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.

Girls on the Run

I'd like to introduce you to a non-profit called Girls on the Run International, which has chapters throughout the country.

Girls on the Run of the Bay Area is dedicated to educating and preparing girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. Over the course of 10-weeks girls are introduced to healthy living lessons, participate in fun games, make new friends, run to build self-confidence, and prepare for their first 1mile or 5K run - the Lollipop Run on Sat. May 8th in Golden Gate Park. Our spring programs will launch on February 22nd and we anticipate serving 300 girls in 24 programs throughout the Bay Area. Over 75% of the girls in our program require scholarships to participate in the program.

There is a great need for our programs in the Bay Area; many of the schools where we offer our program only provide 1 or 2 thirty minute PE classes a week. Research from the Women's Sports Foundation shows that if a girl does not participate in sports by the time she is 10, there is only a 10% chance that she'll be active at age 25. Additionally, a Prevention Institute Study found that investing $10 per person per year in programs to increase physical activity, improve nutrition and prevent tobacco use could save the country more than $16 billion in annual health care costs within five years. Our objective is to not only prevent at-risk behavior, such as adolescent pregnancies, eating disorders, depression, and substance abuse, but also to instill confidence, a positive attitude, and the importance of healthy living habits in each girl.

Perhaps you know a teenager, as I do, who may have benefited from such a program. Perhaps you, as I did, received these benefits through sports in grade school and middle school.

Consider being a coach in this program, or volunteering at one of the 5k runs, or becoming a "running buddy" in the 5ks. There are many opportunities.

Of course, I do have an ulterior motive: I am raising money for Girls on the Run as part of my training for the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon in February. (That's right, although I denied it, I am addicted to running.) I will also be a running buddy for the spring Lollipop Run here in San Francisco. Consider finding out how you can help in your town!

Hark the Herald Angels 12K

Since I never found a partner for the Santa Barbara International Marathon relay, I had to sign up for another race to at least keep myself in some semblance of shape (that was before I signed up for another half marathon...). So, a 12k on Angel Island it was. Unfortunately, I am destined to never go to Angel Island in good weather.

I spent the whole drive up to Tiburon speculating on how I could obtain a running rain slicker before the race to which I was already almost going to be late thanks to weather. Luckily by the time we got to the ferry docker, the downpour had subsided. Here I am waiting to start, a little chilly. My poor mother who picked an unfortunate weekend to visit is covered in the slicker.



For the most part, the trails and the weather looked like this:



It was really muddy.

But I loved this race - it was really fun! The runners were very friendly and laid back, and the scenery was gorgeous! Every time you round a corner on Angel Island, another view awaits you - the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, the City, the Bay, other parts of the Island. Even in the rain, the light can be gorgeous. And by the time the rain really started coming down with about a mile left to go in the race, I was back in the forest flying down a hill under the cover of trees.

I will definitely be signing up for another Enviro-Sports race in the future.

City Walks SF #41: Mount Davidson and West Portal

This walk was rather anticlimactic for our second to last City Walk. That's right - we are almost done. At 927 feet, Mt Davidson is the highest peak in the City. However, I firmly recommend Twin Peaks regardless of the few feet shorter it is. Twin Peaks features 360 degree views, rather than just the north side that Mount Davidson offers. In addition, there is also no giant cross on the time. (I will admit though, Mount Davidson appeared to have some cute stone-step trails through the eucalyptus forests.)



Due to our country's supposed separation of church and state, in 1997, the City of San Francisco sold the 1/3 acre on which this cross sits to the highest bidder. Problem solved.



This walk also involved the neighborhood of West Portal, which we have visited several times for the cute 3 screen movie theater just two subway stops from the Castro. We went there just this past weekend to see the Fantastic Mr. Fox.

City Walks SF #42: Glen Canyon

I love Glen Canyon! I know have blogged about this before, but I can't find it in my archives. This time we went here for the actual city walks. I mean really, can you believe these pictures were taken right in the middle of the City?