Another 3

I walked 3 miles this morning with Dawn. For some reason, I walk faster when I have a partner. We finished in 48 minutes.

Three Weeks Down

I met Jennifer at the trail this morning, and we walked 3 miles in 52 minutes. We always follow our walks with a smart breakfast at Paradise Bakery. We are single-handedly keeping the quiche muffin alive there.

Today concludes week 3 of 24. In total, I've officially walked 43 miles in my 3-Day adventure. I haven't even reached 60, and I'm looking forward to my rest day tomorrow.

Big Five Miles

This morning, I walked the furthest I've walked in a long while. I got up a little before 5:30 and was out the door by 5:35. I walked five miles before 7 am. And I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for getting it out of the way that early because today was
H-O-T!

Keeping On

On Thursday I walked 4 miles in just under 68 minutes. And that's all I have to say about that.

Tennis, Anyone?

That's my little tennis player. When Elizabeth was 4, I signed her up for a tiny tots tennis class at the beautiful, state-of-the-art community tennis center two miles from our house. I'm very happy to report that a year and a half later, she still enjoys tennis lessons. That's pretty good for a 5 year old, right? She's even planning her 6th birthday party with a tennis theme. I'm happy she enjoys it so much and it really is a lot of fun to go to the tennis center and see her out on the court. In fact, it looks like so much fun that I want to go out there and play, too. Sadly, I'm about on the kids' level.

She showed interest in tennis right after Jennifer and I took an adult beginners class two years ago. It was fun and when I see the adult class now, I wish I was in it again. Thirty-three isn't too old to learn how to play tennis. If I start learning with her now, we'll be on the same level and be good competition for each other, right? Maybe someday we can be in a mother-daughter doubles tournament. Wait. I'm getting ahead of myself here. First I need to re-enroll in the beginners class this fall or winter. Anyone want to join me? And I mean you, the one person who reads this blog.

Early to Bed

...early to rise. This must become my new mantra. It has to. I wasn't getting enough sleep as it was, and now if I'm going to wake up at 5:30 to walk, I better get to bed sooner. It's not like I need to stay up until 11:30 every night; I just do. I blame Conan and Dave.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 and was walking by 5:40. Brian had to be at work earlier today so I had to complete my 3 miles by 6:30. And I did. After Matthew goes down for his nap this afternoon, I will probably crash, too. Elizabeth and I usually read books and do other quiet activities during his nap, and yesterday while we were reading, the book fell on my head. I just fell asleep while reading. I jolted awake, of course, but then it happened again and another time I just started mumbling something. Elizabeth thought it was pretty funny, but I think my body's trying to tell me something.

More Walking

I have a feeling I'm going to run out of titles for my posts very soon.

This morning I was out the door and walking by 6 am. I walked 3 miles in just over 50 minutes. Jennifer and I have a plan to walk together on Sundays, but she and her family went on a camping trip this weekend so she wasn't available this morning. We planned to walk Sunday evening, but I wasn't confident that was going to happen so I walked by myself just in case. I will never doubt Jennifer again. Even after a three day camping trip, she still felt like walking this evening. We walked another 3 miles tonight.

Another reason I walked this morning is because I wasn't sure that walking on Saturday morning and Sunday evening would count as a back-to-back walk. And no, you're not the first person to call me anal-retentive.

I love walking!

Hey, I finally found a sport I'm relatively good at. I don't like team sports--too much pressure. I don't like going to the gym--too many hardbodies to intimidate me and the smells are too much to bear. But walking, there's something I can do! I just open the door and go. No equipment is needed (well, the Garmin helps, but it's not necessary), and even if I'm away on vacation, I can walk. Sure, a gym membership would give me access to a treadmill, but that is so boring. I don't even think I could walk on a treadmill for more than 30 minutes, let alone a couple of hours. Plus, I wouldn't be able to see the world.

This morning I walked four miles in about an hour and ten minutes. My friend Dawn showed me a convenient way to get to the canal from our neighborhood. Chandler created the Paseo Trail along the canal, and it's a really pretty place to walk. There are a lot of people who use this portion of the trail so I feel safe and I get to people-watch. Plus, there's some wildlife. Every once in a while a fish jumps up in the canal, and today I was walking ten feet behind two hummingbirds for nearly five minutes. They were beautiful. The portion Jennifer and I walk on Sundays even has owls and llamas! When there's so much to look at, the time goes by faster. I can't wait to see San Diego!

Cake Challenge Slideshow

To see the photographer's fabulous slideshow from the Cake Challenge for the Cure, click here.

What now?

Okay. So at the Cake Challenge for the Cure, there was a tiny bit of confusion. One of the competing teams created a cake illustrating that we're training for the 3-Day in Phoenix, over desert areas and rocky mountains, and then we end up in beachy San Diego. Some in attendance were led to believe that we were actually walking to San Diego. Too funny. It's 355 miles from Phoenix to San Diego. There's no way I would have signed up for something like that!

Then yesterday I decided to add up all the training miles in my 24-week training program. Just for kicks. If I walk every single mile in the program (which I fully intend to do, mind you), I will walk 585 miles before the 3-Day even starts. And I was worried about 60 miles.

Today I had to do 30 minutes of easy cross training (bicycling, elliptical, swimming, pilates, yoga or dance). Tonight I did some running, stepping, and yoga with Wii Fit.

3 More Miles Logged

This morning, I was out the door and walking by 5:45. Sometimes I really amaze myself. I'm sure waking up early to exercise is easy for a lot of people, but I am not one of them. If I have a walking partner, it's a little easier; I know someone's waiting for me so I better get going. Why don't I want to do it just for myself? I didn't meet anyone today so maybe I'm overcoming that obstacle. Of course, I am a little fanatical about schedules and sticking to them, so at least that's on my side. Finally, my craziness is an asset! I'm scheduled to walk four miles on Saturday and I'm going it alone. We'll see how friendly I am with the snooze button then.

Today, I walked 3 miles in 50 minutes. Tuesday walks are labeled as 'easy' (two to three miles an hour on flat surfaces) and Thursday walks are 'moderate' (three to four miles an hour or incorporating hills). We have no hills so I just walked a little faster. Not much. Just a little.

Training: Week 2

Yesterday I woke up at 5:40 and met a friend at 6:00 for a 3-mile walk. It took us about 54 minutes. Dawn lives in my neighborhood and I met her through PTO. She brought her 8 year old along so we kept the pace at around 17-18 minute miles. That was good for me. If I go too fast, my knee gives me some trouble, but it's been great since I had a thorough consultation with my physical therapist friend. I've been doing my exercises and massaging it and that seems to keep everything in check. If it starts to hurt, I just massage it and it feels better. Thank goodness. I was worried there for a while. On the days I don't walk, like today, I'll do my knee exercises. I'm on my way!

San Francisco, Days 3 & 4

After slightly over-doing it the day before, we were determined to pace ourselves for the rest of our trip. We explored the west side of the city on Tuesday. We started out by taking a bus to Alamo Square, the park known for its picturesque view of seven "Painted Ladies" before the San Francisco skyline...or the opening scene of Full House. Next, we hopped back on the bus to Golden Gate Park and wandered around the Japanese Tea Garden. The garden was probably my favorite part of the city. It's meticulously maintained and so peaceful. It was just my speed.

Afterwards, we walked through the San Francisco Botanical Gardens and then to the Haight. I promised my dad I'd get a shot of the Red Vic. The Haight wasn't exactly what I was expecting. There were a few aging hippies and some other interesting characters, but the corner of Haight and Ashbury certainly isn't the same as it was back in the day. In fact, there were more beautifully restored homes like the one below than psychedelic graffiti.

After lunch, we took a bus to the Castro District. We went to a matinee at the Castro Theatre, a theater built in 1922 with a capacity of 1400. We saw Up in 3-D, but the experience was more about the theater than the movie.

The inside of the Castro is even more impressive than the outside.

After the movie, we walked through the Castro a little bit. Here's a view of the enormous pride flag before Twin Peaks.

We had dinner at Fisherman's Wharf that night and headed over to Ghirardelli Square for a sundae later in the evening.

The next morning, we started out early for our 20-mile bike ride. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, and it wasn't as scary as I was anticipating. The sun came out shortly after we started biking and the weather was just perfect for this ride. This is my favorite picture from vacation.

From the bridge, we coasted down into Sausalito. Thank goodness, because my thighs were burning from the steep climbs up to the bridge. Sausalito is a really quaint seaside town with lots of shopping and dining. We didn't stay long, though.

This photo was taken at about mile 18. My butt hurt and my legs were tired.

The best part of the ride is that we didn't have to turn around and go back. We took an extremely chilly ferry ride back to San Francisco from Tiburon. So, that was our trip. We had a great time and hope to take the kids to San Francisco someday when they're a little older. I can't even imagine pushing a stroller around that city. If you ever have the opportunity to visit San Francisco, take it!

The Training Has Officially Begun

This week marks the start of the six-month training period for the 3-Day in November. Technically, this is the last day of Week 1. The plan was to walk 3 miles on Tuesday, 3 miles on Thursday, 3 miles on Saturday, and 3 miles today. Although I went on vacation and the only training walk I did was today, I'm sure I more than made up for the walks I missed.

Brian and I celebrated our ten year anniversary by taking a trip to San Francisco. My parents were in town to watch Elizabeth and Matthew so we were able to get away for four days. We really enjoyed the city and pretty much saw everything we set out to see. I did plenty of research from borrowing guide books from the library to watching all six episodes of Tales of the City. If you've never been to San Francisco, you must go. The landscape is beautiful, the weather is so pleasant, and there is so much to see! In fact, I'll show you some of the sights to lure you there and also to prove that I did get some exercise in while on vacation.

Here we are shortly after arriving in San Francisco. Our MUNI passes (public transportation) weren't valid until Monday, so when we got there Sunday we figured we'd explore the streets around our hotel. We started off with Yerba Buena Gardens in SoMa, but got a little carried away and ended up on Nob Hill. If you're familiar with the city, you know how far (and high!) Nob Hill is from SoMa. But the climb was worth it when we happened to recognize this apartment building from Tales of the City--it's the location of Dede and Beauchamp's penthouse. So cool!

The next day we started off by visiting the sea lions at Pier 39. Cute but noisy little guys.

Next, we toured Alcatraz and had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. Then we took a cable car up to Lombard Street, the street known for its crookedness, and walked down the hill. You know, it's just as hard walking down those steep hills as it is walking up. It's really tough on the knees! So we walked down crooked Lombard Street and then kept going all the way to the base of Coit Tower. A little too far and hilly to walk. I was struggling. Do not attempt.

And after that grueling walk, the stairs and elevator at Coit Tower were closed. All for nothing! We took a bus down into North Beach and wandered around a bit. Then we explored China Town. After that, we rested by taking a cable car up and down California Street.

The highlight of the day was when we met Brian's cousin Aaron for dinner. He took us to Ocean Beach so I could get my very first view of the Pacific Ocean. (I know. How does anyone go 33 years without seeing the Pacific Ocean?) This was by far the coldest beach I've ever been on but the sea air smelled fantastic!

He also took us to Sea Cliff for amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the sun even came out for our photos.

Aaron took us to a dumpling restaurant in the real China Town for dinner then drove us up Twin Peaks for beautiful nightime views of the city. It's great to have a local as a tour guide to take you off the beaten path. And he's obviously done this before.

This post is getting a little lengthy and I'm getting a little tired. To be continued....