bumps and bruised ego

Why is my life’s humor so sarcastic? I could go for a little more physical or goofy comedy. It’s not necessary for everyone to be such a smartass.


I would like to live closer to the office or closer to public transportation – either. I’d like to ride my bike to work (in an hour or less). I’d like to read more. I wish there wasn’t such a crazy bad neighborhood between me and the BART station. Even given the circumstances, I’m trying it. Today I rode my bike to the station and read while I took the train. Then I rode my bike from the MacArthur station to the office. This is it. I can’t take this car shit anymore. It was freezing, but still a damn sight better than dealing with traffic.  Transit time = 1 hour 10 minutes (twice what it takes in the car).  When the weather warms up, I'm going to ride the whole way home.  Tonight though, I'll probably be taking the train again.

My patience is at an all time low, my legs are sore every damn day and my knee is fucking killing me. I only ran 2/3 of the lake loop yesterday morning because my knee was aching for the entire first mile. It’s annoying. I took the day off from working out on Monday because it was bothering me so bad. It feels better right now. It won’t last. We have an evening hike on Saturday and a morning hike (the dreaded Dipsea Steps) on Sunday. This weekend I’m hiking with the BCF crew, so it’s going to be fast as well. Last weekend I did a 6 mile Mount Diablo hike with a few friends, but the pace wasn’t too bad. I was getting my ass kicked by the climbing - that’s what I came for. On the way back down I wanted to shoot myself or cut off my leg. I also ran out of water. That sucked, but in the end I was okay. I lived and there were no injuries. I had a hot shower when I got home, which made me feel much better by not only making me clean but also curing the headache. When I have headaches I find it helpful to apply heat to my forehead – water is the best and most effective method of heat application. On Saturday I had an Epsom salt bath and a rest day. Looking back, I should have gone for a walk or a bike ride to warm up the legs and then had a good stretch. Next time.

I need to get on top of the physical therapy aspect of all this training. My rolling and softball-to-knot work has been sporadic at best. I’m not enjoying the intense bodywork I receive from the trainers ONE BIT! I’d much rather give myself a little bit of pain every day at home than go in twice a week for sessions so intense that I cry out for Jesus 10 times in a half hour.

The gym sessions aren’t so bad. I suppose I’m only saying that because they are just 50 minutes to an hour each. I’ve come to the realization that getting pushed hard for an hour isn’t so bad. I’m even becoming fond of the stair workout. Okay, that might be pushing it – I am tolerating the stairs much better. Yeah, that’s more like it. I haven’t gone back into yoga as hardcore as I intended. After the five consecutive days of yoga my wrist started to bother me again. It happens when I do a lot of push-ups too. It’s probably due in a large part to all the time I spend on the keyboard. I have gone to two yoga classes since it started bothering me. It starts aching during the warm-up and arm balances are completely out of the question. Just another thing reminding me how old and fragile I may become someday. I’m actually hoping to go out more like Jack LaLanne – capable of doing the same workout every day until I just suddenly croak.

Lumpy fell off the stage at the club the other day while installing some new equipment. The side of his face looks like he got into a fist fight and a finger on his dominant hand is jammed swollen and purple. It could have been much worse. He’s lucky (relatively speaking).