Saturday in Marin: Walking, Hiking, and Beer

Matt and I spent a lovely Saturday in Marin. We started out near Blackie's Pasture for the morning TNT run:



Not a great picture, but I'm still obsessed with my 12x zoom that makes the other side of the bay look oh so close:



Then on to a trail near Fairfax that wound through some beautiful trees and up to rather stunning views:





And then on to the Fairfax Brewfest for some tasty local brews. It was in a super cute old gymnasium called the Pavilion:



You'd think that at only 30 minutes away we would explore the natural beauty of Marin more often. But alas, that bridge is mentally distancing.

Day Trip to Pescadero Area

When it's sunny sometimes I decide I want to drive out of town. However, we then invariably find that our lively microclimates mean that it's actually not quite so sunny wherever else we go.

Check out the sunny day!



And once again no tidepools, but spectacular waves and spray:





Onward to Pescadero Creek State Park. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed lovely redwoods:





Banana slugs (on a vertical wall - this is a macro but we counted more than 20):



A waterfall:



The fact that our new camera takes much better macros than the old:



And walking in the creek (it was cold, but the trail was under water!):



And grassy meadows:



Absolutely gorgeous, and less than 45 minutes from our house! How lucky we are!

New Camera

I got a new little Point and Shoot camera with 12x zoom. I love it! Here is a picture of the Cliff House taken from really far down Ocean Beach:



Matt still wants a DSLR, but I am far to lazy for that. Intelligent Auto mode works for me!

Trip to Mendocino for President's Day Weekend

Mendocino Area

Two Times Disgusting

Well, it's been awhile blog. Since I clearly have nothing worthwhile to say, I'm just going to vent about my personal problems.

On Tuesday I went to the gym for kickboxing. In the morning I grabbed a workout towel from amongst my clothes air drying on our rack and threw it in my bag. When I picked it up and wiped my face off following kick boxing, it smelled rank. Absolutely disgusting. I was appalled that something could come out of the wash smelling that gross.

I got home and complained to Matt about how this clean towel smelled so rank, and he immediately made an "uh-oh" face, walked over to the drying rack, and informed me that it was his USED workout towel that he had simply placed on the drying rack to dry because it WAS SO WET FROM SWEAT...The drying rack full of my clean clothes.

I wiped my face with his rank sweat towel. That is gross. At least he seemed contrite about that.

Tonight we went to the gym together (me with an ACTUALLY CLEAN towel this time). When he went to get off the elliptical, I asked him if he would bring me back a paper towel with cleaner too. He looked at me confusedly. You know, the stuff you use to clean the equipment? Oh, I just wipe it off with my towel he said. YES, THE RANK TOWEL. This man owns two pairs of workout shorts and goes to the gym nearly every day. You can imagine how frequently these shorts and towels get washed... And then he proceeds to WIPE HIS RANK SWEAT all over the machine. I'm pretty sure the machine would have been better off without this wipe down.

Is he contrite about this? No. Does he say, yeah, I know it's gross but I am just too lazy to go get the cleaner? No, he tells me he sees nothing wrong with it and absolutely refuses to use cleaner even when I ask him to. He says he does more cleaning than most people anyway. (Because that makes it right...)

Please tell me, are all men this disgusting?

(And how hard would it be for him to just listen to my dad and do what I ask him to (clean off the machine) instead of putting up huge resistance to it? HELLO! If you're going to be disgusting, at least give me lip service and keep doing whatever the hell it is you're doing when I'm not around.)

I hope you have enjoyed my tale of GROSSNESS. Unfortunately it has not made me less angry.

Happy New (Blog) Year!

Well, we made it through another year!

Did you make any resolutions? I didn't. I am already resolved to run a half marathon in February and another one in May, and then who knows, maybe a whole marathon! Isn't that enough? Yes, clearly I am addicted AND crazy. I have posted a list of my upcoming races in my sidebar for those of you who have expressed interest in joining me for an event sometime. Send me your ideas too!

While we're on the subject, have I mentioned that I signed up for Team in Training again? Don't worry, I'm not fundraising this season - I'm volunteering as a mentor! If you made a resolution to get in shape this year, consider joining Team in Training yourself! You can train for a run, a walk, a hike, a bike, and probably some other things depending on where you live.

Here's the pros:
1. Somebody will be waiting for you at 7:30 am on Saturday so you won't hit your snooze button
2. Somebody will be at the track cheering you on every Thursday night
3. On those long runs, there will be water stops with goodies so you don't have to carry anything yourself
4. You will meet some fantastic people
5. You will raise money for an important cause
6. You will achieve your personal goals

Here's the cons:
1. You have to raise money. It's kind of a lot. But since you are my friend, I'm sure your friends are just as generous, and you will have no problem - I didn't. I surpassed my fundraising minimum by 38%!
2. Quality of coaching seems to vary by team.

During my "off-season" with TNT, I joined a local athletic club, Pac West, to stay training. I haven't gone to very many workouts, but I have found that the participants are less social while the coaches are better. However, I am very glad I trained for my first event with TNT. It is much more sociable, which I think makes it more likely that you will go back and keep training. It is much more beginner oriented. You will never feel lost or overwhelmed. And of course, it was a great cause that kept me motivated to come through for my donors and hold up my end of the bargain. Once I tried to train for a half marathon myself. I think I lasted one week. Or maybe two.

That's my requisite pitch!

And don't forget, it's not to late to pitch in a little for Girls on the Run! I pledged to raise just a couple hundred dollars for them this season, and it's another great cause. After you get hooked on training through TNT, you can go on to become a SoleMate, running buddy, or coach.

Cheers to the New Year (of training)!

P.S. Have I told you about endorphins?! They're pretty awesome!

City Walks SF #50: Fort Funston

That's right! We finished our 50 city walks this year, just like we'd planned.

Thanks again to Karen and Bernie for getting us such a great gift last Christmas! This deck was a phenomenal way to get to know our city (The City) and get exercise at the same time! Now we just have to figure out what to do with all of our weekends next year!

***

Fort Funston is a stretch of coast on the south side of the City, managed by the National Park Service. Like all NPS lands in the Bay Area, it features many military installations of WWII era or earlier. Here's one that the observation deck was built around:



There's the north side of Fort Funston, where dogs seem to outnumber people:



And here's the descent to the beach:





More beach - and fewer dogs here:







And back on top, heading through a battery:



This was a nice place, but for the distance from our house, I feel we might as well just go to Marin - so many fewer people there! Definitely a gorgeous asset for the City though.

And a lovely way to end our City Walks.