and Olympic Distance (our choice) races. This year there were 7500 participants and many more volunteers and spectators on hand for the events. Camping is the ideal accomodation since Lake San Antonio is at least 45 minutes from the nearest hotel/motel. We both were very happy with our results since this race comes so early in the season and it is fairly difficult. To add to the challenge of the course, the heat is usually a factor as well. This year, although the temperatures were not as hot as many years, the sun was very intense. Mark finished 8th in his age group at 2:32 and Sunny came in 2nd in her age group at 3:23. A good start to the season!
Over the May 13-14th weekend we were in San Diego for our granddaughter Alyssa's 1st communion. Sunny took advantage of the timing and signed up for the Playa Del Run's inaugural event at Mission Bay. The choices were a biathlon (swim/run), swim only or run only. Sunny chose the biathlon, granddaughter Brandi did the 5K run and her father, Manny, did the 5K run also. It was a great way to start mother's day!
June 4th brought the Tri-California Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. This version (there are 3) of the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon involves a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to the beach near the Golden Gate Yacht Club, then run (about 3/4 of a mile) to Marina Green to get on your bike. Then the bike (18 miles) goes from Marina Green to Crissy Field thru the Presidio to the Legion of Honor to the Great Highway, into Golden Gate Park, back out to the Great Highway, up to the Legion of Honor and back to Crissy Field. Although it is not a long course it is definitely a hilly course (bike profile) as you might imagine in San Francisco. Upon your return to Marina Green you begin an eight mile run that goes along the Promenade in Crissy Field, under the Golden Gate Bridge, along Lincoln Blvd, down to the end of Baker Beach and then returning along the beach (thick sand) to the infamous Sand Ladder that takes you up to Lincoln Blvd. and retrace the route back to Marina Green for the finish line. The entry into this race is either to qualify (in other races throughout the previous years) or a lottery. Consequently the race is very competitive. This year Mark finished in 2:51:54 in 21st place. Sunny came in 3:38:07 with a finish at 3rd place. The second weekend in September we headed to Pacific Grove for the 12th year in a row (we have now done every Triathlon at Pacific Grove since it began in 1995). It was a very fun weekend because this year we had a large contingent of Dolphin Club Members who came down from San Francisco to participate in the races. Mark finished in 2:26:14 in 8th place and Sunny finished in 3:07:27 in 3rd place. Check out our photos from the day.
Malibu Triathlon was on September 17th. Mark injured his back so was not able to participate. Sunny raced and came in 2nd place with a time of 2:01:30. On October 14th we returned to San Francisco to participate in the most challenging version of the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlons, the Dolphin Club Escape. This race begins with the swim from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park (no wetsuits), followed by a 12 mile bike from Aquatic Park to Old Mill Park in Mill Valley. Then the fun begins with a 14.2 mile run known as the Double Dipsea. The Dipsea goes from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach (see elevation). Mark was still recovering so he was a great volunteer and photographer (check out our photos). Sunny came in 13th place with a time of 5 hours and 32 minutes. This was the 26th running of the Dolphin Club Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon and wraps up our triathlon season for 2006!