Browse Category: go beak go

Basketball Practice

team

This Saturday (April 18th), I’ll be playing in a 3-on-3 wheelchair basketball tourney.  It’s to benefit the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program located in Berkeley.  Unfortunately, everyone on our team has never played w/c b-ball so today at lunch we gathered all our sports chairs and “practiced” at our Sports Medicine court across the street from the main hospital.

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I have horrible upperbody strength so this was pretty challenging.  Just wheeling myself across the street was an adventure all by itself.  Once at the court, we all realized how much harder it is to shoot the ball without your legs, being at least a foot shorter, and still having to get the ball into a hoop at regulation height.  We all survived our one and only practice session and hopefully it will be enough.  Come out and watch me!!!

Venue/Location:
James Kenney Recreation Center
1720 8th St, Berkeley, CA 94710

When:
Saturday, April 18th 10:00 am -2:00 pm

10 miles, baby!


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I wasn’t exactly feelin’ it this morning but I managed to get my butt out the door for a 10-mile Long Run.  I ran straight down towards the GG Bridge and ran back.  I was tempted to run all the way to the Sports Basement where they were having a post-race expo but it looked like it was about 1/2 mile ahead and that would make my run back that much farther.  So, I turned around and got home in time for some brunch. Yay me!

Wintery Spring

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Friday was the first day of Spring and headed up the mountain to Tahoe for one last hurrah.  On Saturday morning, we drove to Northstar and found lots of dirt, no snow on the road, and sunny skies.  In the parking lot, we contemplated turning around and going back to the cabin but luckily we stuck with the original plan.  We bought half-day tickets, had lunch at the bar, and headed up the mountain at noon.  The trees were all green and there were dirt patches everywhere but by 1 pm, it started to snow snow snow!  Woohoo!

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There was just enough slush from the morning and new powder on the ground to make it an awesome afternoon on the slopes. That’s Victor and Susie riding the wide-open runs.

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On Saturday night and Sunday morning, it dumped about 1-2 feet of snow.  Check out the photo I took on Saturday afternoon and then on Sunday morning.  Wow!!!  Koa also got to play in the snow and seemed almost confused by all the white stuff.

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Our drive home was a little nerve-racking but we managed to get past chain control without having to put chains on and without an accident.  This is what it looked like from the road.  All this was green only 12 hours ago!

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The cabin we rented in Tahoe City was pretty awesome.  For $150/night, we got a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, two-story house with all the modern conveniences and SO MUCH SPACE!  I’m tempted to book the house again for a summer trip.

I thought my snow season was over but this weekend proved me wrong.  I wonder how much flights are to Utah right now…

Soggy Morning


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This morning I got up early and ran the Emerald Across the Bay 12K. We had to take a school bus to Sausalito, then ran across the GG Bridge, and through the Marina.

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It was freezing cold and pouring rain too.  Luckily I was wearing my hat but Dot was not so lucky.  We made pretty good time despite the extra weight from our water-soaked clothes.

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The last half mile was a steep downhill and I was afraid of falling to my doom.  I managed to make it to the finish line in one piece and was rewarded by a veggie breakfast burrito without the egg.  Yum.  Only 13 more meatless, fishless, eggless meals to go!

8 Mile Tour


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This morning I went for my 8-mile Long Run.  To help me get through it, Vyl met up with me at about Mile 4 (right by her house) and took me up the hill and through Presidio.  I took a photo with my Crackberry at each mile just to keep me entertained.  Let’s go on a little tour of SF, shall we?!

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Here’s Mile 1: The Bay Bridge!  Yay!  Almost at the Ferry Plaza too.

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Mile 2: It’s Coit Tower!!

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Mile 3: I’m in the middle of Fisherman’s Wharf and past Pier 39.

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Mile 4: Ah, made it over the Fort Mason hill and to the Marina Green.  Time to look for Vyl.

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Mile 5: We’re at Crissy Field.  I can see the GG Bridge!

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Mile 6: The GG Bridge is getting bigger.

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Mile 7: Phew, I made it up the hill.  We’re in the Presidio now.  Lots of trees!

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Mile 8: All done!  Hello, Palace of Fine Arts!  Now it’s time to hit the Starbucks.

As you can see, the run was very scenic, had two hills to climb, and almost no street lights to stop me.  Thanks to Vyl for getting me through the last half of the run.  That was fun!

Snowed In

snowy road

We drove up I-80 last night in the rain and then eventually got some snow as we entered Auburn.  We planned to stay at Ryan’s mom’s house for the night and drive another hour up to the mountain this morning.  Well, things didn’t exactly go as planned.  Last night, we drove the 330xi through 6-inches of snow all the way through the windy narrow roads to the house and thought we were home free.  Then it happened…Ryan’s car (also 4WD) got stuck in a ditch and then we got stuck behind him because we stopped. It took a good hour to tow, push, and rev the cars out and up the driveway to the house. This is just a gratuitous photo of our car in the driveway with the racks installed.

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We slept in the barn, which has a cute little 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment inside.  We brought the Aerobed and the Bangs brought their sleeping bags that I think held up in the cold better than our comforter.  Koa didn’t get much sleep last night b/c he couldn’t find a warm spot to sleep…that was until he wedged himself between Bang and Vyl’s sleeping bags.

sniffin the tractor

This morning Koa had a good time running with the horses, sniffin’ the grounds, and peeing on the snow.  We got up early and piled into one car and headed out.  We didn’t make it past the first hill outside of the driveway and got stuck again.

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Oh boo….so Ryan’s mom’s truck towed him out and now we’re hanging out in a warm toasty house watching Cars.  We had friends driving up this morning and ended up stuck on I-80 with a 4-hour wait only to turn around.  So, I guess things could be worse.  I’m not sure how or when we’ll going home but we’ll sit here for now.  I guess it’s a good thing I got Monday off after all.