Bike over to Sausalito

My life sometimes has way of happening despite me. I have a pin that says "I get enough exercise just pushing my luck." Hopefully by day 1001, more resolve and planning will be involved... Case in point would be this Memorial Day. I was sloppy the night before, popping awake at 6:30 am on a couch with a busted lip. Home and in bed by 8 am, the thought of physical exercise was the LAST thing on my mind, but I got a text at 10 am from Michelle saying to meet up at noon to bike over to Sausalito. Granted the whole excursion had been my idea, I had rendered myself incapable of setting it into motion, accomplishing this goal and an odd lack of hangover being the only things getting me out of the house to the rendezvous point. The ride wasn't as nearly as bad as it could've been, given my state. I was able to keep up with the other two triathletes we were biking with, low front tire air pressure and all. We met up with Lindsay (who had decided to run) in Sausalito and had lunch on the bay, lounging in the sun, glad to be distanced from the gray melancholy that shrouded the city. We found a bike shop to fill my tires, fix Michelle's stuck chain and grease Brian's gear cogs, then headed back. The hills weren't nearly as bad as I had feared, properly inflated tires and my having finally figured out how to shift gears surely to credit. (Yes, this kid still has not retained how to engage her gears for hills, every time forcing a new trial-by-almost-falling-off-her-bike-from-momentum-loss episode...) The bridge was relentlessly windy, the fog engulfing us in wet swirls, clearly spiteful of our afternoon abandonment. All in all, the day was quite pleasant. The biking was a welcomed changed of pace from running and a great cap to the holiday weekend.

Run Bay to Breakers

Having been born and raised here, I am sorry to say that prior to this year, I have not attended the true San Franciscan spectacle that is this event. Being all of 25, I figured I should be in some type of physical state to actually run the 7.46 miles. Training was facilitated by joining the Sports Basement and Niketown group runs, and a few friends who dragged me along on other days. Race day proved a departure from the typical gray, rain/fog weather, instead the sun deciding to shine and encourage all to frolic about, drunk, happy, and immodestly under-clothed. My official time was 80:04 minutes, slower than the pace I had hoped, but I was zapped by the heat, without my ipod to set a tempo, walked a couple blocks of the infamous Hayes Street hill, and walked another half mile portion before the park, shamed into jogging the remaining 4 miles when two spandexed water buffalo trundled past me. I met up with friends afterward, hung out, enjoyed copious libations, talked to nude people, ate, all the while marveling at the prime people watching to be done, then wondered off to a mini rave under a bridge in the park, chilled with kickball teammates, and eventually found my way home, sunburned to a crisp and in love with San Francisco all over again.

I have always been one to start off with the best of intentions and then taper off, failure to follow through punctuating my decline. In an effort to renew my consistency, I am embarking on an Odyssey to Moderation, 101 goals in 1001 days. Wish me luck!