Think navigating New York City traffic is harrowing? Try swimming uptown.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) accomplished the latter this weekend while completing the NYC Triathlon, his fifth endurance race in the past two years.

Schiff tells HOH that he got hooked on multisport challenges back in 2010; that’s when his chief of staff floated the idea of signing up for the Nation’s Triathlon. Schiff knocked out that inaugural race in close to three hours and has subsequently tested his cross-training mettle from sea to shining sea (Philadelphia to Malibu, Calif., to be exact.)

He tagged New York as the most inhospitable landscape. “The Hudson River needs work,” he said. Malibu absolutely stole his heart. “I saw sea lions while biking! And got to swim in the ocean!” Schiff gushed.

Training is tough, given his work schedule. But Schiff said he tries to squeeze in as many workouts as possible (biking to the Capitol, running on the National Mall or pumping iron in the House gym). Still, it remains a solitary existence. “I do almost all my training alone,” he said.

Come race day, Schiff said he feels most comfortable on his bike. Swimming, however, perennially gets his adrenaline rushing. “The swim is the most adventurous part … because you’re in with hundreds to thousands of people, all flailing along. It’s quite the maelstrom,” Schiff said of open-water courses.

Next up: the SavageMan Triathlon, happening this September at Deep Creek Lake, Md. That is, assuming the House calendar works out.