Starting Over, Together

It is safe to say that since we got back from Spain, our first trip together and first time spending more than just a few days and nights with just the two of us, we now spend quite a bit of time together. Hell, let's be honest - we spend almost all of our time together.

It only took a few weeks for JCB to realize that he was sleeping at my place even when I was out of town. He played it off by saying Puck needed to be fed, which was "la verdad;" but he wasn't fooling me. It was a slow progression in classic JCB style...

1. XBox 360 appeared in my living room - no complaints from me, as I love a little Guitar Hero.
2. Netflix Subscription was updated to reflect BluRay DVDs - but he didn't have a BluRay player, I did.
3. Netflix Subscription was updated again to reflect my apartment as the delivery addresss.
4. The battle of where to keep the Wustof knives was settled - and my kitchen won.
5. A new subscription for video game rentals was initiated, yes, with my delivery address.

And since I'd already been doing some of his laundry anyway, we just decided to make it official. JCB moved in back in March, and it's been pretty awesome!

He has adjusted to my organization tactics, and knows that as long as his mess is contained within a basket of some sort, I will not complain. I have adjusted to the fact that his sneakers are always going to be dispersed throughout the apartment, and that it really isn't too big of a deal. Together, we have an impressive collection of bikes, snowboards, backpacking gear, cooking supplies, movies, and probably most importantly, wine.

Throughout March and April, we spent a lot of time getting settled in the apartment. Cooking together, shopping together, drinking together. In May we bought a car together - a Subaru Outback Sport - and we have been putting it to pretty good use so far.

By June we realized that we were both getting a little too round for our pants together, so we signed up for Boot Camp. Together. And for the past six - eight weeks, we have been waking up early to get our asses kicked. Together. JCB "somehow" got placed in the ADVANCED group while I was placed in the INTERMEDIATE group. (Yes, I was and still am jealous... I think it was because I was sick on assessment day...) However, together, we endured weeks of torturous decline push-ups and hill sprints and squats and hill sprints and push-ups and push-ups and more push-ups.

Seriously, this shit is tough! I regularly find it hard to believe that I have run five marathons, and several triathlons. In particular, every Saturday, while we work out on the beach at Krissy Field, staring out at Alcatraz, I shudder to think that only a year ago I swam from Alcatraz to shore in just over a half hour. What has happened to me? I am definitely NOT in the same shape I was in last year; but I'm getting there. I've been calorie counting and sweating and avoiding alcohol and I've dropped 7 pounds. My darling JCB, who wasn't too excited to start Boot Camp back in May but did it anyway, now weights in 15 pounds lighter than he was before.

Yes, again, I am jealous! But in the words of Ron Burgundy, "Heck I'm not even mad; that's amzing!" I guess I could have worked a little bit harder, anyway...

Nevertheless, we are in it together. He says he isn't a runner, but he can now run 1.5 miles in under 12 minutes. And he doesn't mind accompanying me on my 7 mile runs to the ocean and back. He has actually even considered training for a half marathon!

I am back on my bike, riding with him to and from work, as well as around Marin on weekends. We have barely missed a second of Le Tour de France, and we are planning to head to France next year to catch some of it in person.

Starting over, together, we have found new inspiration to be healthy. When Boot Camp demoralizes us as it does, quite regularly - during our first week, we couldn't even walk up the steps to our apartment without whimpering - we told each other we couldn't give up. That there's no we in quit! And now, we have no intentions of stopping...