A typical Saturday morning...

Getting in an open water swim before next week's triathlon? Check.
Going for a canyon run? Check.
Taking a walk on a beach? Check.

Enjoying views like this:

Source

Double check!

Michael commented that we used to do these sorts of outings more often, although I'd like to know how much we're "not" doing these days, considering all of our trips over the past few weeks to northern and southern counties.  This morning did, however, seem like a special treat, mainly because we only expected to head south for a quick open water swim and then return home.  But how lame would that be?

The morning started earlier than most, even considering my tendency to get up and go.  I had been itching for an open-water swim before next weekend and planned to do an ocean swim.  However, I found a "clinic" of sorts - pay to swim a mile in a reservoir.  Great!  I figured that it would boost my confidence if I could execute the swim without a panic attack.  Having not dedicated as much time, energy and anxiety to swimming over the past few months, I had no idea how the swim would go, but I did feel confident that it would not be a repeat of last year's first open-water swim of the season which consisted mainly of some hyperventilating. 

At any rate, we ended up cutting it a bit a close for my swim - I believe I arrived at 7:55, and the swim began promptly at 8:00.  Someone else did not know exactly when I needed to leave, and obviously I communicated well with him (no, it wasn't our dog Gus).  Yikes, I was the last person to arrive!  Most had arrived early and splashed around, while I put on my wetsuit as fast as I could and tried to look nonchalant about the fact that I was putting on my swim cap and goggles as the 'director' shouted directions at us.  The good thing about the late arrival is that I had zero time to think about how far out the buoy looked.  When they blew the whistle, I jumped in the water (or waded out to it) and started to swim.  As usual, the beginning is kind of a scene as people are trying to get space and figure out their stroke.  It took me a moment to settle into a rhythm, but I finally began to focus on my stroke and breathing and did not think about time or how far I had gone.  The course was extremely simple - just out and back, turning around two buoys.  My sighting was pretty horrible, but I did not wander too far off course.  I felt pretty good, and by the time I knew it, I had turned around the buoys and had headed back to the 'beach' area.  Around the last 100 yards or so, my right calf cramped up horribly (mother-fer!), but I just dealt with it and exited the water.  I glanced down at my watch, thinking that I'd be happy with a 35-minute swim, and it read under 30 minutes.  Holy crap, I guess I have improved since last year!

Once the swim was done, we were more or less out of there.  Michael couldn't resist taking an awesome photo of me (I'm obviously the short pale person to the right):

And then, we headed to the coast - Crystal Cove State Park, to be exact, where we hiked/ran El Moro Canyon and then went down to the beach and enjoyed watching the waves.  It was a gorgeous day to be out, and we couldn't believe that we'd seen and done so much in a morning's time. 

So, taking full advantage of our Saturday, we came home and took a nap!

And my evening should have some of this, just to top off the day: