danger, danger

It's the dawn of a new day. Well, it's not terribly early, but it is a significant development in my short-lived blogging experience. Recent months have seen me writing entries on this laptop for later upload to Dland (putting the office's resources to good use).

Today, I'm typing directly into Dland, via dial-up from home and my sleek, lil', ol' laptop. Now I can write with more distractions and think less about what I want to say! Wee. Technology is fun.

8:17 a.m. 2004-06-22

lagging

Note from the editor: I'm sorry the Melbourne posts are out of order. I added them in a random way and am too jet-lagged to even think of re-doing it all. You'll just have to look at the dates or guess the chronological order of events. Back to our regularly scheduled entries. OK, I admit it. I’m not going to get any more sleep tonight/this morning. It’s about 4:38am on Friday morning.

I must be suffering the after effects of jet lag. At first I thought it was just restless sleep. That was just before 3:00am. Then, I decided it was hunger, not memories of the coconut curry dish manifesting themselves in my stomach. A bowl of Cheerios later and back to bed.

As usual, manfriend has been snoring himself through various body positions, occasionally interrupted by sleep apnea-induced gasps for air. A gentle nudge or a whispered ‘turn onto your side’ quiets him. But I can’t blame him for the fact that I’m plum not tired.

Last night was a breeze. Granted, I had just flown in that morning, never having had more than an hour of sleep at a time. I was up for most of the day, save almost two hours of napping in the afternoon. I even did half of a swim practice to both stretch out and tire my body before bedtime (at the anti-jet-lag recommended time of 11:00pm). I slept like a rock for eight hours.

The next day, there were no sluggish times at work. Foolishly, I thought I had escaped the clutches of the seventeen hour time difference between here and Australia. (Speaking of which, it’s heading toward 11:00pm there, should I be getting tired?) Perhaps running after work (7:45) and eating late (9:30) didn’t help my cause. Today may be a more difficult battle in the war for awakeness.

There’s only twenty minutes left on this laptop's battery and an hour and a half before I planned on getting up. I guess I could go start a Netflix movie on my couch. I’ll have no excuse this morning for not leaving early enough to bike to BART and not drive.

Today is my first return to weights after the two weeks Down Under. I’m going to add more cardio, as I’m entertaining a crash-course prep for the Half Vineman tri on August 1. Six weeks to develop sport-specific speed and skills after almost two years off the bike and four months of rarely running (no more than twice a month?) and barely three non-synchro swim workouts a month and a handful of months consistent weight training and spinning.

This should be interesting. I’m only considering it because I may be able to get a comp entry. I have no aspirations that I’ll beat any previous times, as my PR is on this course. For the first time in a long time, I’m considering doing a race because I want to. Because it sounds fun. Because, despite a type-A goal-driven obsession and self-flagellation and overscheduling, I can now see that I do enjoy triathlons.

The idea of just training for six weeks and not defining myself by it or making an entire summer of it makes it pretty darn doable too. I know I can handle the distance. It’s just a question of how much do I want to hurt, how intelligently I can race and how consistent I can be in my training.

An added bonus: I’ll look great just in time for swimsuit season.

3:25 p.m. 2004-06-18

letter to my sister

Hello again from Melbourne.

Lucy is in the shower and we just had a lovely breakfast with someone from my past who we just happened to bump into Down Under!!! Well, she lives here, and I forgot that.

Yesterday, when I was at Lucy's gym, I was looking at the class schedule and noticed that there's a spinning class on Sunday at 9am, taught by a woman named Cat. I knew a Cat who worked for the AIDS Ride in the LA office, and she rode that year that Dad rode Twin Cities. Remember the bleached blond Zimbabwe born, but Australian triathlete? It's that Cat!!! She moved back here four years ago and we've only been in email touch three or four times. I'll be attending her yoga classes while here. Lucy has a new friend!

I still haven't seen much of the City, just been relaxing in Lucy's beachside neighborhood. I did go running with the Frontrunners in the Royal Botanical Gardens on Sat AM, just a 4k loop with about 10 people. Turns out there were two guys from SF who moved here and are friends with lesbian runners I know in SF. B, you met Ann and Leslie in Sydney.

So far, my trip doesn't seem to be that exotic, since I keep running into people I know! Oh, on the way to the park, I saw the Deaf College of Australia (k-8?) and kids were out playing sports.

Lucy's apt is a cute, 1 BR, ground level apt, surrounded by lush green gardens. It's winter here, but that only means it's in the 50s and you need a fleece. At night, a cap or gloves, colder than SF, but not anywhere near East Coast cold. She's a 10 minute walk from the beach and it's so gorgeous.

We made fish and rainbow chard and quinoa (freaky grain) for dinner last night. We've spent time in cafes and just chatting. We went out dancing last night, but just ended up looking at the crowd dancing from the balcony. It was so smokey in there, and I'm a totally spoiled Californian who misses smoke-free bars.

I've talked to C twice on the phone and miss him terribly. I'm not homesick yet, because I've barely begun to explore this town. I hope to see more this week!

3:21 p.m. 2004-06-06

foriegn corporate correspondence

I've survived the trip down under and I'm living a whole day ahead of the US. You're going to love the future. It's 1:21am on Tuesday, and some of you still haven't come into work on Monday morning. I just got back from seeing Supersize Me.

I don't have much to write, other than I've been relaxing and not doing much. It's beautiful here and the winter is quite mild (not much worse than a SF summer). Did a little wandering around town today, but my friend Lucy lives in an outlying beachside neighborhood that makes you just want to chill at a cafe. I could get used to this. I'll try to be more of a type A tourist and do some hardcore siteseeing later in the week.

I have a week's pass to Lucy's gorgeous gym, and by some random coincidence, I happen to know one of the Spinning and yoga instructors: we were AIDS Ride co-workers and fellow triathletes. Small, freaking world.

I miss everyone at work and my friends, but not work itself. Don't worry, I'll come back.

3:15 p.m. 2004-06-08

australian new age brekkie

A watched pot of millet never boils over. I’ve taken on the role of watching the millet so it doesn’t cooze all over the stovetop, making sure it boils moderately, thus preventing unnecessary spillage to clean-up.

Lucy eats millet and boiled fruit (with today’s exciting selection of Chinese dates and pear) for breakfast. I’m open to eating more healthy and when in Rome… Even if I could find Cheerios here in Australia, why would I?

Breakfast is the one routine in my life that I don’t vary; I, who rails against C’s love of pattern. I welcome the change.

2004-06-07

small world

Long-lost friend Cat just happens to work at Lucy's gym! So we had breakfast with her.

Delicious Mexican at Blue Corn. Nighttime wandering along a mostly closed Brunswick Street.

Searched for Ici, for coffee, but had to pipi. It was closed, so we went to Idabita and I poopied there. Pizza and chips and tomato sauce played the role of my evening meal as we walked home.

2004-06-06

saturday 17 hours in the future

Ran 4km with the Melbourne FrontRunners this morning. Most leaves have fallen, the remaining ones are yellow. The air smells like autumn; it's cool and overcast. I love Royal Botanical Gardens.

Train mishap: took the 64, not 16. Brekkie: eggs. Shower. Soul Mama lunch. Gym: Intro to Pilates class. Flat white for me and pumpkin soup for Lucy.

I napped while L made fish, chard and quinoa. Relived our high school years for a few hours. Went out to dance at Market after 1am. Never ran into my DL friend who got us on the guest list, %%diary-catz-eyes%%.

2004-06-05

tidbits from down under

Landed in Melbourne Australia. Lucy late to pick me up at the airport. Apartment is beautiful. Café for breakfast and my first flat white of many. Walk Fitzroy, Ackland and her gym. Went to the market. Struggling to stay awake (and it's not yet 8pm). No dinner, I'm crashing.

2004-06-04

past - future