My slanted haircut, horn rimmed weekend

Last night, after a busy day of kayaking and exploring Potrero Hill with Rob and Emily, we made our way to Scissors for Lefty at the Rickshaw. The band, all in pencil boy pants with tight shirts and spikey hair, was awesome and the audience left me feeling quite old - this time old but thankfully so.

The audience was made up of sets of characters:

• The E kids - two (if not more) kids were very obviously enjoying an adventure in E land. The girl had a huge fro, zebra pants, and a pink t-shirt. The boy a mousy face, lopsided haircut, green t, and pencil jeans. Throughout the night they flailed and shook and when the base and light show sped up I thought they just might spin out - instead, the boy wound up finding a mousy girl who looked as if she weren't quite sure of herself or her surroundings and sucking face. Literally, sucking - I don't think any kissing was involved - it was like watching a child with his first gobstopper.
  
• The "Xs" - everyone over 18 but under 21 who were bopping about in love with the boyband (made of men) on stage. The group of Xs had a handful of boys and girls with terrible posture (a mixture of low self esteem and cockiness - funny spectrum, I know), arm distance dancing (must've learned this at school dances), and then the grinders - the boys who kept walking up to girls, thrusting their hips, and then waiting for a reaction. The grinders were my favorite because it was like watching animal channel with kids instead of animals doing their primal dances.
• The PL (pursed lips) - I'm not sure how she did it, but this woman (a 30+ year old in an 18-year old's uniform) spent the entire concert on her phone texting with pursed lips. It looked a bit painful, actually - I think only fish should hold that face for extended periods of time.
• Rainbow Bright - towards the end of the show another 30+ year old woman with her bald boyfriend made their way towards the stage. The woman was dressed, no joke, like Rainbow Bright with bows in her hair and rainbow socks and arm bands. I couldn't figure out the story with this odd couple, and I'm not sure I want to know.

I'm glad I'm not a teen or early 20 something anymore. I don't want to deal with trying to hold a funny fish face or trying to read the weird dance moves of "the wild."

Now I'm off to dawn my black pencil jeans, tank, and red sneeks to go bop to Beck.

Hidden trails

Today was a perfect running day in San Francisco. At 10am it was just about 70 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. I met up with GGRC at the usual spot (Warming Hut at Crissy Field) and there was a surprisingly big group today (surprisingly because of the 3-day weekend). We broke off and I wound up again with the "speed boys" (my unspoken name for them anyhow) with a planned 9mi run. We wound up doing 10.4 but it was beautiful and worth every step. Here's the course:
From the Warming Hut to the bridge
Under and around the bridge over to the path over Baker Beach
Down the stairs to the beach and up the other side
Up to Legion of Honor
Over on the Sutro(sp?) bath trail to Lion's Gate (BEAUTIFUL!!!)
Back through the park to the planks
Around the old hospital over the planks and up through the campground
Through the graveyard to Sports Basement
Along the water to the Warming Hut

If I were ever asked to lead that run again I'd get miserably lost. It's amazing how many hidden and unknown trails there are in the city.

Trails aside, throughout the run we all kept noting our surprise and awe at this great city - where else can you run along the beach, up flights of stairs, through trees with no buildings in site, through richie rich houses, and down through city streets.

Now, ice on my knee and hip propped I'm paying for the run ... paying for it and looking forward to the next.

Walk this way!

In San Francisco (every city, I'm sure, really) there are certain walks. These walks express mood, person, and situation (obvious descriptors, I know). I'm not talking about walking with a limp or hunch back. Nor am I talking about walking in stilettos (I love stilettos) or Crocs. I'm talking about type of walk - there are a handful I love:

• The bus walk/run (a term coined by Matt - credit where credit is due): the walk/run people do when a bus is coming or just about to leave and they haven't made it to the telling white rectangle. They speed up a little, then swing their arms really fast to elude to running for the bus but really just expelling more energy than needed while making everyone on the bus wait.
• The oblivious (often confused with rude): the walk people do when they forget there are other people in San Francisco. This is the type that walks 4-in-a-row on the Golden Gate Bridge (grrr) or walks, then stops really fast right in front of you.
• The tourist: this is not so much a walk as a stance. The tourist follows the oblivious path, but then stops, strikes a tripod pose, and takes a picture (often an awful one) of some building or some other tourist making a goofy pose. I've done this one on trips before, I admit.
• The agro: the walk (that carries into the car) people do when they think the world is against them and they deserve to get in your way. Quite annoying, but whatever - glad I don't feel that way.

There are hundreds more (it's like a list of Thailand's smile) - many are similar but mean very different things.

The Green Door

The search for a perfect event venue continued last week and I checked out a handful including hotels (boring but functionally work well) and rental spaces. One great space is Dogpatch over in Potrero Hill nestled in a mix residential/commercial area.

As with most old buildings in the city, Dogpatch comes with interesting stories/history. The venue is now used for photographers and filmmakers to shoot as well as launch parties and user conferences. That's a long way from it's origin - when the building first started being used as a commercial rental, it was for porn movies to film; one of the most notable being "Behind the Green Door." (I was going to hyperlink this, but I kept getting horribly embarrassing popups on my laptop - poor Matt is getting confused).

Random bits of history.

I WON! Ish.

...But I got robbed. I already posted my results from the Angel Island trail race (57:08 for a 12k). Turns out, the girl who was listed as first actually cut off a mile and a half leaving me, you guessed it, #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First time I've ever beat the clock/other ladies.

Not time to celebrate, though. Envirosports emailed me that they had difficulty tracking the runners' time and, because I changed from the 25k to the 12k (even though I asked if it was OK before the race), they were adding 12-hours to my time. Boo. To "make it up" they're giving me a $30 discount off future races. The real first place prize is a t-shirt, rubber chicken (it's a fun group - not organized, but fun), and shoes. $30 pales in comparison.

"Winning" is not so exciting after all.

Shoes glorious shoes!

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a shoes-y. Some people are foodies, some winos, some workhorses. I'm a shoes-y (although the horsing at work does help enable this hobby). My favorites include pointy toed, 3"+, booties, and Mary Jane. Lately, however, I've been forced into becoming a fan of a new kind of shoe - one not so glam - running shoes. Due to a bum knee, hurt hip, and crampy feet, I was driven to Financial District Foot & Ankel Center an (awesome) podietrist.

After being poked, scraped, and squeezed (I swear, these appointments are almost as "friendly" as OB kind), Dr. Sanders noted "yep, it's the shoes." This was half a relief, half a shock - a relief because it meant I don't need to invest $300+ on orthodics, but a shock as I KNOW shoes.

Over the years I've moved from shoe to shoe becoming a fan of the following:

Nike Air Max - great for road to trail. I've owned 5+ pairs of these and loved them. They changed the style, though, and now the shoes are narrower - don't love them as much.

Mizuno Wave - I thought these were "the shoe" but doc said "no, no, no." Bummer, they're a great look and feel good.

New Balance 1223 - great stability shoe. I wore these through college for run to hike activities. I think they look pretty darn good, too.

Saucony Gid - these fit my first orthodics - a must in the shoe dept.

After my first appointment Dr. Sanders got me to try some newbies:

Asics Gel Cumulous - a nice shoe, but a bit tight in the toe (for my fat feet anyhow).

Asics Gel 1120 - my new "it shoe." I've been trying these the past two weeks and like what I'm feeling/running in.

Adidas Supernova - made me feel like I was flat footed - I bought and quickly returned. Pretty darn ugly, too. After all, isn't running a styley sport?

It pays to help Girls on the Run

A few posts ago, I mentioned I started volunteering with Girls on the Run Bay Area. I'm on "Team Tiara" (a very sorority sounding committee) the group dedicated to fundraising. Donations provide money for shoes, coaching, race admission, and more for the young girls Girls on the Run support.

I've donated to groups before, and am happy to do it. I'm especially inclined to help education oriented groups as I believe if we teach and enable children, they'll become better adults and in turn be taking care of the new youth as well as the oldies (me in #+ years).

Good will aside, sometimes it's hard to take the step to donate. Girls on the Run makes it fairly easy with the (odd) donation minimum of $262 to be a "Team Tiara" member. All donations are welcome, though. In an attempt to drive more memberships, I wanted to compel potential members even more. I know I'm quite motivated by shopping and tax discounts, so at a team meeting we decided to combine the two - the result? Donations are tax deductible (this has always been the case), and women can get discounts around the Bay Area.

Here's what I've negotiated so far:

• Lombardi 20% discount (people must have the "Team Tiara" card)


• Metrosport 15% discount (people must have the "Team Tiara" card)


• Fleet Feet won't do a GOTR specific discount but does offer a $25 gift card for every $250 spent regardless


• PCTR 10% off race administration (people must know the discount code which is given upon donating)

A run to remember

Yesterday I met up with GGRC for our weekly run. There were a handful of new runners which was great to see. The morning was a bit overcast and we were all cold from the SF fog, so we decided to start off quickly to warm up. After discussing distance and pace we split into 3 groups - 2 doing planks (one reverse planks, one, mine, "normal").

I wound up in the "boys" group wanting to run 8:30s and we made our way out. We started at the warming hut and wound up to the bridge. Around and under the bridge, we wove up to the crest over the beach. We decided to add to our run and took off to the stairs that go down to the beach. While trying to keep up and catch my breath, I ate it (aka, fell hard) off the side of the hill. Not to worry - a blackberry bush caught me. Trying to keep my cool I climbed up a bit reaching to get out of the bush and back onto land. Nope - fell further. The poor guys had the look in their eyes that said, "I hope this doesn't ruin our run" but they were quite compassionate. After being pulled out of the bush we took off again and I tried to not only keep pace, but to set it. Gotta show toughness, right?

Scraped up, we finished the run in great time - our last mile clocked 7:30 and by then the morning fog had burned off so we were drenched. Good run, good times.

Post run I made my way to the DWR sale - a flock of people clawing for inexpensive designer furnature. Glad to see a good sale is the way to peoples' hearts to keep the economy booming.

2nd is the best? What a wimp...

Saturday I made my way to Angel Island again for an Envirosports race in the hills. I had signed up for the 25k but Friday night, feeling exhausted from the week, I gave myself the mental out to do 12k instead. Come race day, I got talked to the 25k starting line (same starting line as the 12, just 10minutes before) and took off sprinting. At about mile 3 I knew I just wanted the 12k, so I sped up.

The results? As follows:

1st female in my age group

5th overall (men and women) out of 242

2nd female overall

Total time: 57:08

Average mile: 7:44-7:50

Fastest mile (according to my trusty Garmin 305): 5:37 - I don't believe this, though - I haven't done that since highschool and that was in 1-mile races ... then again, the downhills do provide momentum ...

I love Angel Island and want to go back for a picnic someday soon. I think I'm raced out on the island, though. Next up? Marin relay, then See Jane Tri.

Flags, colors, athletes, and pop culture

It's opening Olympics night so a flurry of color, flags, and athletes is filling the tele screen. Sport, having always been a combination between entertainment and battle, is now filled with fashion, history, and pop culture. The announcers are commenting on the uniforms/outfits for the opening ceremony as well as the current feuding between nations, how the athletes got there, and the history behind their walk around the Olympic track.

I love the Olympics. I love that it's always been the same despite what's going on in the rest of the world - it's always been motivation and strength against the same.

When I was in highschool, Mr. Taylor brought us on Arete - Greek for excellence - a trip from Jerusalem to Egypt, Paris, Italy (multiple cities), Switzerland (multiple cities), and Greece (multiple cities). On this trip we ran, studied history, religion, philosophy, and life. I'm forever thankful for this trip and every 4-years the Olympics bring parts back.

During the first Olympics in Olympia (the "Ancient Olympics" (vs. the "Modern" - it's amazing the Olympics get a status like BC vs. AD)), it's said that women not only could not compete, they could not watch. Not being ones to take "no" for an answer, the women, however, would climb atop a nearby hill and watch and eventually they made their way into the games. At first it was 16 women competing, now it's thousands.

On the highschool trip, I got to run on the very first Olympic track through the arches and onto the dirt. I'll never forget that.

I love the flags, the races, the challenges, the meaning. Hurray for the Olympics!

Why the long run?

After all these long runs, and all these long races, I come to learn shorter runs and sprint repeats are better for fat loss. Go figure.

Creulty to photogs

There's a rude post coming on ...

I can't understand the new trend of one-armed glamor photos. You know, the ones where a solo flyer is standing arm out in front of a view no-one can see smiling, trying to look gorgeous, and taking a picture of their forehead, eye, or awkward stance. I can understand the photos of a singler in front of something beautiful taken by some stranger walking by, or even of someone side-ways photogging themselves in front of something they want to remember. But a 1-armed glamor? Nope ... don't get it.

So what spurred this? I was clicking through Facebook looking at my friends and "friend" requests (the folks I don't know and I don't know why they're trying to add me) and came across a half dozen plus sideways glamor shots.

Pics aside, my favorite ism (insert your favorite word in front of ism here) is pictures of the glamoristas taking their glamor shots. The stilted pose, sideways lean, and awkward grin get me every time.

I'm being a royal meany in this entry as I have to admit, I've sideways photogged a few times myself.

Blues fest

Another year, another great Blues fest. Gabe, Amanda, Don, Kathleen, Matty and I made it to Bluesapalooza around 1pm yesterday and enjoyed beer tasting and great music. You couldn't pick a better scenery for a fest like this - the trees and the mountains cast the perfect backdrop for the Blues bands. Some of the breweries were pretty amazing, too.

Marin Brew Co (my hometown co) was there and gave me a free thong - quite odd really. It's new, I swear, but why that had a box of them to give is beyond me.

Angel Brew Co is a new one to us who poured fantastic hoppy ales. They gave a free pint glass. I guess breweries want to don their fans with goods?

Beers aside, the tunes are what we flocked for. Tom Kall & Kenny Sultan were awesome with a keyboard solo. Curtis Salgado Band was great getting the audience up and dancing. At the intermission, one of the stage helps proposed to his girlfriend filling eyes around the stage. CChris Cain Band wiped the tears away with kickup your heels (yes, Blues can get fast and happy) music.

Inspired

Yesterday's run was amazing. Not only did I get to enjoy the beautiful sites of Mammoth lakes and mountains, but I ran into a highschool girlfriend who I haven't seen in years. Small world!

We ran 4.9 and 8,850 feet elevation. Toughy.

Some inspirational points along the run ...

Gabe gets paid for following his passion - snowboarding and occasionally surfing. I asked Gabe who inspired him. His answer, "At first it was my uncle. He used to make me train and push harder. now it's me." Selfish sounding, but it's not. Read on, "Someone else can inspire you to get to the starting line or even finish a race. But between the start and the finish you're the only one who can push, who can go faster, and who can pass or be passed. So during the race I inspire myself to go harder than I went before."

I dig it.

The run we did followed Deena Kastor's (Olympic marathon qualifier) training loop. Some people go to LA to stand in the stars of stars, I came to Mammoth to run on the trails of a runner.

Real runner?

Lately I've been wondering what it means to be a "real runner." I recently applied and interviewed to be an "Ambassador" for Lululemon - my hopes are so high right now my hands are cramping from keeping fingers crossed. Part of the process is talking about our sport - in my case running. Typically, Lulu enlists teachers into their Ambassador program. Something about leading a class must make you a real --- (fill-in-the-blank). I'm not a coach, not a teacher, not even a race winner. I place sometimes, and run when I can, and try to run often, but I'm not sure if those check marks are on the "real" list.

Last night at dinner, Matt's parents were talking about how shocked his aunt and uncle were that I finished a real marathon in good time - does that make me a real runner? Maybe.

Negative musings aside, I think anyone can be a runner if they:

• Lace up and get out the door - a 1/2 mile counts as a run in my books
• Run because they love it
• Run because they feel good
• Run because they feel bad - sometimes we need to push ourselves past comfortable limits, it hurts in the moment and feels so good when complete (like races ... now that I wrote that it sounds addict-y)
• Run to be healthy
• Run to be happy
• Run to enjoy where they are (this can be location based or a deep thought - you decide)

I think I've been reading too much philosophy these past few weeks. Activities don't need to be analysed and picked apart - just done. Oy vey.

Off I go on a real (short) run.

The air up here

We're in Mammoth this weekend for Bluesapaloosa. Yesterday I tried to take this as an opportunity for altitude training running the hills. A miserable experience - lungs burning, legs hardly moving, and nose bleeding (gross, sorry) I made it 2.5 miles and then looped back to the cabin. I think the mountains are better for enjoying trash magazines with some real lit thrown in amidst good food, good wine, good hikes, and good friends.

That said, today I'm going to attempt to keep up with Gabe for a short 4-mile run before we make our way to the beer fest. I must be a glutton for punishment.