Spring is right around the corner, and you can see signs of it everywhere, even in
San Diego. It’s getting warm(er), the air feels cleaner, the beaches are slowly getting
(more) crowded. And most importantly, something amazing happened this
weekend—it was finally time to switch the clocks back again! Yes, DST isn’t
everyone’s favorite time of year. You lose an hour of sleep, and the stars are once
again shining bright when you wake up for work in the morning. But if you can get
over that, you can appreciate the gift it really is—we have our afternoons back!
I have this strange theory that seasonal depression actually hits us harder out here
with the beautiful weather than it does back home with the seven feet of snow at a
time. Back home, winter meant short days and frigid weather and every reason to
stay inside. It meant automatic, guilt-free hibernation. Here, the days get shorter
but the weather is still beautiful. The change isn’t in the quality of the time you get
to spend outside, just the amount of it. It means staring out the window during that
lecture you should be taking notes on, or walking by the windows at work a few
more times than normal just to remind yourself that there IS beautiful weather even
on the days when you don’t have time to enjoy it.
But now, the sun is setting later and the days are getting longer. However you want
to look at it, we’ve just gained extra time to spend outside. With extra time after
work or school, we have the ability to be more productive. And that means more
time to fit in a good old fashioned outside workout.
Things you can do with your new, previously unplanned-for time instead of going to
bed at 8pm or pretending to go to bed at 8pm and then watching Netflix for five hours:
DON’T: Bring your Netflix outside. Abbi and Ilana yourself off the grid.
DO NOT FALL INTO THE MATRIX.
DO: Take your dog for a walk or a friends dog for a walk or yourself for a walk
because you are a gosh darn independent person and you don’t necessarily need a
dog in your life (but maybe you do?)
Check out a new hike.
Take a surfing lesson. People offer these everywhere: surf shops, tourist shops, tinder. Ditto paddle boarding (though less-so on tinder).
Get a new bike. Check out one of the million places to get a solid beach cruiser
around San Diego, or even just cruise by Craigslist. I got mine for 30$ from a guy
who’s name was actually Craig. Plus there isn’t any excuse not to own a bike when
you live in San Diego ever, but especially not with your newfound freedom.
Maybe even use the new time to start training for something new. Race season is
coming up, and now would be the perfect time to start prepping for the 5k, 10k, half-
or full-marathon that you’ve always dreamed of! Check out the Events page of our
website to see the new training schedule we posted—Team Virago is a proud
sponsor of the Joggin’ for Frogmen 5k coming up in July, and we want to help you
get there!
Forget the days of the sun setting at 4pm. Forget entire weeks of leaving home in
the dark and returning home in the dark and forgetting the perfect blue of the west
coast water. The sun is back, and you should take advantage! Walk, skip, bike,
jump, or hike your way into some extra vitamin D now that the option has presented
itself once again.
And always remember, “March comes in like a lamb and out like a lamb because
every month is a lamb when you live in San Diego.” – Former California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or something.
