The Gym

I can't believe it, I didn't think I would ever do this again... I joined a gym! Way before my competitive running days, I always had a gym membership. Sometimes I was a consistent gym rat, sometimes I wasn't. When I moved back to the Bay Area from Salt Lake City, I lived with my parents in Lafayette for over a year before I got an apartment in the city. I used to wake up at 5am to be at Bally's Fitness in Pleasant Hill, CA by 5:30am. I would workout for an hour, drive home, shower, get ready for work and arrive at the BART station by 8am to commute to the city. Wow... I'm impressed with myself that I actually did that! It seems kinda nutty today.

The big reason why I stopped going to the gym once I moved to SF was that I discovered the outdoors! Between bootcamp, running on Crissy Field, cycling, and swimming in the bay, I didn't think I needed the gym anymore. Now that I've gone full circle with my injury, surgeries, and recovery, I've decided it's time to go back to the gym. I joined Crunch, a gym chain in the city and I'm hoping their group classes will inspire me to try something new. More than anything I need to start lifting weights again. I have to gain some muscle back! It's so good for our bones and overall health.

I snapped some photos during a recent trip to Crunch on Polk Street, about 6 blocks from my apartment.

It's an old theater! Walk on the treadmill and watch a movie! Pretty cool, huh?

I love this phrase. "A good workout is whatever gets your heart racing."

The Trail

One of my favorite places to walk/run is the Lafayette-Moraga Trail close to where I grew up. My first days of running were on this trail with my junior high cross country team at Stanley Intermediate School in Lafayette, CA. Was it a competitive cross country team? No, we didn't actually go up against other junior high teams, I think it was just a passion of my 8th grade science teacher, Mr. Boucher. He volunteered to coach the students who wanted to participate during the After School Sports program. We would run up to 5 miles several days a week during the cross country season. Along with this, and other sports I participated in (volleyball which I loved even if I was on the "B" team, and Softball where I sucked, but stuck it out), I earned enough points to get my block "S" before I graduated. : )

Stanley is located just past the 1 mile marker on the Lafayette-Moraga Trail and this was where we ran after school. To be honest, I think I just ran with my friends and gossiped. We certainly weren't trying to make PR's!

The Trail is also one of the places my parents ran and trained for marathons when I was a kid. They have taken advantage of the Trail, whether walking or running, as long as I can remember. When I was training for races 5+ years ago, I would go to the Trail from time to time to do a training run. It's so familiar to me, it's part of home! Recently, I went there for one of my run/walks.

Isn't it pretty?

Stanley Intermediate School. Go Wildcats!

A mile marker.

Just a Hint

I have a new job!

Wordless Wednesday: Scrunchy Face

A Future Photographer?

My niece Morgan may have found her calling! Or, like most kids these days, she can't get enough of her parents smart phones. Morgan is 3 1/2 and has already learned how to take photos with her Mom's iPhone 3GS. Then I showed up with my iPhone 4. To give you a little background, Morgan has always been a little confused that she is supposed to sit still while you take her picture or keep on doing her thing while you're shooting a video. She is so fascinated by seeing herself that she sometimes leaves the picture, runs over and asks to "See Morgan!" Her parents have tried to explain to her and Piper that if they leave the picture, the screen will be empty, no Morgan or Piper.

Anyway, Meg, Morgan and I were upstairs in the guest room one day and Morgan wanted to take photos with my phone. I handed it to her and let her click away. Then I remembered that with the iPhone 4, she can take photos of herself by touching the button that flips the camera to the inside lens. Whoa, this was a revelation for Morgan! Meg and I looked at each other and said, "Uh oh. Maybe I shouldn't have shown her that feature." Oh well, the cat was out of the bag. Morgan ended up just cracking us up with her antics, taking photos of just about everyone and herself! Here are some samples.

Piper's cute diaper butt and curly hair.

Most of Dad David.

A happy photo of Mommy Meg. She told Morgan she needed

to get her eyes, nose, and mouth in the picture. Much better!

A sweet Morgan face.

OK, not quite.

There she is!

Aunt Ali's feet and Morgan's dress.

Yeah Morgan!

Wordless Wednesday: Bubble Girl