Browse Category: go beak go

First Day of Gym Class

I’m back from my first class and T-Rex totally got her ass kicked.  I took a supposedly laid back class that involves hanging out on a 6-inch-wide balance beam for an hour but no one told me that I’d have to spend half of the time with 5-pound weights in each hand held at shoulder-level or above!  Didn’t they know that the girl with the wimpiest arms in the world was attending this class?!  And so, I walked a mile home with what felt like the heaviest gym bag ever and a stomach that felt like it was doing backflips.  Yes, the balance beam class made me tired and a little sick.  *sigh*  This is so embarrassing.  I’ve got strong legs but my arms and abs are like jello.  I think this is why I joined the gym.  Yep, this is EXACTLY why I joined a gym.  Luckily I only stumbled off the beam 2 or 3 times and I kept up with the rest of the class.  Hopefully I’ll be able to lift my babies at work tomorrow.

Shoppin’ for a Gym Bag

I’ve been running for years but realized that now that I’m getting older and more prone to injury, I thought it would be a good idea to get a personal trainer to figure out why my back hurts every morning, why I almost bonked on the last Half Marathon, and how to get my t-rex arms stronger.  So, after much debate and shopping around, I joined Crunch and got an OK deal for a month-to-month membership and 10 training sessions.  I’m looking forward to taking some of the classes that friends have been raving about and curious to see what the trainer will put me though.  Hey, maybe in a month I’ll be able to do a real boy push-up and kick butt on the next Half Marathon later this month!

I’m planning to go straight after work so I’m going to need a super cute gym bag to carry all my stuff.  I think I’m going to be stopping at the lululemon shop this weekend!!!

Sweet 16

After 3 weeks of sitting in a dark bar surrounded by LA haters and countless fried zucchini chips, I am one happy camper.  LAKERS WON THEIR 16th NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!!!  Victor and I (a.k.a. 6th Man) have put a lot of hard work into this series and it paid off. We’ve endured night after night of being outnumbered by Giants fans (aka anti-LA fans).  There’s just something so sweet and extra-satisfying about watching the Lakers win in SF.

I was so nervous today at work and hustled to get home early enough to get to Pete’s for one last time this season.  It was packed and we got a good corner of the bar for our group of 15.  Fortunately for us the number of Lakers fans was comparable to the number of people rooting for the Celtics.

It was such as stressful game and I still have a tummy ache from the game 2 hours later.  Artest’s after-game interview was so cute.  He really pulled the team through this game and he was as giddy as a little kid at Disneyland.  Maybe I’ll have to get a jersey with the number 37.  Great job, Lake Show.  See you next year for a 3-peat.

Here’s a little video clip of the minutes after we won:

Giant Start to the Weekend

This week ended with warmer weather and lots of time spent in AT&T Park.  On Friday evening, Jes and I went to the Giants vs. A’s Game.  Luckily Dot and Marc had tickets and got us up to the Club Level where they serve gourmet brisket sandwiches along with the usual garlic fries and Coors Light.  So, we watched the first half of the game from this spot, which is a rather good location with a nice view.  I was happy.

Victor was also at the game but had a work function in the Charles Schwab Box on the Suite Level.  By the 5th inning, Susie got a call to meet him at the elevator.  So, we go and there he is with tickets and passes up to the Suite.  Nice!  So the rest of the game is enjoyed in a suite complete with couches, a hot dog machine, lots of drinks and food, and a private box on the balcony with an amazing view.  I was even able to see the players hanging out in the dugout.

I had a tasty chocolate chip cookie and strawberries from a comfy couch overlooking the ballpark.  I was even happier.

This morning, I got up at my usual work time, had a peanut butter and jelly sammich with a cup of coffee, and got ready for the race.  Today I ran the Giants Race Half Marathon with Susie and it was tough.  The route wasn’t the hard part.  It was just the first day of a heat wave in SF and I wasn’t feeling 100%.  I hadn’t been able to run more than 3 miles in the last 2 weeks and have no idea why.


(click on image for full version)

So, I took more walk breaks than expected but still finished in 2 hours and 24 minutes.  It’s not my best race but I was happy to finish my “training race” in under 2:30.  The race ended inside the ballpark and we got to have our picture taken at Home Plate.  Boy am I pooped.  Hopefully this will keep me on track for the SF Half Marathon coming up in July.

Here’s my bib and finisher’s medal.  Tada!

just chillin’…

It was a warm and sunny weekend in SF and we had a good time hanging out at home with the windows open.   I must be somewhat rested because this morning I woke up at 5:55 am without the alarm and I was wide awake.  Too bad this had to go to waste because I have the day off today!!  Wooo!

Here’s the weekend roundup:

On Saturday, I got up early to go for a run.  I’m trying to break in my new running shoes before next weekend’s race and it’s been giving me some problems.  My left foot starts to fall asleep after about 2 miles of running.  Not good.  So, I stopped at 3 miles and it happened to be at the Farmer’s Market where I picked up a bunch of dahlias.  Aw…so purty.

For lunch that day, we drove 45 minutes to Liou’s House in Milpitas to meet up with some friends to have this elusive soup called Buddha Jump Over the Wall.  This soup takes a day to prepare (you have to call ahead to order) and it’s made with a bunch of stuff like shark fin, abalone, and other stuff that I didn’t recognize.  Regardless, it was pretty good but I’m not sure that if I were Buddha that it would make me want to “jump over the wall” to have meat.  Apparently that’s why it’s named that.  We also had a grip of other items for the 10 of us to share around the table and poor Jes had to drive home with food coma.

On Sunday, I went for another run in the morning – it sucked again.  Then around noon, I went out for ANOTHER run but just threw in some hills to see if it would make the buzzing in my left foot go away.  Nope.  No luck.  Hm…what to do?  I may have to run the half marathon next weekend in my old shoes.

Afterward, I decided to treat myself to some mango sticky rice.  On our way home from lunch Saturday, we stopped at 99 Ranch and got some ripe juicy mangoes.  So I whipped up my momma’s coconut rice recipe and that’s basically what we had for lunch.

At 5 pm, we headed over to Pete’s to watch the Lakers get whooped by the Celtics.  It was a sad sad evening for us.  We’ll be back for Game 3 on Tuesday but it’s not looking good for us if RayRay keeps making 3’s and Kobe has another off day.

I’m in the mood for jello…

On Saturday morning, we took Koa to Fort Funston. Koa had a great time and as Jes said on our way back to the car, it was “nice and very restorative” for the both of us. I’m so relieved to actually have Memorial Day off this year.  I was in need a good “stay-cation” and it’s starting off well.

Later in the evening, we met up with the Masayas for an evening of Lakers Basketball at the usual place and in the usual seats.  We sat in the corner that we took over last season when the Lakers won the Championship.  Must have been good luck for us because the Lakers had to squeak out a win after going into the 4th quarter leading by 17 points.  By the last minute and a half of game play “the game [was] in the fridge: the door [was] closed, the lights [were] out, the eggs [were] cooling, the butter [was] getting hard, and the Jell-O [was] jigglin'”.  Ah…I miss the days of Chick Hearn.