Baseball Game

On May 21st, my friend Gus invited me to a baseball game. So I met up with Gus, had a bite to eat, and then we headed to the stadium. The San Francisco Giants have a beautiful stadium on the water and I enjoyed the view more than the game. We showed up at around the 4th inning and left after the 7th. I had a great time, did baseball things like order a hot dog and a beer for about 17 bucks, cheered when there was a hit, and took some pics. We would have stayed longer but it was the day after Bay to Breakers and Gus had just started a new job, so we left due to being tired. Plus it was cold. I'll definitely go to another game, hopefully a saturday day game.

Bay to Breakers

On May 20, I participated in the Bay to Breakers race. It was probably the funnest event I've been to since moving to San Francisco. In total there were probably 40-60 thousand people and it's basically one big party that starts downtown and ends 7.5 miles away at the ocean. It is a race and quite a few elite runners partake in it but the draw for most people are the costumes and the party atmosphere. Most people just dress up in a costume or go nude, start drinking, and proceed to walk towards the finish line. I decided to actually run the race to see what time i would get and then run back to where my friends were. Since I was going to be out all day and didn't want to be in my running clothes, I ran with a backpack. The race started at 8 am and I ended up meeting up with my friends around 9:30/10 at which point most of them had drank a few drinks. It really was interesting to see so many people intoxicated at such an early hour. Being the college graduate I am, I spent the first couple hours after running only drinking water. This turned out to be my saving grace as many people were worse for wear by about noon. I did have a couple drinks and enjoyed the festivities. It was a beautiful day and I actually ended up randomly meeting somebody I knew in Okinawa. Claire and I had been on JET together 4 years ago and she was in town for this event with her sister. It really is a small world. I've posted some pictures and my finisher's certificate below.

Claire who I knew from Okinawa

100 Posts!

It's taken me roughly a year and a half but this is my 100th post. It hasn't always been easy and some of my posts, well, most of my posts were pictures but in the end 100 is still 100. So without further ado, I will write my 100th post...

What do you think it's going to be about? And the title is...

MY FITBALL

So for the past couple weeks, I've been pondering buying a fitball for work. Since I sit all day and my back isn't in the greatest shape right now, I thought I'd buy something to help me out. I purchased a 65 inch blue fitball that my Chiropractor recommended. I usually spend about 2 hours of the day on it and I must say that it has made my posture better and my core muscles are getting somewhat of a workout. Along with seeing the chiropractor twice a week, I am also doing some rehab which is mostly different stretches to strengthen my core (back, abs, butt). Overall, I'm doing well and still training for my next race.

Sake wo nomimashou.

Last night I went to a sake tasting event with a couple of friends. It was my first time going to an event to drink sake and it was pretty much what I expected; walk around and taste sake. It was smaller than I thought it would be, esp. for the price, but I got my fill of sake and had a couple of appetizers. Even though I lived in Japan for so many years, I never really drank sake. In Okinawa, awamori is the adult beverage of choice and is quite different from sake. By the way, Sake in Japanese generally means alcoholic beverage not rice wine. To learn more about sake, shochu, and awamori, check out http://www.sake-world.com/html/shochu-awamori.html.

Although I enjoyed last night, I don't foresee myself making a habit of going out drinking during the week. A drink here and there will suffice.

酒を飲みましょう。

昨日酒味見イベントに行きました。酒は美味しかったけどやっぱり泡盛の方が好きですね。イベントは思ったより小さかったです。ここで泡盛イベントあったらいいなと思っています。カリー ：）

And The Fog Returns

This past weekend was a rare one. I walked around in shorts and a t-shirt not only during the day but also at night. On Sunday and Monday I even slept with my windows open, also a first since moving out here. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Last night, a bit before sunset the air got cooler and a thick fog rolled into the bay. It's amazing how quickly the fog came. One cool thing I noticed is how the fog seemed to stay over the water and not come onto land. It reminded me of how Storm, from X-men, created fog when they flew to the Statue of Liberty. I had a great view from my apartment and took some photos.


In other news, I've started training again. Next big race will be June 24 and it will be a triathlon starting at Alcatraz. It will be a 1.5 mile swim, 2.5 mile run, 13 mile bike, and a 10 km run. I've been swimming in the bay lately and although it's freezing (50's) my only real complaint is the neck rash I get from my wetsuit. It looks like a hiki (sp?) and although I put vaseline on my neck it still rubs. Next time I swim I'm also going to wear a rash guard, I guess. The running is going ok but my right foot is still sore from the marathon so lots of icing. Haven't really gotten on the bike much lately but I have been doing a couple of spinning classes which are fun.


先週の週末は暑かったです！朝も昼も夜も暑かったです。これは珍しいですよ。San Franciscoはいつも涼しい所です。昨日まですごいいい天気でした。今日は晴れてるけど寒くなってる。昨日の夕方、すごい霧を見ました。霧が来た時、寒くなった。霧が来るのは早かった！今週からちゃんとトレイニングを始まった。６月２４日にトライアスロンあるから、頑張ります。次のトライアスロンはもともと刑務所、Alcatrazから始まる。Alcatrazから１．５マイルを泳いで、２．５マイルを走って、１３マイルを自転車乗って、最後に１０キロを走ります。下に霧の写真あります。