I FINISHED!!!!!!!
I don't have the energy to do a full post right now, but I wanted to let you all know that I finished the San Francisco Marathon in 5 hours 49 minutes and 30 seconds. Yay Me! I will write more later.
Random musings
Sunday was a gorgeous day so, even though I was exhausted, I decided to explore the Marin Headlands. I didn't have enough time for a hike so I walked the beach and found a good spot to read for a while. I did pick up a map of all of the hiking trails and I will be heading back sometime soon. That jaunt inspired me to find a hike for Monday. I headed to the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Purisima Open Space Preserve. I picked up the trail map, got myself oriented, and started down the trail. I was really in my head during the first mile and didn't really notice that I had been hiking downhill until it didn't make sense to turn around. That is when I took a closer look at the topo map. I soon discovered that I would be losing 1500' of elevation, which meant that I would have to gain it to get back to my car. Of course, I chose the gradual slope with plenty of switchbacks for the downhill and the trail that went straight up with no tree cover to speak of for the hike back. Overall I did 6.5 miles and sweated my ass off! I planned on showering and crashing when I got home, but instead met up with some friends in the Mission.
I am not trendy! Not that I ever really thought I was, but this fact was hammered home on Monday night. Not only am I not trendy, I don't want to be, and really, I would like to shy away from trendy spots and people whenever possible. This is probably going to pose a large problem living in a city like SF where everyone has their eye out for the next big thing in food, drinks, nightlife, etc... I people watched and most of the night I rode the fine line between fascinated and disgusted. I guy sat down at our table and proceeded to give us his "bar name" and some made up story about his friend's birthday. This is why the bar scene will never work for me. Why can't people just be honest about themselves.
The 4th of July is one of those holidays that always seems like it should be rockin' and usually falls flat, kind of like New Year's Eve. I watched World Cup Soccer and then went to a BBQ where I knew 2 people. I watched the fireworks on TV and went to bed early. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day! This week I'm back at work for three short days before taking another 2 weeks off.
Why is it that I always pick the most inopportune times to develop a rockstar lifestyle? Seriously, I have to run 23 miles on Sunday so you would think that I would be resting up and taking care of myself. Instead I met up with other college counselors for a happy hour after work and then headed to a karaoke bar to meet other friends. There were some great renditions from wannabe Dixie Chicks, Bon Jovi, Journey, Boyz 2 Men, etc... and some not so great attempts at quite a few others. We closed the place down and I got a total of 2 hours of sleep last night. My running group is meeting at a bar this afternoon since we don't have to run until Sunday morning. Tonight definitely has to be an early one for me!
After Sunday's long run I will shove the cats into their carrier, hop into my new car, and scoot on up to Oregon. My mom's side of the family is gathering in Depoe Bay for 8 days, something we haven't done in 5 1/2 years. I'm hoping to get lots of quality family time as well as pick up surfing. So, I may or may not be updating my blog in the next two weeks.
A full week
Last Friday I took my car to the mechanic to find out why it felt "wobbly" when I drove it. That is when I found out that I needed to buy a new car; it wasn't worth sinking any more money into my 10 year old one. I didn't have time to take care of anything during the week because I headed off to Atlanta. On Sunday night, after dropping Alexis off with her friend, I did get to spend some time with Joel. We hung out at his place for 5 hours laughing, telling stories, and even making out a little. I came home in a glow and didn't mind staying up late to pack.
I arrived in Atlanta on the heels of the storms that flooded the east coast so it was nice and cool, for Atlanta that is. The gist of my week in Atlanta was wake up early, visit a couple of colleges, make conversation with admissions counselors, return to the hotel, dinner, too many drinks, lots of conversation and laughter, bed, rinse & repeat. I did make a change in the schedule on Wednesday when Libby and I headed to the recently opened Georgia Aquarium. We spent four hours wandering through the various exhibits watching beluga whales scratch their heads on underwater rocks, leafy sea dragons hover in beds of kelp, yellow jacks hiding from larger predatory fish by swimming in front of the mouth of a whale shark, and giant grouper posturing for the crowds. It was great, and Libby imparted much of her fishy knowledge on me.
I arrived back in San Francisco on Friday afternoon and spent the evening hanging out with friends playing Scrabble, drinking beers, and eating pizza in a bar around the corner from my house. Saturday morning was only an 8 mile run called "loop di loop". We ran the whole time in Golden Gate Park making loops around the polo fields and four lakes. As soon as I got home I jumped in the shower and got ready to tackle the "new car" problem.
I headed out with high hopes. First I stopped at my bank to secure an auto loan where I was told that they no longer offer auto loans and I would have better luck at a credit union. I visited two more banks that basically told me that same thing. Next I thought I would visit the Toyota dealership to test drive a Matrix. During my week in Atlanta I did a lot of research looking for a car that offered the cargo space of my RAV 4 but with better gas mileage and low emissions and came up with the Matrix. The guy at the dealership looked at me like I had two heads when I asked to drive a manual car, and get this - they didn't have any manual cars in their stock. Apparently no one drives manual cars anymore, especially not in SF.
I came home for lunch and to pout a little. By this time all of the credit unions were closed and I was feeling like this was going to be a bigger project than I had planned. I finally found the car that I wanted in Santa Rosa, about an hour and half north of San Francisco. I drove up there, holding my breath the whole way, and 5 hours later I was home with my new car.
To make it an even longer and more emotional day, Joel told me that he wasn't ready to date anyone seriously right now. The things I told him about creating friendships and concentrating on myself first on Sunday night hit home with him. He has decided to take some time to focus on friendships and himself before diving into another relationship. I totally understand and applaud him for recognizing what he needs before adding another person to his life but that doesn't mean I'm not bummed.
I'm looking forward to a short week at work before my 23 mile run and then heading up to OR for a two week family reunion.
