Slackers vs Doers

Yesterday, I wrote about what makes athletes do stuff that the greater population would think was just plain crazy. This morning I experienced the clash of athlete vs normal slacker.

I'm in San Francisco this week staying atop Nob Hill. This morning's workout called for a run. I opted to run 1.5 miles down the hill to the bay, did four miles along the bay and then actually looked forward to the 1.5 miles back up Powell to Nob Hill. Absolutely gorgeous morning for a run - clear, no wind, lots of tri-geeks doing their morning workouts, swimming toward Alcatraz. Running back up the hill I was reminded of my runs in Seattle up "The Wall" with John, my co-worker and ex-Mt. Rainier guide. "The Wall" was a steep hill up Queen Anne in Seattle. We'd start out together, and the route sort of looked like a staircase - steep segments between cross streets, flatten out on the cross streets and then what felt like straight up until the next cross street. John was faster and would do pushups at the cross streets waiting for me to catch up. I felt seriously inadequate. :)

Anyway, the last two cross streets up Nob Hill, I raced the Powell St. cable car, crested the hill and wanted to do a Rocky imitation. Instead, I walked down three blocks to a Starbucks outside Union Sqare. Then back up those three very steep blocks to the hotel. In the elevator, I overhead two women talking about the wisdom of staying at a hotel on top of a very big hill. One had walked down to the Walgreens opposite the Starbucks I went to.

One woman to the other: "So you got your exercise this morning!"
Other woman: "Are you kidding? I took the cable car up those three blocks."

Wow. Just wow. This is why America is out of shape.