Summer has Come

And in San Francisco that means clouds and cold! Alas...

Despite the chill in the air, this past weekend was a weekend of firsts.

On Saturday, I ran farther than 13.1 miles for the first time ever! In fact, I ran somewhere between 18 and 19 miles. I should actually say "ran" because I instituted a run-walk program for the first time ever. As a result of my many setbacks this season, mostly including an out-of-alignment pelvis (fun!), I figured I needed to take it easy if I was going to get that far. So I decided to walk 1 minute each mile. In between running with other people and missing mile markers though, I probably only walked 1 minute for about half of the miles I ran. I really did feel like it made a difference though - after all I finished and didn't feel drained! However, I did notice that my mental capacities had been diminishing slightly and my stomach felt a bit unhappy. I have already decided that running so far is not fun for me, and after a full marathon on June 6th (likely involving extended walking), I plan to return happily to the land of 13.1. I run past beautiful scenery, often following the bay or the ocean here, but I don't appreciate much after I hit the double digits.

On Sunday, Matt and I participated in Bay to Breakers. For you out-of-towners, this is a crazy spectacle - a 12k road race featuring both elite runners (a world record was set this year!) and tens of thousands of drunken (and in various stages of nudity) partiers. At 8 am. On a Sunday. After some Muni-related setbacks, Matt and I ended up in the back of the last corral, with all the drunk people. The stench - alcohol, weed, urine, etc. - was horrendous. The people were ***holes. I'm clearly getting old, because this is not fun for me. We hope to be out of town for this race in the future.


Before we even arrived at the start line


I believe the man in the serapa has no pants on


Pretty in pink


Some good liberal sense of humor!

After all this running and walking, I am looking forward to finishing my second season of TNT. I hope to complete my first full marathon on June 6th in SD, and I have 5 wonderful mentees completing events as well. 1 ran Avenue with me, 3 will be joining me in SD, and the remaining 1 will be competing in RNR Seattle. Here's my requisite plug: Consider joining Team in Training and supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It has been a great experience for me; one that I'm sure I will return to over and over again. You don't have to be an athlete - or even in shape; they will get you there. For now, I'm thinking about leaving the road and heading for the water - Raise a Sail for a Cure. I'm also planning to train for my first triathlon in the fall.

My next goal in life: Figure out how to keep active while not letting my house get so dirty, my inbox so cluttered, and my credit card balances unpaid. (I incurred 13 cents interest - the first interest payment I have ever made on a credit card - and probably the death of my credit score...)

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.

Spring Softball

Yesterday I finally attended one of Matt's softball games. And instead of getting mercy-ruled as per usual, they only lost 4-2. Matt made some nice catches. Here he is:




And some pretty flowers we saw on the way home:



Last night was the Moby Dick Easter Party/Fundraiser. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but hopefully I will be able to obtain some from others. Matt spent a large chunk of the night walking around selling raffle tickets to the boys and then helping Kitty Glamour with the drawings. He got lots of attention. I won a gift certificate to an Italian restaurant nearby that is supposed to be delicious, and I also quasi-won an ipod shuffle and a liquor basket.

I didn't even buy any raffle tickets, but people who left the bar before the drawings kept giving me theirs. I had a humongous pile of tickets. Unfortanately the ticket that won the ipod belonged to someone who came back to the bar, so I felt guilted into giving him the ipod. Matt told me he would buy me one, but I don't think he really meant it. And then another guy was helping look through all the tickets and won the basket with one of them. All I got out of it was a bag of jelly bellys. And the promise to buy me drinks the next time we are at the bar, because the basket also included a gift certificate. Somehow, I don't think that will happen either. And I'm pretty sure we might have won more things, but Kitty wouldn't wait long enough for us to look through all of our tickets after she called a number. Alas...

It was a good time. The captain's boyfriend even dressed up and sang as Reba McEntire because they made enough money. He was a good sport about it - and I wouldn't even have known it was him, if, of course, I hadn't known beforehand.

Unfortunately, I felt rather guilty that they were raising a bunch of money for their team instead of a worthwhile charity. Oh well. The whole thing is really just a gimmick for the bar to make a lot of money. I'm pretty sure it worked.

So anyway, I spent my Easter sitting in a bar next to a drag queen. How was yours?

Hell Hath (Almost) Frozen Over

Happy February!

In case anyone was unaware, the Arizona Cardinals nearly pulled off a Super Bowl victory last night. So while hell was busy freezing over, spring was springing here in San Francisco, with more warm temps, bright sun, and beautiful blossoms on the trees.

I have many more City Walks to report on, but first I must do some real work. So you can build your excitement, because we saw many fabulous things!

Hockey Night

For Christmas I got Matt two tickets to the Sharks vs. Coyotes hockey game. So Thursday night we trekked down to San Jose on the train to take part in this lovely sporting event.

If any of you have been to a hockey game before, you probably know that the clientele is generally blue collar, sometimes maybe a bit snaggle-toothed, often quite drunk, and throwing around the f-bomb.

Well.

Never have I seen a crowd so white collar and stuck up as the one in San Jose. Apparently the Silicon Valleyites are actually hockey fans. For example, the man next to me was dressed in khakis and a button down shirt, but nevertheless proceeded to have a running commentary throughout the entire game about how stupid the refs were and on and on. Also used the f-bomb liberally.

Then we noticed that the stuck-up button-ups were not afraid to tell people what's what. Repeatedly people who came in just seconds into the start of play were told by other spectators to wait on the stairs until play stops before people would stand up to let them sit down. Now I know it is annoying when people have to walk by you, but give me a break.

Next, apparently because they have to fit more than 17,000 people into the arena, you cannot see all of the action without leaning forward in your seat. And folks, we did not pay $10 for obstructed view tickets as we used to do at AWA. No, we paid good money for these seats. So naturally we leaned forward so we could see the puck. Matt was told in no uncertain terms by the girl behind him that she couldn't possibly see when he leaned forward. So he was forced to miss the action for the rest of the game. (Despite the fact that I was leaning forward nearly the whole time and the girl behind me never said anything.)

Then even after the Coyotes lost, as they are wont to do, a Sharks fan on the train told us that Coyotes fans belong in the back. I kind of laughed at the time, and said, come on, we lost! But then I thought to myself: Is it really okay for somebody to joke about sending someone else to the back of the bus?

Honestly, if I ever wanted to go see another hockey game, I would rather drive to Glendale from my parents' house and hang out with the roughnecks. At least they're not elitist.