Day 2 San Francisco

Cory's off with Adam and work, so I have the apartment to myself. This morning I walked to a corner grocer for a banana and chocolate soy milk. Later, I used Cory's block as a stair-master. His street inclines at a 45 degree angle and it's about 1/8 of a mile long. I put on my iPod and climbed the whole block 5 times. It took 20 minutes and I was dripping in sweat! Then I had a nice long shower and set out to explore.

I took the subway to the Civic Center figuring I could find something to eat near the theater. When I emerged from underground I was smack in the middle of a farmer's market in UN Square. I had fresh tamales for lunch. Mmmm. Then I wandered through the vendors killing time before the show.

Finally, it was time to see "Wicked." It's being staged in a great, beautiful, texturally-rich theater named The Orpheum. The show was amaztastic and fantagasming! Incredible music and costumes and sets and lights and on and on and on. If you're a fan of musicals, this one is NOT to be missed! You'll never watch "The Wizard of Oz" the same way again. :)

First Night in the Big City

Visiting Cory is always an adventure. I rolled into the Castro about 7 pm and was informed that we had dinner plans at 8. I can't recommend the Velvet Cantina in the Mission District enough. I met a guy who runs a non-profit that throws parties for charity. I met a guy who did the interior design for George Lucas' house. I met a guy who always wears gloves because he has a phobia of people touching his hands. And this was just the first 3 hours of my stay.

2010

I don't put much stock in astrology, but I happen to like the guy who is in our weekly alternative paper. His horoscopes are always humorous, challenge me to try new thoughts on for size, and include homework. You can check him out at Free Will Astrology.

I want to share a recent horoscope of mine:

"I hope you will get more sleep in 2010. And eat better food, too. And embark on some regimen like meditation that will reduce your stress levels. In general, Sagittarius, I hope you will learn a lot more about what makes your body function at optimum levels, and I hope you will diligently apply what you learn. That doesn't mean that I think you should be an obsequiously well-behaved pillar of the community. On the contrary, what I'm envisioning is that by taking better care of yourself you will make yourself strong enough to run wilder and freer."

Indeed. Onward into 2010!

Best Christmas Ever

I won't bore you with all the details but this Christmas was the most satisfying that I've had since I was a kid. Family, friends, and a healthy attitude all came together in a miraculous way. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday as well and here's to a fantastic 2010.

Suffering Is Optional

The past 48 hours have challenged me. I find myself dwelling on my reactions to other people and their behavior. I know that I can't change what is reality, yet I let myself get so upset. Why can I not accept reality and move on?

I find myself thinking things like, this person doesn't love me enough, that person wants too much from me, this person is selfish. The reality is that I don't know what motivates any of these people or what they want. It's my responses to their behavior that is causing my suffering. It's like the left side of my brain ignores the rational right side and weaves these elaborate tales of fear and anger. The knowledge that I'm thinking irrationally does not seem to give me the power to stop it.

"We are disturbed not by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens." Epictetus

Winter Solstice 5k

Mission accomplished: I finished my first 5k. This is me at about 15 minutes before the start wearing my official race shirt. Notice the blue sky above. The race was scheduled to coincide with sunset. We'd start in the day and end at night. About 5 minutes after the gun went off, it started pouring cold rain. Oh well, too late to back out. I finished completely soaking wet, but very hot, in total darkness.

I knew I couldn't run the whole thing, so my strategy was to run for 2 minutes and walk for 2 minutes. This worked very well and I finished in 46:15. That's an average of 14:48 per mile; a huge improvement over the 16 minute miles I've been jogging. My next goal is to get under 45 minutes and hopefully eliminate the walking.

As a bonus incentive to sign up for another race, I won 3rd place for my division, Women 35-39. What? Me? A ribbon? Shut up!

Guess I was lucky that only 2 other women were in my division!

A Religious Conversion

I have found something that has transformed my life. If you had told me that there was a form of exercising that is brutally hard AND fun at the same time, I would have called you a liar. That was before I tried Crossfit. In one workout, I became a devoted follower.

It's a high intensity workout that combines cardio, weight resistance, and competition with yourself. You can do the workouts on your own, but I'm in love with this group that does it in a big industrial garage that they've converted into a gym. They call it The Box, and it's filled with kettle bells, jump boxes, pull-up bars, and mats. Basically, you go in and your coach gives you a series of movements to do i.e. squats, push-ups, sit-ups. Then you do it as hard and as fast as you can for as many rounds as you can. The routine changes every day because the variety builds total body fitness. A key component is that you track your progress and compete with yourself. It's really hard to explain what it is. Check out this website if you want to learn more: www.Crossfit.com.

Anyway, The Box feels like an old-timey (I can't believe I just used that phrase) boxing gym. It's just a bunch of friends hanging out, working on whatever skills they need to work on, helping each other out, and providing lots and lots of encouragement. I went to a group session yesterday where we divided up into teams and competed with each other. The series was hard and it kicked my ass. But it was the most fun I've had in years. It was absolutely the ONLY time I've ever had fun while working out. I'm totally hooked even though I feel like I was hit by a car today.

Oh yeah, and I've got my first race this afternoon.