Life

Health, Life

Yesterday was awful and wet, so I skipped yoga. To make up for it full force today I did a double back to back (6:30-8:00pm) + (8:15-9:45pm). I thought that I was going to be tore up, but I feel fine. All I have to say is HALFWAY BITCHES. I’ve gone 15 times in the last 14 days. It’s all money from here-15 more to go! I wish I had made a bet with someone so that I could win it, but hey, just the accomplishment will be reward enough.

Tracy’s Tips for surviving a back to back:
1. Eat a light meal 2+ hours before class one. I had leftover risotto.
2. Hydrate all day (duh). I had a tiny bit of coffee around 4 to pep myself up.
3. Don’t ride your bicycle. You will end up worrying about if it is being stolen.
4. Take it easy in both sets. Sit out as often as you need to. Don’t feel the need to keep up with others. You are on a whole ‘nother plane!
5. In between classes eat a banana, take a bathroom break, and refill your water bottle.

Mostly the pains from being involved in yoga for 4 straight hours (travel, changing, etc) were mental, not physical. Feels good now! I would do it again.

Health, Life

I Went to Sausalito and Didn’t Even Eat the Cookie

If you think physical activity and social interactions are key components of happiness, then by all means this weekend was a success for me. I took Friday off again, so I did another yoga double. It was fine, but afterwards I was toast. Saturday was beautiful, so Ryan and I rode to Ocean Beach, then made it back in time for yoga (en espanol!), followed by a blow-out housewarming party. Sunday we had planned to do a bike ride with my friend Tristan, and even though the skies were gloomy, we set out for Sausalito. The summary, in crappy phone pics:

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Having a short break in the Presidio. Things were pretty smooth up to the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time we crossed over, it started getting miserable. Rainy, cold, windy, yuk! We huddled under the trees with the wet tourists, ate some fruit leather, then vowed to plow on.

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I was happy that Sausalito pulled out all the stops, including providing me with my own street! Yes, that is a bike seat in my hand. Yes, I’m paranoid about bike theft!

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Things were pretty dead, what with the tourist-unfriendly weather. We decided to duck into a bar and wait out the next ferry with irish coffees. There was a horrible waitress and a cantankerous jazz band in the bar, but all in all it was a great way to pass an afternoon.

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On the way back we had to stop for burgers.

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Because hello, it has a rotating grill thing! Look at it! Look at it! In the words of Alexis K. Tylor “It’s on fire!”

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Things continued to be quiet.

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Ferry ride back. Goodbye Sausalito!

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Hi GGB.

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We were still wet, but who can be upset with an awesome burger?

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Also magical- there were gulls that basically kept circling the boat, then lagging behind, but never truly losing us. It’s like the boat had spirit animals.

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Blahblahblah Alcatraz blahblahblah

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HOME!

The adventure didn’t end after we made it back to SF. Ryan fell over on Market St. and Tristan got half his bike stuck in a BART toll booth. By the time we made it to 16th St, it was raining harder than ever… Whew! What a day!

Life

Goodbye Borders, My Personal Therapist
Everything must go

The Borders store at Union Square is in the midst of closing down, and it makes me immensely sad. Normally I don’t get all sniffy about non-independent bookstores shutting down, but for some reason this feels different.

For nearly four years now this Borders has been my go to spot whenever I was feeling down and out (and on my lunch break). I came here and perused the knitting mags, poked around the self-help section, and got excited by checking out the travel guides. I normally head straight to the comics whenever in a bookshop, but then I always came to Borders for “crisis” situations.

Now what will I do when I am feeling blue in the middle of the day? I love SF Library, but it is just not the same. Crackheads do not cheer you up! Also sometimes you just HAVE TO HAVE THE BOOK NOW.  If I want “Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay” at 2 in the afternoon, or “A Severed Head,” or a quick present for a friend… Now what?

The store is getting pretty bare at this point. Not much else but lots of signs proclaiming 20-40% off!!! My coworker pointed out that the truly sad bit is this: even now Amazon’s prices are probably still lower than Border’s “We are bankrupt sale” price.

I remember when Cody’s Books closed.

And then Virgin Megastore.

And then Stacey’s Books.

I guess I will have to make friends with the Alexander Book Co.

Health, Life

Well, they broke me. I finally had my breakdown. This one was different from all of the other yoga freakouts I’ve had in the past.

In my class today there were so many people. More than I’d ever seen before. I tried to count and it looked like 60-ish to me, but you can’t be sure. All I knew was that this was a big class. My mat was an oasis in the a sea of skin and sweat.

The things that went through my mind during my freak out:

1. This teacher is phoning it in. Her voice is killing me. I wonder if she’s having a bad day… Who cares, she should fake it. How am I going to make it another hour and 15 minutes?

2. I wonder if someone is stealing shit from Ryan’s bicycle right now. This studio really needs to get a security camera or figure that shit out. It’s in their best interest to create a safe environment.

3. Why did they raise their prices from $14 to $18 a class? That’s 29%! This overcrowded class is not worth $18. Or maybe they raised the prices so less people would come…?

4. If you’re going to do a promo on Living Social or Town Hog, you need to have the capacity to handle it. Shoving extra people into the room does not solve the problem.

5. They need to set a cap on class size. What is the fire code? Is this against the law?

6. Why are we doing this to ourselves?

And on. And on. And on. While these things were going on inside my head I sat on my mat and stared at myself.

Somehow I got over my panic attack and back to it, but the facts remain: classes have been too crowded for the last month, bikram is going to be expensive after my challenge special pricing is over, and it’s not safe to leave my bike locked up down there. Is it time to find another studio?

Health, Life

Well, here we are at Day 6 of the 30 Day Challenge.

I have gone to yoga 7 times in the last 6 days. Only 23 more to go! HA. HA. HA.

On Friday I did my first “double” – went at noon, took a break, then went back again at 4:30. It really wasn’t as physically rough as I thought it would be, as I paced myself all day long, taking many breaks and not pushing myself as hard as normal. Psychologically I was a little off, but no emotional breakdowns, so success!

I won’t lie, today I’m feeling the newness and excitement wear off. I am anxious because I’m exhausted and things feel like they’re getting harder. Ryan and I are headed out to Austin in the middle of the month for vacation, so I need to fit 3 more doubles in to complete the challenge. Somehow it’s gonna happen. Just not going to think about it too much.

In other news, the Bike Thief has struck again! A month or so ago, in the indoor courtyard at yoga where we park our bikes, the Bike Thief stole Ryan’s handlebars and my back light holder. Ryan fixed his handlebars, this time adding in ball bearings so the bars would be unstealable. Last night the Bike Thief tried to steal his handlebars again, and when that didn’t work out, they took his back brakes! And then today the Bike Thief stole 2 seats from bikes parked in the courtyard. I saw one of the victims trudging down to the bike shop with her seatless bike today… Depressing!

Not sure what to do about the Bicycle Thief, but definitely walking to class whenever I can. :/