Wow, what a weekend! Costanoa Destination weekend had it all! We got wet, we got a bit dirty, we got cold, but we had fun and WILL do it again for sure! That was one epic weekend and we want to thank everyone who came out and made it a GREAT trip!

Special thanks to Jody Gold for setting everything up and being a great SAG support on Sunday. Big thanks to Judy D. and Josh Mader for providing SAG support on Saturday and Sunday! You guys rock! Thanks also go to Josh M. for getting a beautiful cake for the KP Team and to celebrate Aron Cooperman's 29th B-Day on Saturday night.

There were many stories of epic proportions, but the bottom line is everyone made it over safely, even in driving rain and a brutal, Kona-like, headwind! For those of you who missed out on the fun, we hope you had a good weekend and will join the fun next time. Santa Barbara Weekend is in a few weeks!

Here is how the weekend went:

Saturday, 2/10/07 - Swim - 9:00-10:00am. Forecast looks gloomy, but all had a great swim workout. Coach Kain decides the rainy, wet roads won't be safe and calls off the group ride to the coast. Plan "B" is to drive to the coast and do a "safer" ride from the Costanoa Resort at 1:00pm. Many of the "die-hards" decide they want to ride in the rain and continue "on there own". Volunteer SAG support (Judy + Josh) did follow the "die-hards" though. Thanks to Randy for helping the "die-hard" group make it safely over the hill.

Coach Kain's met a smaller group at the resort at 1:00pm and headed in the direction of the "die-hards". We met up in Pescadero and rode the final 10 miles with some of the "die-hard" group. This is when the wind was whipping and the rain was torrential! The "die-hards" were having a very tough time, but even the group on the "safer" ride were now stuck in pretty miserable conditions! Everyone made it to the Costanoa Resort safely, albeit a bit soggy! The resort staff was very helpful and accomadating and we were soon dry, or in the hot tub. At around 4:15pm a small group went out for a wet and muddy beach run! A great way to finish what turned into a great day!

After we either dried out, or went tubbing, it was over to a great dinner with the whole group. Lots of great stories and good company. We then had a great dessert, thanks to Aron's B-Day and Josh getting a tasty cake! After dinner we were going to go make smores at one of the outdoor fire pits, but driving rain forced us indoors. We took over the hotel lobby and made our smores over the fire in the lobby! Lots of good drink, good sugar snacks and great company made for a memorable time. Who makes smores indoors? The KP Team, that's who! The hotel staff was very gracious for a couple of hours, then our noise level had us retreating to bed by 11:00pm. Ready for the 8:00am scheduled run.

Sunday: 2/11/07 - Most of the group heads out on a run at 8:00am. The weather looks better, sun in the sky, and truely epic conditions out on the coast. Coach Kain led the group down to the coastal edge with the sun rising and the waves crashing. The trail was on the edge of the water. Tommy N. summed it up best when he said, "this is the most utopic run I have ever done". The whole group ends up running across a firm pack beach skirting the waters edge for about a 1/2 mile, before Coach Sharoo draws two lines in the sand and leads everyone in a game of "all horses run"! Fun was had by all and we ended up running about 6 miles on trails + beach. "Awesome run" was the consensus by the finish. We then headed to a great breakfast at the resort restaurant, followed by another ride at 10:30am.

One group was riding home, while the other was riding a nice 47 mile loop and finishing back at Costanoa. The group went out and rode the first 28 miles together, when the "home" group climbed Alpine and the coast group headed back down Hwy 84 to Stage Rd. and back down the coast.

The Costanoa Adventure will be on the schedule again next year. We may even do it again this summer as it was such a great destination. Thanks to all who made it so special. Great job to everyone! There was not one ounce of whining on the whole trip! You guys are tough! We hope you all had as much fun as we did and look forward to our next adventure in Santa Barbara in about three weeks!

For those keeping track, on Saturday we: Swam - 2,000-3,000 yards at LG High to warm up. Bike - "Die-hards" rode 63 miles in driving rain. "Coastal" group did a mere 31 miles in the same driving rain. All finished with big soggy, smiles. Ran - 32 minutes. Around 4+ miles in wet, soggy trail conditions with Coach Pete leading an adventurous run along the coast. Fun - Had by all!

Sunday we: Ran - around 50 minutes. Maybe 6+ miles on the coast/beach. Epic, awesome, fun run - Utopic! Bike - One group rode home to LG around 43 miles + one big climb (Alpine). Coastal group rode 47 miles and a few smaller climbs. Fun - Had by all! Let's do it again!!

This week we will have our regular schedule of workouts. Thursday night is the first track workout of the year! This is where we work on running form with good drills and some faster intervals. A must for everyone wanting to improve!