Congratulations to Jess for running her first half marathon! She has been training for months for this moment & her hard word has finally paid off. She woke up in the wee hours of Sunday morning to congregate at Union Square up in San Francisco at the starting line & ran all through the City through the frosty morning.
When we met up with her at mile 11, it was pretty wild to see her full of vigor & with a great big smile.
The above photo is with Jess & her fellow Team in Training peer—the lovely Cindy.
The reward of finishing a half marathon would make any first-timer proud. Just to make it official, they rewarded all the finishers with a really fancy Tiffany’s necklace at the finish line:
We are very proud of her!
Jess's first half marathon
Bay Area, Health, Photo of the day
Last year, our group of friends was hit with some shocking news. One of our dear college friends was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. We were all rocked to the core when we heard this news, but thankfully with all the advances that have been made in breast cancer research Angela is well on her way to recovery. Though we’ve told her over and over again, I don’t think she realizes how much of an inspiration she has been to all of us with the way she has bravely faced her diagnosis, treatment and all the other stuff along the way.
Angela's Angels. Show your support for these ladies!
As a sign of support for Ange and for everyone else who have battled this disease, a group of our friends have decided to join the Avon 2-day Walk this July. While I am unable to join them on the actual walk, I am doing everything I can to show them support.
To those of you who think a walk is no big thing, I can say only one thing: try it. Last weekend, I went on an 8 mile walk with two of my friends who will be participating in the event and it was no cake walk. Our legs were aching and we were beat. I couldn’t even make it out to dinner; for those of you who know me, that’s a really big deal.
Walking is not so different from running 8 miles. In fact I think walking may have been harder. I don’t know what it is, but it takes a lot of discipline to keep moving at a steady pace. Never thought I’d say that running might be easier than walking!
For the Walk, my friends have committed to walking 39 miles over 2 days (that’s a marathon the first day and a half the second day!) and raising $1800 each. I know times are tough, but if this is a cause that you believe in and want to support, please check out the team site for Angela’s Angels.
I can’t say enough about how great I think it is that they’re doing this and I am really proud of all of them for doing such a wonderful thing.
Health, Lifestyle
Well, not really. It’s a loaner from my uncle who’s a huge bike buff. He hooked it up with this sweet ride:
Ian's sweet loaner bike (taken from my iPhone)
It’s my aunt’s old bike & since she hasn’t been using it, I’m gonna try it out for a bit.
Why the sudden interest in biking? My uncle convinced me that my 10-mile commute to work is totally bikable, especially since most of it happen on the bay coastline. In fact, a part of the commute has me riding through SFO…pretty neat! The decision to ditch the car for a pedal-powered machine is simple:
- Saves gas. If the forecast says I have five days of good weather, I save 100 miles in gas a week.
- Good for the environment. One less car on the road, less carbon emissions.
- Daily exercise. 20 miles a day will definitely bring the heart rate up! My goal is to look foine for my wedding. I’ll make sure to wear super-fitted Ts so everyone can notice.
- Promotes good health. Cyclists (from what I read online) need energy to burn. If I want to take this seriously, I may need to reconsider my eating habits.
- Good exercise in zen. You need to build nerves of steel trying to compete with 2,000-lbs. cars on the road. Obviously, the bike doesn’t win in weight, but it’s important to build ‘road presense’ so cars don’t overlook me on a two-lane road. Also, you have to get past that you need to dress the part, which is probably totally different that what I’m used to wearing:
Jazzy French cyclist (found on Flickr)
Of course, I have yet to commute to work, but everything above is very appealing to me. The next step? Actually taking it for a test spin. Wish me luck!
Bay Area, Health, Lifestyle
