Berkeley Ironworks... and turning a corner :)

This place is all kinds of awesome :)

On Thursday when I was in for my climbing lesson, I noticed again that they have treadmills and ellipticals and weight stuff in addition to the climbing business...but I had no idea how complete of a gym it is! I went Saturday to do a some strength work and a little varied cardio stuff...

I did a little on the blurry treadmill...

blurry because I am out of shape and my hands were shaking...

not because I was running fast.

Then I experienced the elliptical...

I went 'backwards' on this one to work my hip differently.

And to finish my cardio portion, I jumped on the rowing machine...

just like the good ol' days :)

The cardio area looks out over the weight machines and the climbing walls...

The pictures really suck because I wasn't too sure how keen people were to being in pictures 

that would be plastered all over the internet ;-)

What I discovered is that this gym has even more than what I saw at my first casual glance. Up on that cardio level is a whole big section of free weights and stationary bikes. Somewhere, there is a large area for spinning classes and yoga classes and even more classes...that are all free for members! And they have bathrooms and showers. And they give you towels. Can you tell it's been a million years since I belonged to a gym? This was just way too much excitement for me...

After my short cardio adventure and quick self-tour of the gym, I set to working my hip adductors and abductors and glutes slowly and gently so as not to overdo or further injure. Then I hung out for a bit...

source

This is a hangboard. It simulates all the different holds you might find on a climbing wall...some are super hard to hold onto...like, SUPER hard. So weird to think about building the stamina in my fingers, hands and forearms! Right now they are so weak that I have a hard time hanging on long enough to make good use of my legs when climbing. I aim to remedy that :) To that end, I worked on the hangboard until I couldn't stand it anymore...I don't know how else to explain it. And when I finished, I went home...feeling satisfied and sweaty ... such a nice change from depressed and lethargic!

And I think I've turned a corner.

Today something happened that a week ago...or even two days ago...would have caused me to curl up in a ball on the sofa. But I didn't go into sofa-mode...I got pissed. Not super pissed, mind you, but extremely annoyed. I feel like this is a really good sign. Just say "No!" to curling up in the fetal position and wishing you were in a deep, dark cave!

I very quickly got over the biz that got me pissed, and the day has been a good one. A piano recital for one child and a harp rehearsal for another and an interest in doing things...and a random blogger sighting that involved me shouting out the window of my dirty minivan at this cute couple running together and pissing off the drivers behind me as I lingered too long at the right-turn-after-stopping-at-the-red-light to say "hello" and introduce myself. She probably thinks I'm a total wacko... and I am. So her lawyerly intuition is spot on. But to me, the mere fact that I had the energy and the chutzpah to make the effort to act like a dork is huge. HUGE.

So here's to what I'm hoping is an emergence from the abyss (hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying this!). And many thanks to all of my awesome readers for bearing with me and helping to buoy me up for the past several months as I wrestle with this challenge. You all have been the best :)

Badass {babe-a-licious} Blogger Meet-up!

So next week I am running in this thing... this relay. It's called the Hood to Coast Relay. Have I mentioned it?

I am running as part of a team composed entirely of female bloggers (except for 2 very awesome company staffers) ... a team that was chosen and is sponsored by NUUN... operation hydration ;-)  Have I mentioned this?

I wasn't sure... because there have been all these posts about boobs. Well, there's been one post about boobs... but it really overshadowed my entire blog since I posted it. Seriously, folks... put 'boobs' in your title and you suddenly become pretty popular. Have pictures of awesome bloggers' boobs and, well, for a New York second you feel like the belle of the ball.

But now that New York second is over and we can get back to the important stuff...

Hood to Coast and my team, Nuun Platuun.

Last night I got to meet two of my teammates in person! For the first time! We had ramen. Not like Top Ramen... like good ramen. Genki Ramen in San Francisco. If you're a ramen connoisseur and you are ever in the foggy city by the bay... Genki is all that. Go.

Here we are:

the mom and her daughter and her daughter's friend :P

I am seriously old enough to be their mom.

Commando, Capt. Underpants and Capt. Cupcake...

reporting for ramen.

pay no attention to our weird glowing eyeballs or my nearly-revealing shirt...

it was a wild time ;-)

Cupcake was the person I tried to spectate in the San Francisco Marathon last month... remember?

 The one I didn't see but who saw me? 

So we had been within 20 feet of each other before last night. 

It was an awesome meet-up. They were super fun and easy to talk to. They were really nice to me and said I look way younger than I am (they sounded wayyy sincere, so I love them) and said that I am totally not mom-like... which they assured me is a super-score.  :)  I am a weensy bit bummed that they get to be in Van 1 together while I am in Van 2... but I am excited to be in the "forgotten" van and running the anchor leg. 

Capt. Underpants blogs under the pseudonym The Faster Bunny. She is super smart, very cute and gunning for a 19:xx 5K... GO, UNDERPANTS!


Capt. Cupcake just ran the SF Marathon... with all its crazy hills... in 3:44 which was a huge PR and killed her goal time. She is also very smart and super cute and a ramen addict.  Her blog, Diary of an Average Runner, needs more frequent postings. I want to hear more about her.

Both of these fun women have are fantastic personalities... but both respectfully declined being featured in any upcoming personality matching-type contests ;-)  they are going to hate me for putting that in :P I think they'll also want to kill me for calling them 'babe-a-licious'... but I think they know me well enough now that I can get away with it without getting for real killed!

Best Blogger Meet-Up Ever: Runninghood was in my 'Hood!

I know that sounds very Richard Scarry, but it wasn't very scary at all :P

Amanda@Runninghood was in my neck of the woods this past week. I didn't even realize it until I saw a picture of her feet with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. That picture must have been taken from a place about 15 or 20 minutes from my house... if there's no traffic, which is never. I knew I had to engineer a meet-up. She had actually proposed this a few weeks ago when I was in the throes of getting things together for our family's trip to France. And I totally spaced... which was the case with lots of important things that week.

Amanda's blog is one of my very favorites. She is very thoughtful and thought-provoking on every aspect of life... parenting, running, education, kitchen-renovation, you name it. Her posts are filled with feeling and intention. Some are very deep and some are almost frivolously funny, but they always resonate with me. Do check her out if you haven't already :)

In real life, Amanda is every bit as beautiful as she appears in print. Her smile just lights up the day. She radiates an intensity and an energy that I aspire to possess. Her sense of humor is awesome... that means she got and genuinely laughed at my jokes :) Her children are fun and engaged and engaging and just as lovely as their mama. Her husband is such a trooper for hanging in and keeping track of the kids while we chatted away. Thanks again, Amanda's husband!

We went to a playground in Golden Gate Park where the kids could just run and climb, climb, climb and swing and slide. They had a blast.

Miss C nevers fails to make use of a good training opportunity ;-)

Amanda's 4-year old daughter is such a sweet and sensitive spirit.

The three girls climbing.

Miss C always needs to test her limits.

Amanda's 6-year old loved these sliding parallel bars...

She is such an outgoing girl. She became instant friends with another girl at the park.

Going down the slide 'properly' for a change.

Here we are at the end of the visit...

The moms look better in the picture on her blog, but the kids look like they are having more fun in this shot... on hers they look like they are giving each other the 'stink eye'!

Thank you so much, Amanda, for letting me hang with you and your tribe for a couple of hours! And for laughing at my jokes ;-)

I'll keep my eyes open for one of those fancy blankets made from the hair of a yak's balls that are so popular down here in San Francisco... land of nannies and fancy strollers and Sophie the Giraffe. I know you want one ;-)

And I hope we get to meet again soon!  xoxoxo