San Francisco Climb California Race

What a gorgeous weekend! Part of Team Library Dork (Chris and Turi) plus two others, Ron and Lori, comprised a new team for this unique race- 52 flights to the top of the Bank of America building in San Francisco- the highest building in the city.

CalvesAndQuads of Fire fared well- we trained hard, and expected to be sore for the next week. But surprising to us all, none of us were. I almost-sprained my right ankle last Sunday and wasn't sure if I was even going to be able to participate, but I took the week off (tapering, see?) and was healed enough to walk up at an even steady pace. I didn't push myself too hard, but still surprised myself by finishing in 15:46. That's 1197 steps, and actually 52 and a half flights. But the views from the top were totally worth the training!

If you look closely, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance through the haze. Both Chris and Turi did amazing- Turi finished in under 9:37 and finished 29th overall, and Chris completed his race to the top in 8:19 which was 4th place! Out of 1084 finishers! You guys are animals. I am happy with my 473rd place. I didn't hurt myself, and that was my goal. :)

Then there was the party at the top with two live bands in two different rooms, both of which were really good, and some good food. We didn't stay for too long (no point in waiting an hour for a massage when we weren't sore!), and headed down to Abby's cousin's house. Have you ever driven down some of the streets in SF admiring the detailed wood carving around the doors and windows and the roofs of the houses? I've never been inside a SF house before, but this one was beautiful! Three stories, and as intricate on the inside as it was on the outside. Thank you Eric for letting us tour your home! Then Turi, Chris, Abby and I headed out to lunch at an International Cafe, and I had the Mediterranean combo plate with baba ganouche, two different kinds of hummus, falafel and grape leaves. Yummy! And then we went beer tasting at a place Chris had his eye on, the Toronado, and I found a new favorite too: Lambic Framboise! (Basically raspberry beer. Really sweet, red, and very smooth going down.)

Sunday proved to be as beautiful as Friday and Saturday- Turi was competing in the Presidio 10 miler across the Golden Gate Bridge in the morning.

I REALLY wanted to run, but didn't want to push my luck with my ankle still on the mend, and my back not entirely happy with me yet from injury last month, plus the long car trip down there. Next year. I'll do a double race weekend next year. :) Turi ran well, and then we ate some yummy breakfast burritos and lounged on the beach for a while before packing up for the drive home.

I had a super flash back when we got to the Presidio- about 2 years ago I had a dream (that I still remember vividly) about running down a narrow dirt path next to the ocean, surrounded by green and lots of flowers, with a white house at the end. I took one look at the scene around me, and I was in my dream! In the picture below, if you look closely, you can see the people on the path nice and tiny. Deja vu!

The super bonus of going to San Francisco? I got to visit Scott and Sara! On Friday they took us out to tapas (my first ever) at this hip restaurant in Berkeley, and then on Saturday Scott cooked an excellent dinner of green curry with ginger and lemongrass, and Koren short ribs and salad on the side. I love getting new cooking ideas from him, but this one was beyond me. Thank you Scott and Sara for letting us stay with you, and for cooking for us. And another big huge thank you to everyone who answered my begging for donations and supported my Climb California race, to help the fight against lung cancer!

Snowshoeing Towards Relay Peak

What a day for Chris to pick to get up extra early for a snowshoeing hike up to Relay Peak- the morning after Daylight Savings! (The idea was to get a few pictures of a sunrise view of the mountains, plus we're busy people!) I was excited to get in my first good workout since I threw out my back two weeks ago (yes, complete with the stuck-in-bed and the pain, and even a little passing out to make a joyful mix), and didn't sleep well to begin with, so when my alarm went off at 5:00 a.m.- I mean 6:00 a.m., my body shouted, "NO! Need more SLEEP! It's COLD out there!" After a few minutes of stretching, I remembered I was excited to be outside getting a good workout! After all, I only have 3 more weeks until I have to climb 52 flights of stairs for the Climb California event in San Francisco to help raise $$$ for lung cancer. (YES! I still need you to donate money- I still have $75 left to raise [Thanks Kris for the mula!]) And what better way to work the glutes than by running in some snow?

We all met at the South Valleys Library, aka, my second home, just as it was starting to get light out, Team Library Dork piled into Turi's Rav4 and made our way up to the base of the Mount Rose trail. Here is a picture of the sun coming up on Mt. Rose, from the parking lot.

We strapped in while Chris left to take care of some business (Hey Chris- here is your reminder to clean and disinfect your left snow shoe!), and then headed up the trail (by pretty much climbing up the snow on top of the bathrooms). I had a little fun adjusting to walking in show shoes as this was my first time in them, and only had to take a knee once at the beginning. Here is the beginning of the trail with Turi getting a few pictures of his own:

Right away, we could see some breath taking views of Lake Tahoe, with the clouds rushing by overhead- another shot with the sun just crowing the peak of the hill behind us to light up the mountain in front:

Our fearless leaders, Turi and Chris, mostly scouted ahead and did a bit of running here and there while I lead the slower team (and adjusting to an elevated heart rate at an elevation! Ha ha! A pun!). Dave was a great companion, and pretty much hiked the entire morning with me, while our much longer-legged team mates plowed the course for us.

Here they are waiting with Lake Tahoe in the background~

And a picture of the men folk: Dave, Chris and Turi.

We hiked for another mile or two, and then came the Wind. And this forbidding view of the peak we were hiking towards:

We nearly turned around and decided to make a loop through the meadows below us, across the highway instead. Also, we weren't doing any running (well, I wasn't) because the terrain was so unsteady, and the path was on a slant. It was obvious at this point that we weren't going to make it to the peak.

But the Wind! It was really picking up, and that decided for us rather quickly- get to the shelter of the trees! So we kept going on the path we were on, figuring we could go up for as long as we wanted, and turn around when felt like we'd hiked long enough. After a while, we got to hike through a groomed area between some trees, with lots of snow mobile tracks (that would have been fun too! but expensive) before coming to a flat open area.

Here we paused for a little break while we decided which fork in the trail to take. We were were exposed to the wind again, and I caught this "little" flurry on my camera. Notice what Turi's holding? In both hands?




A little trick he recently tried on his son didn't quite work on me...



So. Head toward Mt. Rose? Relay Peak was still pretty far up ahead, but the trail toward Mt. Rose was through the trees. However, once we decided to head toward the shelter of the trees, the trail all but disappeared, and we really didn't feel like getting lost in the unmarked back country. Before we turned around to call it a day, I snapped a couple pictures- here is Mt. Rose summit- it's worth clicking on to see the snow blowing across the top:

And one of Turi and I, and then one with Dave. (Chris was already high-tailin' it out of there and missed this once in a life time opportunity. Or until next time, that is. :)


On the way back, we were able to do a little running down the hill (yay, I was running! but Dave and I did only in spurts- running in snow shoes is WAY tiring, plus I haven't run in over two weeks), and we didn't see Turi or Chris until we reached the car again. Since I was trying my best to make them wait only a minimal amount, I didn't get any more pictures. But what a fun day! It was SO beautiful, despite the occasional blasts of skin-peeling snow crystals. Thanks Chris for introducing me to this new sport! I think I would have done okay in the 5k Fresh Tracks Snowshoe Race had I not thrown out my back the day before. (Yay to the rest of Team Library Dork- all three of them placed!) And thanks Dave for hanging back with me~ :)

Climb California 2009

Yes, this is a duplicate of the e-mail I sent out, but for those of you I just might have missed on that list, here it is again, special for you:

I am going to do something crazy. Climb 52 flights of stairs of the Bank of America building in San Francisco on March 28th for the Climb California Relay. Why, you ask? Because you don't want the use of your legs anymore, silly girl? Well, that may be the case (in fact I did a trial run this weekend, and can finally walk without a limp as of this afternoon! I've never been so sore in my entire life!), but a co-worker (Chris) is putting together a relay team, and not only will we be developing a permanent twitch in our step, but we will be helping save lung cancer patients with the American Lung Association. I only need to raise $100, and while that's not a huge amount of money, it will be if I have to pay it all myself. So I am begging and pleading and groveling before you for a few dollars if you can spare any in this belt-tightening era when it is scarce. Just a few, and if everyone can pitch in just a titch, then I'll reach my goal and not have to send out a second begg-y e-mail. :) Here is the link to our team page, and also the link to my personal page. Or you can click on my name from the team page. (Please let me know if these links don't work for you.) I really appreciate your support, even if it is just a pat on the back, and an agreement that I am indeed nutzoid.

Have a great weekend, and thank you thank you thank you!