I really feel like I’ve gotten the hang of being an adult. For instance, I’ve remembered to brush my teeth almost every day this week. Wednesday night I didn’t do anything wild. Instead I looked into boats and boat mortgages for four hours. I was feeling very mature until my Mom sent me an email on telling me how unwise I was to seriously consider pouring my money into a hole in the water. “You need to face that you are addicted to adventure and try and curb it or find other less financially destructive ways to be adventurous.“That’s something to ponder I guess. Is there perhaps a gainful employment for people who are addicted to adventure?
I pondered it for a bit while waiting for Stark to pick me up from Bothell Bike and Ski, where I had taken my bike for a tune-up. While sitting in an Adirondack chair on their front deck of the shop I made a list of boat-buying pros and cons (reasons to buy a boat? I said I would. Reasons not to buy a boat? my Mom told me not to) and did some more math (if I buy a $20,000 boat now will cost me roughly $100,000 over the next 10 years. Does that sound right? Whatever).
Stark and I planned to do an early lap around Green Lake to start planning for startup weekend on May 18th. Yes, we’re business partners. We plan to invent a way to travel through time while river tubing. And that’s only one of our ideas.
We caught the Seattle Anti Freeze Runners for another lap around Green Lake and then beer. There was a good number of us - maybe fifteen sweaty runners- and we barely fit in the bar. Nathaniel* from climbing was there, as was Seattle’s Social Whore (Matt objected to the fact that his name was not changed on my blog, so from now on I’ll refer to him as Seattle’s Social Whore, or SSW). I also met the beautiful Salka, the wonderful Allison, and Adrian, who is kind of French. And of course my fellow accidental runner Tony was there.
Somehow we got on the topic of naked races (that may have been my doing. I mentioned that I’d seen a flyer for a nudist race when I was in Road Runner Sports last Thursday). Then the topic turned to skinny dipping, and then somebody joked about jumping in Green Lake, and before I knew it, Stark, Tony, Adrian, Allison and I were standing on the dock by the Green Lake Stadium, removing our sneakers and extra clothes (this is another reason to always wear underpants). Stark bet me a beer that Tony wouldn’t jump in. But Tony tore off his shoes, shouted “what are you all waiting for?” and cannon-balled in. I hopped in after. It was cold. I hopped back out and sprinted several laps around the dock area.
Stark of course had to invite us all back to his apartment’s hot tub so that we could get the full sauna experience. Unlike Sunday night, I accepted the invitation this time. I’d been wise and had a good work ethic for almost four days, so by Thursday I thought I could let my guard down. Also, the trick to being ready for Friday is to start tapering for the weekend on Thursday. It takes some training, but practice makes perfect.
Since Stark now owed me a beer, he was eager to win it back, and he suggested that we make another bet. Through the window of the hot tub room we could see a dedicated, lone runner plugging away on the treadmill. Stark bet me that I couldn’t get her to join us in the hot tub. I was feeling cocky, so I walked into the gym and signalled to her. She took her headphones off and slowed the treadmill down. “Excuse me,” I said. “Would you like to join us in the hot tub? I just made a bet that you would.” “Uh, ok,” she said. “I’m training for a marathon so I need to do five more miles, but I can come in for a bit.” “Thank you! You deserve it. It’s very refreshing and great for sore muscles.”
Stark was too amazed at first to realise that he’d lost the bet. He just sort of sat and stared with his mouth open as the runner took her shoes off and got in. She was very friendly (I had gotten lucky) and mentioned that since she moved here from Vancouver she hadn’t found a good running club. So of course, we invited her to Saturday morning’s run in Queen Anne. So now Stark owes me two drinks.