San Francisco Street Walker

2010-01-01T01:57:00.001-08:00

“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself”. - Jane Eyre

2010-01-01T00:46:00.001-08:00

R.D. Laing once stated that: "The only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid unavoidable pain".

2009-12-31T23:30:00.000-08:00

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

1. The illness I live with is: chronic severe depression and "complex" ptsd, i guess migraine too.

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:
1985 ... migraine 2009

3. But I had symptoms since:
birth

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is:
accepting that exercise is critical. then, exercising.

5. Most people assume:
I'm normal, whatever that is

6. The hardest part about mornings are:
figuring out why i should bother getting up

7. My favorite medical TV show is:
emergency vets

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is:
ipod touch so i can listen to podcasts when i can't sleep, play tetris when i can't sleep, and listen to music and audiobooks while i'm walking

9. The hardest part about nights are:
knowing there will be a tomorrow

10. Each day I take an antidepressant and migraine prevention medication

11. Regarding alternative treatments I:
tried them all - mostly bullshit

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:
doesn't matter

13. Regarding working and career:
i'm kind of surprised i made it this far

14. People would be surprised to know:
how miserable i often feel

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: n/a

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: live this long. get married.

17. The commercials about my illness:
embarrassingly condescending

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is:
n/a

19. It was really hard to have to give up:
n/a

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is:
n/a

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would:
?

22. My illness has taught me:
everyone suffers

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is:
you should talk to your mother

24. But I love it when people:
are nice

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:
Fall down 7 times, get up 8

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them:
there are treatments that mostly work pretty well. I have ups and downs but do ok most of the time.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:
I'm still alive

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:
my husband always does nice things for me

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:
it's vital people understand (example: not berating someone in a disabled parking space just because they LOOK fine, there are people with serious illnesses who need disabled placards - not me, but there are many). just because my own mother fraudulently uses disabled placards doesn't mean there aren't people who need them who appear fine. sigh.

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: surprised

Feliz Navidad

2009-12-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

Watching Sons of Anarchy which makes little sense to me.
Getting ready to decorate the Atheist Tree with cat toys.
Having some Kir Royales.
Pretty nice.

Not much going on

2009-11-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

Did some knitting on that scarf and then realized if I were going to get a run in, I had better leave immediately. Went out to the beach where the waves have calmed considerably from Thursday and ran 2.5 miles. I think I could run farther as long as I keep the speed down (as if I have a choice there). Now I feel good about the 5k on Dec 12. I intentionally chose a 5k that was walk/run so I wouldn't be so embarrassed at being slow.

Massage at 1pm, then back home to have some black beans and veggies.

so this one time

2009-11-27T03:16:00.001-08:00

i had a black eye and i told everyone a horse had kicked me.
cause what happened was, i was lying on the couch laptopping and i picked up the laptop with one hand for some reason and it fell on my head.

when i did stupid shit like that in NC i used to blame it on a sailing accident but here in SF the water is so flipping cold it would just lead to a lot of annoying questions. Nobody sailed in NC either hardly but here people would probably quickly cop to the fact that I haven't been sailing in 20 years.

oh the black eye happened when i was riding regularly so that at least made some sense. next time i trip over an imaginary snake I'll have to blame it on a homeless guy or something.

not careful enough

2009-11-27T02:59:00.000-08:00

Here is what Crazy Aunt Purl does in LA (the same she says as when she travels, I guess at home she leaves the passport in a safety deposit box armed by security guards and retina scanners):

"I carry a purse and keep my hand on it. I travel with a little wallet in an inner zippered pocket and in the wallet I just have my two travel credit cards, a little walking around cash for the day, my list of important numbers and contacts and a photocopy of my passport."

is LA so different than SF? i practically leave my wallet out on the street with a little note saying "Here is my wallet. I guess if you really need it that bad you can have the money. Oh and the house keys are in the purse"

She seems to think she's not as conscientious as some travelers who do all that secret pouch type of thing. And of course when traveling she carefully assesses where she goes. Ha, reminds me of that cartoon I just saw... where was that...oh in the book I'm reading. A guy is sitting at a travel agent's desk (remember those?) and the travel agent, looking at his computer, says, "So, how are you with your fists?"

Knit run eat sleep

2009-11-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

Working on a scarf. Had to rip it out today. Who knew knitting while drunk would screw it up (me, I knew, that's who). Oh well. Got a good start on it after that. It's the easy loop pattern and i'm using malabrigo in blues.

Heard this song on the "It's a Purl, Man" podcast and cracked up.

Went for a run on the beach, waves were intense today. The biggest I've seen them. Fn beautiful. After that, dropped by the feral cat colony I help manage. They had turkey and chicken for Thanksgiving.

Made some food then watched Road Warrior and Duel with Mr SF. Got some more scarf done.

running

2009-11-22T07:07:00.000-08:00

My running is just not progressing as well as I would like. Sure, I took 5 days off this week, but last week I ran 4 times and I was still stuck at a 2 mile distance. I should be running 2.5 miles by now per the 5k schedule. I was hoping the 2 miles would get so easy that I'd naturally want to add more, but not so far. It's not terribly hard to run the 2 miles. It's not fun because I'm so slow, but I just chug along until I'm done. I guess I should just chug along a little longer.

2009-11-21T13:11:00.001-08:00

I have sometimes noticed that in the shower after a run, I smell like ammonia.
I just got back from a short 2 mile run (after five days off, I know, I know) and the smell is particularly noticeable, so I googled it. This is what I found:

The reason this happens is ammonia is a by-product of protein metabolism. When you run hard and long, your body burns protein and carbohydrates for fuel. When the carbs are burned off (or when there aren’t adequate carbohydrates), the distinctive ammonia smell presents itself.

The fact that ammonia is produced on every run doesn’t mean the smell is noticeable afterward. Usually the smell is only present when there is the carb deficit. This increases the ammonia levels in your muscles and the ammonia is then picked up by your blood and carried to your respiratory system. When this occurs, you can usually smell it. In addition, some of the ammonia will show up in your sweat which makes the odor even more noticeable.

The smell usually isn’t anything to worry about. But if it persists, you probably aren’t taking in enough carbohydrates. If you emphasize carbohydrates before, during and after running and the ammonia smell is still around, you should get checked out by a physician.

Some other dude in the comments mentioned that it's just because we're getting older, but CLEARLY that cannot be the case. I am a spring chicken! Really. No, really.

Although last night I had a salad for dinner with some jalapeno ranch dressing, and a couple blocks of peppermint bark, and this morning I had a sugar free vanilla latte (ok no carbs there, hmm.), I haven't eaten yet today and normally I don't eat before my morning runs. Maybe I should change that.

Things I Like

2009-11-17T09:28:00.001-08:00

The drive through coffee shop where we stop every day. They're nice people and know us and our orders, and sometimes make suggestions. Go Java Depot!

5k training

2009-11-13T19:08:00.000-08:00

I'm adding an extra week in the 5k training program cause I just didn't feel I could increase my mileage that fast. 2 miles was a little rough and in week 2, one day I went out to the beach to run and gave up after walking half a mile (i did walk another half mile back).
So I think this is week 3 and I'm still doing 2 miles, but I did go from 3 days a week to every other day. I ran pretty much all of the 2 miles today. My back is hurting a little right now. I'm old.
I scheduled a 5k the weekend of December 12.
I'm not really doing a lot better with the eating but I am only drinking one glass of champagne a night now. I hope that I'll want to eat better as time passes and I feel more fit and am ready to cart less weight around on the runs.

Misc

2009-11-03T14:30:00.001-08:00

Not going to limit this blog to posts about exercise. And as a result will probably delete it soon.
Anyway... walked 2 miles today. I was planning to run but it was too damn hot. Came home and am making some veggie curry and having a glass of champagne with some berries in it. Why not.

I have two cats. One is plotting to climb out the open window right now. I usually put up those screens but am sitting right next to this window and it's only open temporarily (for the ten minutes it will be warm). I know, cat disaster waiting to happen. This is Bad Cat, who likes to get into trouble. She's a snowshoe Siamese, about two, loves water and getting in everyone's way. Don't worry, I won't leave the window without closing it.

Good Cat is snoozing on the bed. She has chronic kidney failure at 18 and requires daily subcutaneous fluids and various medications, but still plays with toys and loves to be patted on the butt.

Report

2009-10-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

So a month and a half later. I kind of sporadically have been walking my regular routes around town but nothing worth noting until this week, when I started running again.

I've been encouraged by these guys and their podcast. I'm following their half marathon training plan (they are on to a marathon now). Looking for a 5k in December and maybe a half marathon in April. We'll see.

Started with a run on Ocean Beach on Sunday - really a 2 mile run/walk. Tuesday was a 2 mile run/walk in Golden Gate Park, then Thursday was an attempt at a 2 mile run at the beach, but I was developing a migraine and only made it 1 mile. Then today a 2 mile run with a little walking here and there.

I'm looking for an app where I can mark the streets and parks where I've been running / walking. If you know any such thing, please comment.

Day One

2009-09-18T09:42:00.001-07:00

I'm getting started today and going through walkjogrun.net to determine my route. It needs to include a coffee shop. Actually, I may just do my regular walk through Golden Gate Park. It's going to be sunny and warmer than usual today (76) so I should get going before it gets too warm.

Tomorrow we're going to Tahoe for the weekend (camping). I'll definitely get some walking in, but not in the city.

I have been wondering if I should count all the roads I've already walked. Seems like that would be cheating, so I think I'll just do them all over again.

A little about me. I started running in 2000, a few years after moving to SF from a much less climatically-friendly area of the country. The weather is perfect for running here, it's usually cool and the worst we get is a little rain and fog. I don't like heat AT ALL so was never able to run where I used to live. I ran for several years and then got married and you know how that goes.

I've been walking on and off for a year or two so I'm able to physically plan to walk regularly now. I may run a bit if I can manage to lose some weight.

UPDATE: 3 miles today on Fell and JFK up to the DeYoung.

Where to Start

2009-09-14T11:45:00.001-07:00

I heard, several years back, about a guy who walked every street of San Francisco.
A couple other people are doing it, also.
Manhattan has been done, and so have Albany, CA, and Sydney.
Well... why not?