I have a Groupon from TWO YEARS ago for this school: Adventure Out. I have had a “follow up on this” (through FollowUpThen.com – my ABSOLUTELY favorite email/task system) for, yeah, two years.

I purchased two Groupons for their “Survival School” – which I thought would be a blast. H and I are discovering that we have a really bad habit of purchasing stuff that looks interesting – then putting it in a drawer until the coupon expires. Argh.

Anyway – so since you’re supposed to at least get the “value you paid” for the Groupon (which for me was $100), instead of 2-for-1, I just contacted the school to see whether I could get 1-for-1 😉

It’s in Marin – very close by. They also have Rock Climbing, Surfing, etc.

I believe that this could be a great, GREAT place to get some potential TAR skills.

I think that I mentioned I went yesterday and signed up at The Cave for the 20 Crossfit Conditioning sessions. I also downloaded some podcasts on Parkour, plus I have been listening more to the Bulletproof Executive Podcasts. The most recent Podcast that I listened to was with Dr. Doug McGuff, M.D. – and it was IMMENSELY INTERESTING – HERE is the link.

I actually listened to the Bulletproof Podcasts all night – it was sort of a mistake, but so it goes – I fell asleep to them playing on my Apple TV on the stereo in the bedroom, and woke up the next morning – yaaaawn! stretchhhh! – to them still playing. I had to laugh – maybe all that stuff is now subliminally knocking around in my brain. (If so, as David Asprey, the moderator, hawks his “Bulletproof Coffee” every single podcast, I’ll have to monitor my Amex charges in the dead of night. LOL. Actually, I DO make his “bulletproof” recipe now for coffee – though I use Weaver’s – and add his Brain Octane MCT Oil and 1 Tbs butter, now with a couple egg yolks – and it does act like a meal and does start my day off quite well, but I digress. Oh wait, I’ll digress some more – Weaver’s is MY HOMETOWN BREW and got voted WORLD’S BEST COFFEE recently, how proud am I – check out the articles about it HERE.)

Anyway – before the iPod died in the middle of the podcast, Dr. McGuff was talking about long distance Ironman/marathon/ultra athletes, and basically how doing this really messes up your body. Not only the way that we “know” it does (hip flexor issues, pounding on the pavement for hours, shoulder strains), but by telling your body that fast twitch muscle fibers really aren’t that important. That they’re just “dead weight” on your body. However, these muscle fibers are the ones that really help with insulin resistance, etc.

I personally know that I have about zero fast twitch fibers. I was thinking about this the other day, after signing up for the Crossfit stuff. It’s something that I want to rectify, as – when I have worked out – I’ve really been doing mainly “endurance-esque” (slow!) workouts for years. I’m also (as Dr. McGuff put it) one who “punches the ticket” with respect to working out – his comment was that it is like going to church or recycling – there isn’t a lot backing up that these 3 things do all that much, but they make you a “better person” so most of us mindlessly do them. Funny.

That is also why I wound up joining the “Parkour offering” Crossfit gym – ok, that and the Groupon (laugh) – because I KNOW that I need to “get this back” – I have zero and I mean ZERO “bounce” or “jump” or “sprint” in my body, and it’s time to recover that.

Now, time to call a law client, then off to the farmer’s market for my veggie box.

Happy New Year, all! May this coming year be FULL of grass-fed butter and organically-produced-ethically-raised honey! 🙂

POSTSCRIPT: Listening to more podcasts – found and downloaded a few more that look interesting. I remember when I was REALLY into podcasts, now probably over three years ago (at least). Dang, I think we’re talking like 5 years ago . . . (thinks . . . ) yup, I think it was more like 2007 or so. I think that I fell out of doing it when I stopped commuting on the ferry, etc. – podcasts are so great for filling in that “in-between” time – and commuting was a big big part of that.

So, I walked again today – this time to the library to return the book for Book Club tonight – still tracking what I eat, etc. on the Jillian Michaels website. I’m glad that I’m doing this blog, and I’m toying with the idea of signing up for lift.do – it’s a website dedicated to “engraining good habits” and I liked what the founder had to say about it on one of the podcasts I listened to on my walk. HERE is a list of “popular habits” on Lift.Do – Similar to Stikk.com (without the $ risk) or MyFitnessPal.com, basically looks like you sign into a group, and report in how you’re doing. The cool thing is that they have a TON of groups already, and you wouldn’t really “know” folks in the group . . . you can sign up for something as mundane as Flossing every day (one of the top 5 groups!) or even “Work on a Secret Project,” etc. In the podcast (which was on the Bulletproof Executive feed, but I just looked there to link it and I can’t find it) the founder of Lift.Do talks about how, by and large, we only have the “bandwidth” to make a certain number of decisions in a day, and when we get to the end of that number, we’re done. He therefore postulated that things like “Floss” making it way up in the list is because people are trying to get that thing from a “decision” into being a “habit.”

He also talked about there being somewhat of a Maslow’s Hierarchy when it comes to the Groups – people originally join and then get into a group that’s a pressing thing they want in their life right at that moment – something they want to turn from a decision into a habit – like exercising or drinking more water (the top 2 groups). Then as people progress, they join groups to better themselves at work (“set priorities for the day” or “inbox zero”), then better their relationships (“tell my spouse I love them daily”) and ultimately to a more expanded world-view (“3 things I’m grateful for,” “pray,” “stop and enjoy life”).

I am just not sure I want to add one more thing I am “reporting into” – since I’ve committed to this blog in my TAR-365 commitment. Perhaps….Perhaps….Perhaps! 🙂

So!

Monday (Day 5) was really mainly a work day. I had some work that had piled up, and I needed to get that taken care of. One thing that I have trouble juggling is putting out the “attraction energy” to get more work (for money) versus whatever I’m interested in at that moment. This is tough, since I’m not an employee – as an employee, you get to go to work, do your best to do your job with the least amount of effort (hey, you know it’s true), while letting your mind wander around as you get your salary. When you’re an independent contractor, unfortunately, the “mind wandering around to something else” seems to make the pipeline dry up. This is a toughie.

Monday I did some research, though, on various Crossfit gyms. There are 3 in our area. The one that my friend Kat belongs to is the least expensive, and she says it’s the best. There is one closer to me, but it’s very pricey – then another fairly far away (definitely a drive) that’s the most expensive of all. Monday I sent out emails to all those gyms, asking about their pricing, etc. Both the closest one (TJ’s) and the farthest one (The Cave) answered back.

Then interestingly, on Tuesday – which again, if you’re using the feng shui calendar thing, was a day to “start things” – The Cave had a Groupon for 20 sessions at their “Conditioning” level (which you need before you really start) at less than 1/2 price, plus Groupon was having a Fall “Sale coupon” so the 20 classes wound up being closer to 7/10ths off. (Yeah yeah, I’m bad with math, so sue me – basically “a bit over half”).

I signed up for the Groupon RIGHT before the 1:00 p.m. “best feng shui hour” – because I didn’t think about it – I mean, literally, like 4 minutes before. That hour is represented by “Bleeding” – which in feng shui parlance means “Injuries.” (um, duh…) – however, it was in an altogether great day otherwise, so I will just have to watch myself is what I figure.

Right AFTER that (when the 1:00 p.m. hour started) I got the reminder I had set for myself to put away some $ towards TAR in a symbolic fashion. So I have a little piggy bank that I got from my Bank years ago, and “symbolically” put $100 bill into it – which will be the start of my savings for all things TAR. What the heck, again, right? I mean – who knows whether the whole feng shui thing “works” but the wealthiest Chinese swear by it, and if you CAN do it, why not, right?

Today is Day 7 – an Unfavorable/Remove day. I have to get H off to his business trip to Switzerland, and plan to go to the Team In Training workout down on the Marina. I pulled a groin muscle while in Kentucky, but it seems to be healed. Yesterday I did a 3.5/3.0 slope 30 minute walk on the treadmill (still trying to keep it slow as I really don’t want to be dealing with a chronic muscle issue), then did 1,000 yards in the pool, followed by 10 minute tread with hands up in the deep water. My plan is to keep adding 250 yards each time I hit the pool, until I’m up more in the 3 mile range or so. I’ve found that swimming at 3:00 p.m. is a great time – no one is really there, you certainly don’t have to circle swim. I wound up splitting my lane for about 1/2 the time but it’s also nice to be out in the sun. I love my pool – it’s salt-water not chlorine, and also outside. Unfortunately as it’s at the JCC, it’ll be closed as Rosh Ha’Shanah starts tonight. (L’Shana Tovah, Robb!)

A little more about me. When I was a kid, I did everything I could – including trying to wheedle my doctor-father into writing me “medical notes”- to get out of gym class. I’m not quite sure why. It’s interesting, as once I got to college, I wound up being drafted out of my first fencing class onto the varsity team (we went to the NCAAs) – and also was on the varsity/travel/competition teams in Shotokan karate and fencing in my Junior Year Abroad. After moving to Washington, D.C., I got my Masters, but definitely fell off the wagon when it comes to working out. (I did continue with Shotokan karate, however, while in school there.)

In D.C., I went to school at night and worked at a publishing house during the day – there, I met my friend Leslie. On New Year’s Eve between 1987 and 1988, The Washington Post published a calendar that went from January 1st through Thanksgiving. It was put out by Remar Sutton, who had just published his book, Body Worry. The idea was that if you followed the plan, by Thanksgiving, you could do an sprint-distance triathlon in the Bahamas. Remar even stated that he would have a dinner for anyone who came.

This plan started basically with “walk 10 minutes, find a pool, and dust off your bike or find someone who will loan you one.” The Bahamas Conchman Triathlon is dead flat – so it’s not like you needed any special equipment. As you can imagine, 1,000s of people wrote to him. This was back in 1987-88 – I was on the Internet because I’d discovered it during my Masters, but basically no one else was, so it involved writing an actual, physical “letter of commitment” to Remar.

He was pretty much shocked at how many letters he got. (“Oops, did I promise all these folks dinner…?”) We started a band of folks who wound up getting together – the “Conch-Outs.” For example, we volunteered at the Baltimore Triathlon together, etc. – and ultimately a few 100 of us actually made it to The Bahamas. I’m still friends (via Facebook) with one guy and his wife whom I met there, and with Leslie too.

HERE are some photos from back then – yes, that’s me in the mullet!

There, I met a gal who was part of the Hash House Harriers – which I wound up joining, then travelling the world with. That was a crazy time! I also did the Chicago Sun-Times Triathlon with her.

Then I moved back to California, started going to law school, and working out once again fell by the wayside. I got super fit for my wedding – because I wanted to fit into my mom’s wedding dress! – but that was years ago. I did the Ironman (as you can see from previous posts here), and all that jazz, I was in the Marines, etc. – but I’ve never really been “strong,” I more have the “slow and steady” endurance thang going for me.

And – hence – Crossfit. So HERE is the link to the Crossfit “box” (gym) that I got the Groupon for. One thing I like about it is that they also do Gymnastics and Parkour.

What’s Parkour? Here you go (click HERE)

Parkour was featured in the James Bond Casino Royale movie (click HERE).

I’m not saying that a 50+ year old broad can do this stuff, but what the heck? Perhaps! How cool would that be??

Now, mind you, when I was in grammar and middle school, we were “Made” to do gymnastics, and I literally could not do it. I’m not sure why. I know I was scared (I was one scared little kid), and perhaps so tall that I just didn’t “get” my body. But I LOVE the idea of this, and I wonder if I were able to do ONE Parkour move, whether it could look cool for our TAR “Introduction to Us” video.

Hope springs eternal, ya’ll!

OK that’s enough for now – got some law stuff to do, get H ready for Switzerland, then will go to the city for the LLS/TNT run this evening.

So.

I have this super duper detailed feng shui calendar (goes down to the hour of when to do or “not to do” things). This is what the whole RocketSpeedMarketing.com thing was about – I was doing the SendOutCards side, the feng shui master was doing the feng shui side. It just didn’t work out for whatever reason – but if you’re curious you can go there to see what I’m talking about.

ANYWAY – so I was “compelled” to text R on Thursday August 29, 2013 at 12:23 p.m. about this whole “365 Days to Amazing Race” idea.

I was just getting my office back organized today for the first time in months (H got my new notebook tied into my sound system, screen, etc. – THANK YOU…) – and I found the feng shui calendar. I haven’t used it in forever – bad me, it was expensive enough – so I opened up that time and date with a little trepidation.

GET THIS….

August 29th is the ONLY “green” day since August 21st through tomorrow, September 2nd (that’s another green day). “Green” days are the “best days” to do things. Moreover (could I make this up?) – the time of 11 a.m. to 12:59 p.m. is one of the 3 best “hours” of that day.

August 29th was an Excellent/Risk day – heck, so “Excellent” to start a “Risky” Adventure?

Yeah baby…

The Positive Influences are Virtue, Growth, and Advantage.

I can see those playing out on TAR, can’t you?

Potential Negative Influences include Potential Disaster, Petty Arguments, Guilty As Charged, Wilderness, Upheaval, and On Guard.

Pfffffft. Amazing Race, much?

The HOUR I texted is the time for – get this – Good Question and Wealth Accumulation. “Good Question” means that it’s the right time to pose a question to someone else when it will be received well. Here is the actual definition:

“Good Question: The key to unlock the door to your success is to ask the right question. This hour is unsuitable for nothing. It is suitable for working with your coach or mentor; seeking answers to challenging questions; asking for a raise or a promotion. It is also ideal for making deposits into accounts such as savings or other “accounts” that you would like to accumulate over time (monetarily/skills/etc.). This is also a great time for commencing work that could ease the accumulation of wealth and fortunes, which is tenfold if “Wealth Accumulation” is also in the hour. Though it’s also a good day to “unlock” wealth, the key is asking for what you want, then taking action in that path.”

Now, granted, R didn’t receive my text (she’s changed carriers), but that actually doesn’t matter, it’s when the action is initiated. And Wealth Accumulation – well – can you say $1 million – ? (Note also the comment about Wealth Accumulation in the Good Question definition – !)

Tomorrow (Monday) is a Favorable/Close day, so if I can get out from Labor Day celebration stuff, it means it’s a good day to “Close open things” and such. Gotta get some law work off my desk, pay bills, etc.

And then Tuesday the 3rd is a Favorable/Establish day – in other words, the day to start a new habit, etc. The best time for this is actually from 9-10:59 a.m. and from 1-2:59 p.m. I guess I’m calling Crossfit then and making my appointment to do the “On Ramp” Class with them for when H is gone . . .

This is pretty weird. I really felt compelled to send this text. I’m not saying that there’s magic to this – but as most Chinese would not DARE to do something without consulting the feng shui calendar – who am I to argue?

Crazy. Cray-Cray.

I’m a day behind on posting, so I will do Days 2 and 3 together.

Yesterday (Day 2) I looked up the Amazing Race Wiki. You can find it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Race

Here are the teams for this coming season (23): http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/amazing-race-season-23-teams-615327

Here is the application: http://www.theamazingracecasting.com/howtoapply

This is going to be the key part: Short Bio of Team (Up to 70 Words), focus on Relationship Positives and Negatives (plus the video). We can get Prashant to make the video look great – but how to work it? Our story: We met when interns at Lucasfilm and hit it off – maybe because we were at least 10 years older than anyone else in the program! 🙂 R went back to be a minister on the East Coast. I was a “big firm” lawyer. I moved on from there to in-house, then having my own law firm, plus 3 books (about being a Bond Girl, and about Passive Income), getting married. R moved from East to West Coast, need to get the rest of the story. We kept in touch via email. This was back in 1993 or 1994 (can’t remember which) so we’ve been friends for HOLY COW that means 20 years but we haven’t really “seen one another” more than a handful of times in person (definitely less than 10 – even when we were at Lucasfilm). I’m pretty sure that’s right. We knew when we met we would “rescue each other out of a Mexican jail” – funny how you know that sometimes when you first meet. R came up and video’d my wedding – I helped fund her first pre-Kickstarter-esque movie.

It’s an odd story, that’s for sure.

That’s enough for Day 2. Day 3 – walked 2 miles, inner thigh still hurts when I try to run. Thought a lot again about Crossfit. Depressed at being in such terrible shape, even though I’ve run a bunch of marathons in the last year. I think I said that in the last post. My shoulder still twinges, and of course, I’m “over 50” (how’d THAT happen?) Talked with Robert about getting another “functional fitness” assessment and he said he’d videotape me (now how depressing will THAT be?!) Need to work on strength.

Here are the “requirements” from the last Amazing Race “intake” in San Francisco:

Click to access amazing_race_affiliate_eligibility_requirements.pdf

Yes I know I should be using snazzy embedded links, but right now just trying to get this all down in one place. This really is more by way of a “running diary” than anything else (and for me and R to keep track that we’re each doing something for the next 365 to try to get ourselves there).

As for the video, here are some great links to consider when the time comes:

The Casting Director on what she’s looking for:

http://www.realitywanted.net/2007/12/05/interview-with-lynne-spillman-casting-director-for-the-amazing-race/

The Amazing Race Casting Video (what makes a great video – and here we go, can’t be longer than 3 minutes. Is that 3 minutes each or together? DANG if together that doesn’t give us a lot of time! Yup – just read it – 3 minutes together. Yikes!):

http://www.theamazingracecasting.com/Video

One thing these stress is don’t say how much you need the money; how much you want to travel; etc. I think that we have it there. I think that, instead, we stress that every show has to have the folks that try really hard but don’t make the cut. Not everyone can be #1, and we’d love to be #11! That might be a really funny way to play it. I think that would get their attention. However, you do have to be competitive and strong-willed, but maybe we can play up the “Old age and treachery will always win out against youth and skill” angle too. Think about this . . . Could be hilarious.

This is the guide for Amazing Race Australia, but has some great tips:

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/the-amazing-race-australia/about-the-show/article/-/10030299/

I actually see us cutting together a video with the 2 of us on either 1/2 of the screen. (Prashant can do this for us). I also see us working (they say they like that), emailing each other, maybe a “shot over the shoulder” where one of us is on the computer and in the bottom corner, the other’s message on Facebook pops up…I think that is really something that would get their attention. That will be different. That can also be one of our “this could be a real problem” things – e.g., what happens when we’re 4 weeks together? We don’t really know whether we’ll drive one another crazy, though we’ve known each other for 20 years! (NOTE: I snore, R!)

Here are a bunch of videos that say that they got callbacks (I understand from my cousin Robin that Chris and James – our cousins – got to the semis apparently – so I need to contact them and see what they sent!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4aJXQ79yxI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqNFZwNdjtE

Tips on how to get on Amazing Race (from a couple who didn’t get on, but has a lot of “why we did not get on” to their blog):

http://www.radicalparenting.com/2009/12/21/7-tips-on-how-to-apply-to-the-amazing-race/

Great overall explanation of what’s involved:

http://brucepena.hubpages.com/hub/The-Amazing-Race-So-You-Want-To-Be-A-Contestant

In the above (really very good) the “Skills, Attributes, and Hang-ups” is VERY GOOD. I can drive a standard car (and I could brush up on how to drive a motorcycle – I have a license but it’s about 20 years old!) I’m not strong AT ALL and don’t know about R – my guess is, not so much. I remember some of the skills needed in a couple of the last years and they DEFINITELY required strength. That’s part of doing this 365 day thing – I really want to have somewhere to say “Yes, I am working on that” and then record it. As for languages, I do okay in German, I do okay with French, I have taken Japanese and passed a fluency test in 1993 (!!! Before most of the contestants were born !!!). One thing this says that an all-female team has never one, and one with the contestants over 46 has never won. That’s OK. I’d like to do the best we can but I don’t have the actual thought we’d WIN. I just think it would be a blast to TRY.

Yeah Yeah Yoda, “There is Do or Not Do, There Is No Try.” Shut the F up. LOL!

It also says that you shouldn’t have too many hangups (food related issues behind high on them . . . wonder if being allergic to fish and to peanuts is going to axe us – ??? Hell I’ll eat crickets but don’t wipe me out with a flounder frittata LOL). Also says that you’re likely to do stuff at heights (we know that – R can do it LOL) and also must know how to swim WELL. I got that, not sure about R. I was thinking about that. I wonder if you can bring swim goggles?

This makes me want to get Lasik next year even more . . . .

Need to practice paddling a canoe. We can do that. I remember paddling with H and we went around and around. Yeah, I need to practice that. 🙂 Says you have to practice both together and separately – I guess if we get on, R is going to have to come up here and we are going to have to get some practice in!

I really wonder if they would take us if our “game” is that we have been friends for 20 years but haven’t really seen one another more than a handful of times, in person.

This article was good for comic relief:

http://www.travelfreak.com/2012/09/28/my-experience-auditioning-for-the-amazing-race/

I think that’s enough for today. Well, almost. The closest Crossfit Gym to me is TJ’s down on the Miracle Mile. I don’t feel particularly “ready” to do Crossfit, since before I went to the Vienna Marathon, I did a month (3x/wk) with a Crossfit coach from Tam Crossfit and I SUCKED. I mean suuuu-uuuuucked! It was seriously pathetic. HOWEVER, I do believe this is the best workout to get you strong, and I think strong is what we need.

Here is the website for TJ’s: http://tjsgym.com/sanrafael.html

I think that I have to call them tomorrow, as one of my Day 4 things to do. It’s pricey, and I don’t have that sort of “throw around” cash. I also am already a member at the JCC, and Robert (the functional fitness guy) has said I should work out with him  – and he’s likely right. The interesting thing with Robert is that he said he’d do a video of the workout – which could be SUPER helpful, if I were to do it at home. I have to explore all options – I like the Crossfit idea because my friend Kat does it, and it’s a “group” of people. She’s at Tam CrossFit, because apparently when she joined the Crossfit community, she had dated a guy at TJ’s, plus she liked the (female) owner at Tam Crossfit better. TJ’s is just SO much easier for me to get to – if I am really motivated I can walk or run up and over The Hill to get there. I’d have to drive to Tam Crossfit – or it’s a long run (I did that when I was training with the trainer there).

You can see how expensive it is here – http://tjsgym.com/gettingstarted.html – 4 “private sessions” for nearly $300 – ?? Lord almighty.

Here is another Crossfit in my area (Crossfit Marin/Corte Madera in “The Cave”) – that one is definitely a drive for sure: http://www.crossfitmarin.com/ – they don’t seem to have an email address but here’s their number: (415) 927-1630 (“call to schedule your 5 required sessions” before you start). Aha – found their email. I sent them a plaintive email. We’ll see what they say.

Here is the website for Tam Crossfit (This is where Kat works out): http://www.tamcrossfit.com/crossfit-schedule-pricing/

They have “On Ramp” classes – 3 classes for $75. Ok that is WAY BETTER than the pricing (mentioned above) at TJ’s. (No idea what The Cave costs). They have M/W/F classes at both 9:30 a.m. and at noon (though if I keep going to Yoga at 1:30 that doesn’t work so well on Mondays). It’s $180/month if you get 6 months – so that’s less than Greg’s House of Steel was (I paid $100 less there and I still was paying more than $180/month).

Here’s their Getting Started page: http://www.tamcrossfit.com/get-started-now/

I think that this might be the cheapest Crossfit around . . . Hmmmm. Maybe I need to revise my thoughts on TJ’s v Tam. (TJ’s is closer, but if the “On Ramp” sessions are more than 300% as expensive dot dot dot)

Here’s their video: http://www.tamcrossfit.com/best-of-the-bay/

It looks like there might be an “On Ramp” starting on September 7th. If I could do the 3 classes while H is away, that might not be a bad idea. OK, I guess I will ask Kat.

And that is enough for Day 3!

POSTSCRIPT: I messaged James, and he said that he and Chris did one of the “show up” calls for Amazing Race – they were told to submit a video, but never did. When I said that R and I were thinking of applying, he said “Lol well play up your ironman/ pole dancing/ lawyer and you never know!! I’ll be rooting for you.”

I forgot about the pole dancing….