I know what I'll do - more virtual inspiration and some other stuff

First thing's first. What did I write to warrant such wonderful comments on my previous post? I want to thank you all. I did state that I am quite emotional. So guess what your comments made me do. Hint: wet cheeks. I am very touched by your words but the trouble is that now I feel I need to become the person you guys see. That will be a LOT of work. :-)

So as to my intended post:

I am so inspired by Laura, her love of life and also her idea of collecting pennies for every vertical foot she climbs. Since I do not live in Bishop or some other amazing place from which one has to just step out of the house to be in the mountains, and I do not do any rock climbing either (I would love to though), I decided to collect pennies for every mile I bike, hike, walk, or row. At the end of the year I will decide which charity I will donate the money to. How come I haven't thought of that before?

Another inspiration came from my FB friend, Tatch.

I while ago I posted about wanting to introduce a group of homeschooled kids to Mt. Whitney. Well, that did not work out. At first there was hardly any interest. Then, all of a sudden, I got flooded with emails of interested and very enthusiastic moms. Then, when the realization that I required time commitment for training during the year set in, all enthusiasm vanished. Needless to say I was quite disappointed but there is no way I can take a group of unprepared kids on such a trip.

And then another inspiration, this one from Japan. I met a Japanese guy on John Muir Trail, an amazingly fit person, who runs ultramarathons on regular basis and obviously likes backpacking. I wish I could say we really talked during the two days on the trail. He does not speak English well at all, but since he writes in English, we kept in touch, mostly through Facebook. He posted a photo of blind runners with their in his training group. We exchanged some comments and he stated that I could certainly become a guide to a blind person. Within minutes I was emailing (it was WAY too early to call) the local society for the blind. So far no answer. I will keep you posted though. This project excites me very, very much. 

Biking update. I went for a test bike ride with JoLynn who is a trainer of the Cinderella Challenge biking group, and a heck of a nice person. Quietly I was hoping that she would say I was not fit enough yet to join the group. Then I would say that I was going to work hard to make it the next year, we would smile, chat and that would be it. No such luck. She thought I would do just fine. What!?! Does that mean I have to work hard NOW?

Now the final ride is only 90mi, not 100mi. Maybe I could use that as an excuse for bailing out, slumping my lazy body on the sofa and spending my Saturday mornings facebooking instead of riding?

But to be perfectly honest, I am quite excited and a little scared. Really fit people intimidate me, and I imagined everybody in the group would be a clone of Lance Armstrong without a penis since this is all girl group.

But so it happened the first training ride was a blast. We covered some distance (26mi), climbed some hills, and not only I survived but I managed to keep up.  So I have resolved to add 10miles to the Challenge ride to make it a nice round number. 

Oh, one more thing and then, I'll let you go. My teen and I will be running Bay to Breakers, one of probably the wackiest races around. Just click here for pictures. Since I am not very artistic, I don't think we will be wearing costumes and nude running... well, I am not courageous enough for that. BTW, in case you did not know, nudity is legal in San Francisco. One time, I saw a guy... that story is for another post though... 

(that'll keep them coming back)