A Running Joke: My Long Distance Relationship

Those of you who have known me for a very long time know that I have not always looked the way I do now. I used to have about 50 more pounds on me. You couldn't quite tell it was that much, because I can dress for my shape (unlike the unfortunate woman in white capri pants on the bus yesterday), but it was there.

Let's be perfectly honest, I was still pretty much the hottest thing to walk my corner (because extra weight means some extra jiggle where it counts, am I right?). I'd been getting family pressure to be slimmer since before I was 12, but I never really did anything about it until Fall of 2011, when I had my first 'big-girl' job out of school, I finally had some disposable income, some time to spare, and a company that reimbursed gym memberships. So I figured that working out every day would help fill out my schedule and help me meet new people in the area.

I became interested in how my body worked and what I can do to make it healthier, stronger, sexier, and function better. I did my research and learned about training techniques, recovery, muscular development, and calorie burning (fun fact: in an aggressive 20-minute interval run, you can burn more calories than in an hour-long jog). I also learned about the science of food, how digestion occurs, and what you can eat to change how you feel (do you know what food mimics the bodily response to D-chiro-inositol? I do! fun fact: buckwheat). I figured out what to eat and when so that I could have a bunch of energy all day long (without 4+ cups of coffee), recover from aggressive and intense workouts, and not be on a bunch of crazy supplements. A distinct part of my friend circle was just as health-conscious as I was, and we worked out together, hung out, ate grapes, and with some of them, I learned that I wasn't as unathletic as I'd always thought I was. I was encouraged to push my passion for running and fitness into my first half-marathon.

And I did it. But it sucked. So I figured I should keep doing these crazy events until it didn't suck as much, and I felt good doing them. My most recent, the Cleveland Marathon series' half-marathon went poorly, and I was left with the feeling that I could do better.

Because when you're in the kind of shape where a 10-mile run is an easy task, any other BS that gets thrown at you (psycho coworkers, jackass ex-boyfriend, student loans) seems easy. And I like carrying myself with a "Bitch, I can take you" attitude. 

So a bunch of pounds fell off, I've been looking pretty good.

However, my super-healthy lifestyle fell to pieces come holiday season 2012. I was stressed from leaving my job and the prospect of moving cross-country. I had a bunch of friends that wanted to go out and celebrate at my favorite bars and dinner spots in food-fabulous Cleveland. Following my resignation, I had a group of amazing former-coworkers that wanted to take me out to lunch and buy me beer to celebrate my transition, I had a traditional Jewish Christmas spent with my "extended" family to get my Chinese food fix, and I had just met this awesome guy that wanted to impress me by cooking me meals (some of which were much more successful than others). And then I moved to California (you all saw the food pics from the road trip... those were necessary). I met Rachel and Dave, who introduced me to sushi boats and the magic of Chavez Mexican food. I have a job that features 24/7 free snacks and 3 all-you-can-eat meals a day. I have an awesome aunt and grandmother that decided to send me 6 boxes of Passover candy. And... I finally have a group of friends that want to hang out, get drinks, and go out to dinner.

Only within the past month were my workouts rigidly regular, so naturally, a few of the pounds that were once jogged off found their way back on. And 8 pounds at my height is a lot.

I started thinking about things I can do to prevent gaining the full so-called 'Google 20', and I started thinking about that last half-marathon... how I feel I could have done better if I had trained differently, what time I can try for, how fun it was to be a part of the running community in Cleveland.

So I'm thinking that I'd like to do it again - another half marathon, California-style. I wanted to pick a trail-run, because it would be a new experience, something that couldn't be done in my previous running turf, and it would require the simultaneous weight-training that will help me reclaim last summer's four pack from my current two pack. I also wanted to pick something that was in early fall so that I can have lots of prep time and be less concerned with the possibility of another 90 degree race day. 

September 7th, 2013 - The Trail Hog Half Marathon. The event will be a bit smaller than a lot of the other races in the area (Wipro, Nike Women's...), it's only 20 minutes from my home (which means sleeping in on race day), and by doing a trail run instead of a flat course, I can work towards building up the endurance and balls to sign up for one of the Mt.Tamalpais trail races (biggest rock around).

You do a mountain run like that, and I can only imagine that you feel like a superhero. A superhero that won't be able to walk for like 3 days, but a superhero nonetheless. Maybe I can convince my cousin to bike beside me with a cattle prod in case I try to do something silly, like take a break. 

Here's what it boils down to:

Current events have me thinking about appreciating my life, my health, and the many many supportive people that have dragged me this far. 

I want to take charge of my new surroundings, conquer (symbolically and literally) this major uphill climb, and recapture the feeling of zen I get when fitness is the focus of my free time. 

Starting Sunday, I'm dropping down my weekly mileage and starting from scratch, building my weekly mileage from 7 miles/week (1 mile short runs, 5 mile long run) back up to 30 miles/week (8 mile short runs, 14 mile long run). I want to focus on building quality miles - properly strengthening my hip flexors, maintaining minimum-stress shoulder-elbow alignment while running, and slowly building back up the endurance such that an 8 mile run is still a 'short' run.

And if all of this time spent outdoors running about can help me build up a vitamin D surplus and maybe even a bit of a tan... I'm okay with it :-)

The Drunk Guy On The Front Lawn

I crashed at a friend's house. This is not uncommon, they live close to fun city nightlife, and I'm not a huge fan of drinking, driving, and crashing into walls. In fact it's been happening with such regularity that they know my Starbuck's order for the morning after.

It happened again.

We woke up, as usual, and he pulled on a hoodie and grabbed his keys, wordlessly making his way towards the door to go out and fetch me the one liquid that can turn me from a cranky zombie to a human being.

The door opened and closed. 

I stretched and did the usual - starting cleaning the area. If someone's nice enough to fetch me coffee, I'm nice enough to pick up dirty places, recycle empty cans and bottles, fold used blankets, and put away video game controllers.

The door opened and closed again. Well shit, that was fast.

I turned around and his hands were coffee-free. Dislike.

"You need cash or something?"

"No... there's. Well. There's someone sleeping on the lawn."

"What?"

"There's like... a dude sleeping on the lawn."

There was. Average looking white guy, dressed in pretty standard male attire - a tee shirt and jeans, jacket bunched up as a makeshift pillow, asleep there on the lawn. We looked down at him.

"I guess he's one of my roommates' friends."

"Huh." I paused. "Can you still get coffee?"

He went on his way down the street towards liquid life, and I went about cleaning up. And then I thought that we might as well be nice to the semi-houseguest. I took an old blanket from the couch and filled a glass of water, gently covering the lawn-slumberer with the blanket, and nestling the glass of water in the dewy grass.

One of the roommates woke up, and said he didn't know the person on the lawn either. But we didn't want the mystery lawn-man to leave without an introduction or an explanation. So we sat and watched him. 

Coffee came, and the three of us sat down on the front porch of the condo, staring at the small patch of lawn that was serving as a bed. 

Roommate #3 awoke, and decided to join us, slamming the door on his way out. 

The noise roused our slumberer. 

We all stopped whispering and stared intently. 

He sat us and dug his palms into his eyes sockets, clearly confused by his surroundings. 

"Morning!"

None of us knew him. He didn't know any of us. Apparently, he lives in one of the condos about two blocks away, and after stumbling home drunk, when his keys didn't work he just laid down on the lawn, assuming his girlfriend would let him in eventually. He was hungover, but was very appreciative for the water and for us not calling the police. He got up and went on his way, and soon I went on mine.

Things out here have been going alright. Mostly, I work, work out, and then go home. The DMV has been driving me nuts, and I'm hoping by end of day tomorrow I can finally have a vehicle registered in the state of California. It's been so frustrating, and I've whined so much that the California DMV actually followed me back on Twitter.

I'm homesick though. I hear from friends regularly, and their lives are all going on as normal. I missed the re-opening of Tremont Scoops, the culmination of nearly a year of work and research from some of my favorite people and oldest friends. People are moving, slipping into new jobs, traveling, and going to the Cleveland International Film Fest, and I'm here. I get texts from people and read about all the Cleveland happenings, and I'm still waiting for this new place to feel like home. 

The work week starts again tomorrow, so I've got some light prep work to do. 

Again soon.

Baby We Were Born to Run

I haven't written in a few weeks, but I have an excuse: all of that adult-type crap that absolutely no one likes doing that I've put off for months and finally figured I should get done. You know what I'm talking about. The things that drive us to drink, which is the only really awesome thing you can do as an adult. That and hookers. Those are fun things. The things I've been doing? Not fun things. 

Here's the short list:

1. Bills

They keep coming. Every month. Bills are worse than periods. Chocolate cures one. HANDING OVER ALL OF YOUR MONEY cures the other. 

2. Federal Taxes

Apparently the 4 months I spent contract-teaching for KSU counted as a second job, so being a productive young person RAPED MY WALLET. 

3. State Taxes

No, I didn't film a motion picture in the state of Ohio. But there is a YouTube video of me dancing on a table at a bar. Can I have a deduction anyway?

4. Local Taxes

Which I totally didn't completely forget about and do in a 20 minute frenzy on the bus on the way to work...

5. DMV - Driver's License

Is it legal to smoke in a car with a child in it if the windows are down?  Because obviously, knowing the answer to this question will prevent someone from splattering my brains all over the freeway. 

6. DMV - Registration

Part #2. Because the first time I went, I assumed that me being me and having my passport was enough. But apparently I need to have my own signature notarized. Right...

7. DMV - SMOG Testing

CA equivalent of E-check. Inexplicably, the shop I went to raised turtles in a plastic tub in the hallway. 

8. Auto Insurance

"Can you send us your college transcript so we can verify a minimum 3.0 GPA while you were in school?"

9. Picking a Doctor

And yes, I think I found the only practitioner in the state of California that did residency at the Cleveland Clinic.

10. Stock

I got in contact with my brokerage firm and asked a couple questions about my plan, vesting, etc. I was, in turn sent a 60 page book about my stock. I don't understand any of this crap. 

11. 401K

Apparently, it's unheard of for a young person to be interested in designing their own investment strategy and I should just click a little box and let that box click manage my money. After the hours of this, I drank wine. I guess I should save my money now for when I'm too old to have any cool interests (I tease, I know there are plenty of interesting seniors). 



And essentially, throughout that mix, things stayed the same. I worked 5 days a week, I worked out a lot. I had two visits: one briefly from a family friend (it felt strangely comforting to have a dad around, even if it wasn't my own dad), and one weekend visit from a friend that was spending the week in LA. 

I did have a few adventures. I went olive oil tasting up near Sonoma...

And checking out some of the local shops...

Visiting a really great local bar with weird fresh sausages for a friend's birthday...

And taking a pretty delightful self-portrait with his dog...

Followed by a visit to the local whacky donut shop...

And I tried all kinds of fresh lychee, which is the closest thing possible to eating an eyeball...

And my most recent adventure was a trip to Half Moon Bay...

 

Where we stumbled upon a shipwreck...

And looted pure irony from the wreckage...

But in general, things are falling into patterns. I don't need to use a GPS to get to my office, my favorite bar, or Rachel/Dave's apartment anymore. And I have a small handful of people that want to do things with me on weekend that (and here's the shocker) I think are good humans!

Here's a picture of two of my girl-pals from our bike ride this evening. We're a Jew, a black chick, and an Asian girl, so when we hang out it looks like a Benetton ad. 

Well, that's all for now. Sunsets here are beautiful, I caught this one from the bus ride home. 

A Day In The Life

A lot of people have been asking me, 'What's a normal day like for you now?'. I get it. New place. New job. There's a lot of curiosity about all things Googley. 

So here's the basic rundown. 

7:00AM - The alarm goes off. I hate the world. 

7:03AM - I really have to get up? Are you kidding me?

7:05AM - FINE!! I get up, turn off the alarm, make the bed, wash up, and get dressed. I've had an interesting history with company dress codes. They've gotten progressively more relaxed. 

Cleveland Clinic: Close toed shoes, no jeans, business casual, sometimes I wore tights
Strong Memorial: Lab gear
Explorys: If you can get served at a 7/11 in it, you can wear it to work
Google: Wear Something.

Certain areas are higher-security on campus, and I've heard rumors that it's not because they're designing something cool or super-secret. It's because they don't wear clothes on those floors. I've personally considered things like dress up Friday (so I have an excuse to wear heels or business attire), dress down Friday (yoga pants and PJs), or costume Wednesdays (if you work somewhere where no one will consider it inappropriate to wear a banana suit to work, at one point, you kind of want to take advantage). 

7:55AM - Make a cup of coffee in a to-go mug, grab my backpack, keys, ID badge, and walk across the street to wait for the bus. 

8:02-8:40AM - Ride the bus to work! The buses are comfy and cup-holdered and WiFi connected, so I can start being productive on the ride in. I know a few people on my bus route that I can sit with and count on for decent conversation, my favorite being Tommy, the 6'6" 300 lb Norwegian programmer/board-game fanatic. I met him and his wife for lunch once and learned that his coworkers call him Viking. Rad. 

8:40-8:50AM - Breakfast! Although a traditional California breakfast is comprised of an avocado and a glass of red, I've been sticking with things like fruit, yogurt, and rolled-oats oatmeal (all available in the kitchen in my building). There are 2 places near my building that serve full breakfast, both have steel-cut oatmeal and bagels & lox... one is more continental style, and then one has more experimental breakfast items (bok choy omelets and red-pepper quinoa salad weren't previous breakfast options I've explored). All good. 

The cherry blossoms have started to bloom around campus, it's gorgeous.

8:50AM-12PM - Be productive! Meetings, tools, and work. 

The buildings each have a different theme. My building is winery themed, and the entrance is cool as hell. 

12-1PM - MWF are lunch times with teammates or friends on campus at one of Google's 27 varying cafes (They have Latin-themed, gluten-free, Japanese, NY deli-style... pretty much everything. TR lunchtime is spent at a Yoga class followed by Pho or salad to-go. 

1-3PM - More productivity!

3PM - Coffee and snack break! Usually I raid the fridge for weird fruits (pictured: kumquats, baby kiwi and strawberries). The barista in my building is very cool, and she likes to make me latte-art. I've gotten several pretty rad lessons on fancy-coffee making. So if anyone wants to visit, I can make you one hell of a latte.

To get around on campus, we take some silly-looking bikes. Because my building doesn't have a gym or a cafeteria in it, I bike about to get wherever. 

These are the party bikes. On Fridays, sometime we race them. 

3-5/6pm - Yet even more productivity! Followed by gym time. I work out. 

M: Google boot-camp. An overly-energetic female barks orders at you. I learned I'm good at hand-stand push-ups.
T: Going for a run around campus (there's a lot of security, and the campus is near Shoreline park, which means a lot of beautiful mountains and beach in the background).
W: Bollywood class! Sandie comes with and we're really awkward together. I don't like it, but it's a great workout.
R: (on Thursdays, I get my free dinner take-out, and work out at my apartment complex.) Stair running! I don't care how much time you spend on exercise equipment, moving yourself up and down 10 flights of stairs beats the crap out of your treadmill. Stair-climbing strength-trains the biggest muscle groups in your body and gives you a great cardio boost.
F: Either kickboxing or Zumba with Laurin, Sandie, and Nikija. 

Then sometimes we go bowling while we wait for our favorite place to start serving dinner. 

6:30/7:30pm - Free dinner! Either it's with whomever I worked out with, sometimes I meet up with a friend, or I get dinner to-go and eat on the bus or at home. Food quality is great, all organic, usually local, and I typically have a lot of options for seafood, fish, proteins, veggies, and desserts. I learned pretty recently that you can put extra dessert in a to-go container and then have a fridge stocked with yummy things. 

7:30/8pm - Bus home!

Then I have the evening to do with as I please! I can do adult things (paying bills and organizing shit), I can practice, I can video-chat with friends, I can write, or I can go out and do things. Lately, I've been going out a lot with a guy that I met post-horrible-blind-date. The San Jose Film Festival is currently going on, so we've been spending a lot of time seeing awesome independent or foreign movies and getting coffee or drinks and walking around the city. 

Well, I'm off to volunteer to help save a local river from... I dunno. California hippie shit. Possibly followed by fro-yo.

Actually, definitely followed by fro-yo. If I add fruit and dark chocolate chips, it's a balanced dinner, right?