After a morning pace run, 3 mile cooldown, then hanging out with some new TNT participants I went to the hairstylist to get my hair colored and cut professionally. I scheduled my appointment for 2pm and arrived promptly at the appropriate time. As soon I as talked to the receptionist however, she told it would probably a few minutes before Rachel, the woman doing my hair, would be ready. About a half hour and a few Wired articles later Rachel's assistant, a very cute girl named Sarah, told me to go sit in a saddle seat. I waited there for another ten minutes when I was asked to move to another seat in front of a "station." After another few minutes of waiting, Rachel told Sarah to start putting bleach in my hair.

The first application process took on and off probably a half-hour just because Sarah would have to periodically check-in with Rachel to make sure my hair was coming out just right. So after the first bleaching and rinse Rachel said that my hair was a bit too yellow and needed one more application. I said "okay" unknowing of the forthcoming pain that will forever be literally seared into my mind. Rachel started to apply bleach to my head again but I began to feel a new sensation, not a good one either. Initially it was a slight tingle but as time passsed the tingle developed into a stinging which finally broke out into a full on burn. From time to time Sarah would ask "how's that feel?" I would reply it's okay, a bit of tingle but nothing more. I'm a guy I can't reveal any inner pain or suffering. To speed up the development process they stuck me under the hair dryer. I don't think I've ever felt a pain more intense on my head. The burning from the solution combined with the heat from the hairdryer was a bit too much. I was starting to zone out from the pain. I was ecstatic when the hairdryer inadvertantly turned off while I was under it. I didn't say a thing hoping no one would notice.

Finally Sarah rinsed my hair out again with the best cold water ever. Then Rachel got to work on my hair. I told her to do whatever she wanted with my hair, and the results were awesome. Even though it took 3.5 hours and some excrutiatingly intense scalp pain, my hair looked great! By the time we were done I was the last person in the salon. I went to go pay and Rachel rattled off some stuff about coloring and all that, and then she told me the cost.

$165.

Now I know where women come from. Holy shit. She said next time it would cost about $100 for cut and color. Holy shit. I've never in my entire life paid that much for a haircut. That's like taking an entire year's haircut budget and blowing it all in one day. Holy shit. It looks cool though.

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I ran the Kaiser Half Marathon yesterday. This was a great training run! I had no intention of racing so there wasn't any pressure. Consequently I had a really good day out there. I think I averaged about a 7:40-7:50 min/mile and aerobically I was barely working at all. I picked it up the last mile and ran a pace of about 6:50 just for kicks. I even sprinted at the finish. The terrain was a bit annoying in places but overall the course was great. Even the out and back on the great highway wasn't too bad because I got to say hi to everyone I knew that was running, which was apparently quite a few people. One girl came up behind me at around mile 10 and said "you know everyone here!" After the run I had some beers and cookies with some runners with whom I had ridden in a bus to get up to the race. You can't beat beer after a run, that's why I love the Big Sur half so much. Beer & Soup!

I stuffed myself yesterday. I ate tons of food after the half and then didn't stop eating until after the superbowl party that one of my running friends hosted. I still feel bloated. I want to beach myself somewhere and hopefully some kind environmental organization will take me in and care for me while I recover. Where's the closest beach?

This entry was posted on 2.06.2006 at 08:06. You can skip to the end and leave a response.