I'm sure that's come out of my mouth before. After reading Andy's end of the year blog, I've been tempted to get back on here and write. Let's start with writing about my initial reason for starting this blog - running and food. Since the last blog I've done one race and a lot of training. The "race" that I did was the Run For Your Lives 5k. It's an obstacle course with the added twist of zombies. The best part of the race was that my wife did it with me. She is not a runner. She does not like running. Typically, when I mention it, she makes a whiny face at me. However, if you put a pack of zombies in front of her, she screeches and takes off sprinting. So, we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, our flags got pulled about 2 miles into the race. So, there wasn't much motivation to run fast after that. The obstacles were ok. They don't hold a candle to Tough Mudder obstacles, but they were enough to challenge Mila. It didn't motivate her to run a whole lot but, she's open to more obstacle races.
Other than that race, I've been training for the 3M half marathon up in Austin on 13 January. I'm shooting for a 2:05, which would be officially about 17 minutes faster than my previous PR. In this training, I've been meeting up a few first timers during the week. For some reason they curse me out and mutter under their breath every time. But they're troopers. They keep coming back 2x a week for their abuse. It's been so awesome to see their improvement. What's even more cool than that is the attitude shift. No, they still call me dirty words. However, there's talk of "what races should we do next year?" or "I think I'll do my first full marathon in September." It's great to pass my newfound love of running to other people. I'm nervous about hitting that 2:05 though. We'll see. I'm sure I'll write about it.
Mila and I checked out a restaurant this past weekend that was awesome. I put "best pizzerias San Antonio" into Google and saw what popped up. According to urban spoon, Big Lou's was first and Dough was a very close second. We ended up choosing Dough. It was a great choice. They offer traditional Neapolitan style pizzas, something I'd never tried before. We had a cheese platter with flat bread to start. That was awesome. Then the pizza. I don't even know what what was all on there. Whatever it was, I liked it. We'll definitely be going back.
2012 has been a great year. It's funny to think how I've changed. Most of my friends have kids. Drinking? Bars? Clubs? Nah, I'm fine. I'll go to a friend's to have a beer and play a board game. Don't forget playing with the kids. Who am I? I'll tell you who I am. I'm an extremely lucky guy. My wife is the most amazing woman I've ever met. I have a job that interests and challenges me. I have a group of friends that really are a second family. I have a father and grandmother that I can call any time just to talk or for advice. And I have the best brothers a guy can ask for. Who would have thought 10 years ago that I'd rather spend time with my brothers than anyone else? Finishing that marathon with Mila, Scott, and Andy cheering me on is a memory that I will never lose. Really, I'm just grateful. I say I'm lucky, but it's not all luck. It's the amazing people that I have around me. All I've got to do is not scare them away.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
San Antonio Rock n Roll write up
Sunday was the 5th annual San Antonio Rock n Roll marathon and 1/2. After 2-3 months of training, the day had arrived for Britt to run her first half marathon. I'd promised her that I would pace her the whole way. So, we were able to run maybe 5 training runs together over the past couple months. The night before the race we got some homemade spaghetti and meatballs. (I did pretty awesome if I do say so myself.) Britt came over and brought her husband, daughter, friend, and our friend James. Everyone took off by 10 and I got in bed a bit before 11. You know I wasn't sleeping. It's the same thing as before karate tournaments. I just get so hyped that I can't sleep much. Maybe not always the best thing for me. I got up around 4:45, I got maybe 4 1/2-5 hours off sleep. After getting my stuff together, well most of it, I headed over to Britt and Pat's.
We got downtown around 630, about an hour before start time. Being all the way back in corral 18, we had to walk a bit to get to our spot. We walked past the long lines for the portapotties knowing we'd be there in a minute. We ended up waiting in those lines for about 30 minutes. Good thing we were in that corral 18, because we just barely caught up to our corral before the start. We saw Pat and Blake at the start and then took off.
Britt was shooting for a 2:20 finish time. To get her there I planned on pacing us at 10:45. Problems started right off the bat. I do not understand what was going on, really. There are corrals for a reason. I don't know whose fault it is, but we spent our first 6 miles just weaving through traffic. There were so many people walking right in the middle of the road and moving in large packs that we probably ran an extra half mile. I was so annoyed/angry. Did people lie on their forms? Or did the marathon just screw up in the corrals. Through 10k we were dead on pace. But, to get there, we probably had to run at about a 9:45 pace. I just don't get how hundreds of people that were walking from mile 1 were placed in front of us. I'm not annoyed that there are slower people than me at a race or that people are walking. Just annoyed that there were literally hundreds there. So, like I said, we were right on pace through 10k, even at 8 miles we were only 30 seconds off pace. Unfortunately, Britt's knee started up around mile 7. She put some gunk on it that made it feel better for a couple miles, but it wasn't enough. We had to slow down. I was so proud of Britt. She kept trucking. Of the whole race, she walked for maybe 3 minutes. She just gritted her teeth, muttered curse words at me, and kept going. We finished in 2:31:12. In 7401 and 7404 out of 16372. Britt sprinted up the last hill to the finish line. I'm so proud of her!
Today started training for the 3M half marathon in Austin on 1/13.
We got downtown around 630, about an hour before start time. Being all the way back in corral 18, we had to walk a bit to get to our spot. We walked past the long lines for the portapotties knowing we'd be there in a minute. We ended up waiting in those lines for about 30 minutes. Good thing we were in that corral 18, because we just barely caught up to our corral before the start. We saw Pat and Blake at the start and then took off.
Britt was shooting for a 2:20 finish time. To get her there I planned on pacing us at 10:45. Problems started right off the bat. I do not understand what was going on, really. There are corrals for a reason. I don't know whose fault it is, but we spent our first 6 miles just weaving through traffic. There were so many people walking right in the middle of the road and moving in large packs that we probably ran an extra half mile. I was so annoyed/angry. Did people lie on their forms? Or did the marathon just screw up in the corrals. Through 10k we were dead on pace. But, to get there, we probably had to run at about a 9:45 pace. I just don't get how hundreds of people that were walking from mile 1 were placed in front of us. I'm not annoyed that there are slower people than me at a race or that people are walking. Just annoyed that there were literally hundreds there. So, like I said, we were right on pace through 10k, even at 8 miles we were only 30 seconds off pace. Unfortunately, Britt's knee started up around mile 7. She put some gunk on it that made it feel better for a couple miles, but it wasn't enough. We had to slow down. I was so proud of Britt. She kept trucking. Of the whole race, she walked for maybe 3 minutes. She just gritted her teeth, muttered curse words at me, and kept going. We finished in 2:31:12. In 7401 and 7404 out of 16372. Britt sprinted up the last hill to the finish line. I'm so proud of her!
Today started training for the 3M half marathon in Austin on 1/13.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Twitter Road Race #3/training run w/Britt
Yesterday I did my third Twitter Road Race. I had forgotten about it
until Friday night, but I've done the first two, so why not do the third?
Plus Doug Cassaro donated $1 per finisher towards Hurricane Sandy relief.
I mean, all I had to do was run 6 miles. Plus, I'm tapering for next
weekend's San Antonio Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon. I had planned on doing
a 5 mile run today (Sunday). Well, as things are turning out I did the
10k yesterday and running with Britt on a 5 miler in a little bit today.
This run was an ego check. I listen to the Trail Runner Nation podcast regularly and I was reminded of a recent episode while struggling through. An ultra runner on there said that you have to respect the trail, always. Because if you get cocky and think "I've done this before, I don't have to worry" that's when it comes back to bite you in the butt.
That is exactly what happened. It was a combination of a bunch of things that led to a horrible run. There was the dumb decision to buy Taco Cabana at 1 am after picking up my wife from work. There was the fact that I only drank 1 bottle of water the day before. And, I also decided to wait around the house until 11 am before running. But, I digress, let's start from the start.
If you have never been to San Antonio, you have never been lucky enough to see the greenways we have here. San Antonio is a sprawling city, taking up more land area than even NYC. The one closest to me follows the dried up, overgrown Leon Creek. Obviously, it's been a long time since there was ever any creek there. However, it's a nice swath of green running through the city. You can actually run up to 25 miles without having to do laps and they have run 100 mile races out there. The longest I've gone there was 15 miles. I chose the mainland entrance because that's where the mileage posts start in both directions. Here are a couple shots of the entrance:
... well this is frustrating, it keeps refusing to accept my pics. Guess you'll have to go to my Anyway, so I started off great. My goal was sub 56 minutes, which would have been a 7 minute official PR. My unofficial PR is 55:50, but that was on a muddy, rocky, hilly, trail. So I figured that I could comfortably come in under 56. I started off strong, too strong. My first mile was 8:01 and I felt great. At 1.75 I was at 14:07. And then everything went downhill. My calves seized up. I ended up taking breaks to walk to try and work them out and it just wasn't getting better. But, I was at 29 flat at the halfway point. I didn't think it was too unrealistic to still get my 56 since my calves were starting to feel better. But, that Taco Cabana reminded me of its presence. It turned out that I struggled through most of the second half, finishing it in like 39 minutes. Add to the fact that I got the famous bloody nipple. I must have looked a hot mess shambling those last two miles with blood running down my white shirt. overall, I ended up in 29/41. Nowhere near what I was hoping. While I'm not happy with my result, it's good that it happened. It will help me keep a smaller ego.
Today went better. Britt burst in the front door at 9 am singing "Happy Birthday." After sitting and talking for a bit, we went on a five mile training run. She's a bit slower than me but I enjoy our runs because we talk a lot. It makes the time go by. We ended up running 5.04 miles. My brother has gotten her to change up her stride a bit so she had to run a little bit slower to concentrate on how her foot was landing. Next week should be fun!
This run was an ego check. I listen to the Trail Runner Nation podcast regularly and I was reminded of a recent episode while struggling through. An ultra runner on there said that you have to respect the trail, always. Because if you get cocky and think "I've done this before, I don't have to worry" that's when it comes back to bite you in the butt.
That is exactly what happened. It was a combination of a bunch of things that led to a horrible run. There was the dumb decision to buy Taco Cabana at 1 am after picking up my wife from work. There was the fact that I only drank 1 bottle of water the day before. And, I also decided to wait around the house until 11 am before running. But, I digress, let's start from the start.
If you have never been to San Antonio, you have never been lucky enough to see the greenways we have here. San Antonio is a sprawling city, taking up more land area than even NYC. The one closest to me follows the dried up, overgrown Leon Creek. Obviously, it's been a long time since there was ever any creek there. However, it's a nice swath of green running through the city. You can actually run up to 25 miles without having to do laps and they have run 100 mile races out there. The longest I've gone there was 15 miles. I chose the mainland entrance because that's where the mileage posts start in both directions. Here are a couple shots of the entrance:
... well this is frustrating, it keeps refusing to accept my pics. Guess you'll have to go to my Anyway, so I started off great. My goal was sub 56 minutes, which would have been a 7 minute official PR. My unofficial PR is 55:50, but that was on a muddy, rocky, hilly, trail. So I figured that I could comfortably come in under 56. I started off strong, too strong. My first mile was 8:01 and I felt great. At 1.75 I was at 14:07. And then everything went downhill. My calves seized up. I ended up taking breaks to walk to try and work them out and it just wasn't getting better. But, I was at 29 flat at the halfway point. I didn't think it was too unrealistic to still get my 56 since my calves were starting to feel better. But, that Taco Cabana reminded me of its presence. It turned out that I struggled through most of the second half, finishing it in like 39 minutes. Add to the fact that I got the famous bloody nipple. I must have looked a hot mess shambling those last two miles with blood running down my white shirt. overall, I ended up in 29/41. Nowhere near what I was hoping. While I'm not happy with my result, it's good that it happened. It will help me keep a smaller ego.
Today went better. Britt burst in the front door at 9 am singing "Happy Birthday." After sitting and talking for a bit, we went on a five mile training run. She's a bit slower than me but I enjoy our runs because we talk a lot. It makes the time go by. We ended up running 5.04 miles. My brother has gotten her to change up her stride a bit so she had to run a little bit slower to concentrate on how her foot was landing. Next week should be fun!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The last couple days
So, the last two days I worked with the girls I'm training in the heat. It's been in the upper 80s to lower 90s. Yesterday we did hill sprints. I did 12 and they did 8 each. I got one of them to puke so, great success? Today was a wagon wheel. It was ok, but I got tired. Ended up having to walk for a little bit. Not sure how far I went. The slowest girl ended up doing about 3.6 miles, so I'm going to say I did about 2 more. Went ok. Tomorrow is 3 miles at race pace. Hopefully Mila will come with me.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Is there such thing as a lazy 11 mile run?
Because, if there is then that's what we did yesterday. We were supposed to start at 7. My partner woke up at 650, 5 minutes after I texted her that I was ready. So, we didn't actually start til about 745. Add on the fact that she hasn't run 2 steps in 3 weeks and the pace slowed shortly after we started. At around mile 5 her knee started hurting. We were on an out and back course so we just kept going that last half mile before turning around. Ended up walking and finishing in 2:30. So, we've got some work to do before November 11th. Hopefully the knee isn't anything serious. Also on the path they were running a 20 mile race. Actually saw a couple people I know. One of them got chewed out by a biker for not hearing when the woman screamed LEFT!!! she then proceeded to stop her bike to yell at this girl. That's the problem with races out there, they can't exactly close off the course. I'm sorry, but I'm thinking the girl that's challenging for a top 10 spot should get the right away, not some woman out joy riding. Wish I would have thought of something smart to say in the moment. Well, today is off and tomorrow is CrossFit. Maybe I'll have some AF people to torture with the workout.
Friday, October 19, 2012
up and down the hill
So, I might as well revive this blog and add some workouts. I'm training a few co-workers for their first half marathons. One is coming up on November 11th, the San Antonio Rock n' Roll half marathon. The other three are doing the 3M half in Austin in January. I ran the Rock n' Roll half last year as my first, and to date only, half marathon. I had shot for a 2:30 and finished in 2:22. Keeping true to tradition, I'd done the first half at 1:07 and the second half at 1:15. This year, the goal is 2:30 again. However, I will be just running with my friend. So, I'm going to take a camera, take pictures, and try to keep her motivated. I probably won't even bring my iPod which is strange for me. I always have music or podcasts going. I think I'm actually going to do the 3M with my other three in January too. However, I'm going to shoot for 2:05. At the AF marathon, I'd finished the first half in 2:10. This was after I took my time and ran the first two miles in about 21 minutes. So, I bet I can do it. What I am having a bit of a challenge doing is getting the girls trained up while working on my own too. Especially the three that are still almost three months out. And only about one of the four seems to be as motivated as I am. It would be nice to have my brother down here but I fear that I'd do to him what the girls are doing to me. Sure we could run together, but it might hurt him. I guess we'll see.
Anyway, today called for a 4 mile race pace run. I'm a little torn at what pace to do this since in January I'm shooting for 9:32 pace but the one I'm running in 3 weeks is only at a 11:27 pace. I decided to try for a 9:30 pace. After I finished running down the hill (my neighborhood is perched on a hill that's about a 2% grade for 1.7 miles) and around the neighborhood I was at about a 8:35 pace. So I walked a bit. I'm pretty competitive, even it's with myself, and I finished in just over 36 minutes for a touch over four miles. so, faster than I'd planned. Tomorrow is a rest day before Saturday's 11 mile long run. It was beautiful this morning. Not a cloud in the sky and mid-60s. Beautiful running weather. Hopefully Sunday isn't a downpour like last Sunday.
Anyway, today called for a 4 mile race pace run. I'm a little torn at what pace to do this since in January I'm shooting for 9:32 pace but the one I'm running in 3 weeks is only at a 11:27 pace. I decided to try for a 9:30 pace. After I finished running down the hill (my neighborhood is perched on a hill that's about a 2% grade for 1.7 miles) and around the neighborhood I was at about a 8:35 pace. So I walked a bit. I'm pretty competitive, even it's with myself, and I finished in just over 36 minutes for a touch over four miles. so, faster than I'd planned. Tomorrow is a rest day before Saturday's 11 mile long run. It was beautiful this morning. Not a cloud in the sky and mid-60s. Beautiful running weather. Hopefully Sunday isn't a downpour like last Sunday.
Friday, August 31, 2012
A couple more restaurants and a movie
Let's continue the reviews I guess. Tuesday night a couple friends of mine went to The Cove here in San Antonio to play at their open mic night. I've been there before, but this time I actually decided to do a little research to see what's good. According to Guy Frieri, these guys have the best lamb burger in the world. I couldn't pass that up. They also had some good reviews on their sweet potato fries. The Cove is also known for it's locally grown and organic selection of foods. We got there right as the first act was to go up. I, of course, got the lamb burger and sweet potato fries. A friend of mine got their chips and salsa. Another popular aspect of the Cove is their wide beer selection. I stayed true to Texas and got the Shiner Bock. Not disappointing. The lamb burger arrived while the first performer was still on. I will say that it was truly the best lamb burger I've ever had. Granted, it was the only lamb burger I've ever had. It was very good. Maybe not life changing, but good. I was happy that I bought it. The sweet potato fries, on the other hand, weren't that great. I've had better sweet potato fries from a bag in the frozen section at the local grocery store. They weren't awful, but certainly not worth the price nor the hype. My friends chips and salsa was decent. I needed them though, because I was still hungry after eating my burger and fries. Luckily, my friends' set went great. The crowd seemed into them. For the food, I'd say the Cove was a 6/10. The atmosphere and a bit of guilt free eating brings them up to an 8/10 overall.
We also checked out Golden Wok last night. It had been highly recommended and my wife and I were feeling Chinese food as we took a nap through the time that we would have been cooking. We started with the pot stickers which were decent. The best ones I've ever had were the ones at The Cheesecake factory, but these weren't bad. I ordered the mu shu pork and my wife ordered the shrimp fried rice. I've never had mu shu pork so I was a bit surprised when I saw that it was wrapped in what looked like a tortilla. The sauce was really good. The pork wasn't awesome, but it was good. I didn't like the brown rice, but I think that is more telling of my personal preferences and not the quality of the food or cooking. My wife's fried rice was the best I've ever had. We walked out of there with only a $22 bill. Overall, I'd give it a 9/10. One of these days I want to go to a real Chinese restaurant.
All right, I've decided no more food reviews for any type of chain.
We also went to see Expendables 2. I think Joe Rogan's description (before seeing the movie) was dead on. It's like going to see a chimp drive a corvette. It's silly, ridiculous, crazy, irresponsible, and incredibly awesome. If you go into it knowing that it's a 2012 remake of every 80's awesomely bad action movie, then you'll like it. Not sure if I'm happy that they're making a third one. It was cool as a one and even two off type of thing. Give those guys a nod, let them have some fun. But, not sure if we need a repeat of those old movies.
All right, next blog will be about something other than just reviewing other stuff.
We also checked out Golden Wok last night. It had been highly recommended and my wife and I were feeling Chinese food as we took a nap through the time that we would have been cooking. We started with the pot stickers which were decent. The best ones I've ever had were the ones at The Cheesecake factory, but these weren't bad. I ordered the mu shu pork and my wife ordered the shrimp fried rice. I've never had mu shu pork so I was a bit surprised when I saw that it was wrapped in what looked like a tortilla. The sauce was really good. The pork wasn't awesome, but it was good. I didn't like the brown rice, but I think that is more telling of my personal preferences and not the quality of the food or cooking. My wife's fried rice was the best I've ever had. We walked out of there with only a $22 bill. Overall, I'd give it a 9/10. One of these days I want to go to a real Chinese restaurant.
All right, I've decided no more food reviews for any type of chain.
We also went to see Expendables 2. I think Joe Rogan's description (before seeing the movie) was dead on. It's like going to see a chimp drive a corvette. It's silly, ridiculous, crazy, irresponsible, and incredibly awesome. If you go into it knowing that it's a 2012 remake of every 80's awesomely bad action movie, then you'll like it. Not sure if I'm happy that they're making a third one. It was cool as a one and even two off type of thing. Give those guys a nod, let them have some fun. But, not sure if we need a repeat of those old movies.
All right, next blog will be about something other than just reviewing other stuff.
Monday, August 27, 2012
A restaurant review-Tiago's Cabo Grill
No single television show has had more of an influence on me as much as No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It has opened my mind to a lot of new types
Sunday, August 26, 2012
might as well title this
I haven't had a blog since a livejournal back about seven years ago. Most of that was about my woeful (in my mind only) life and how horrible it was being in the friend zone. I would like to think I've grown up. Especially about things posted online where the whole world can see.
I have always used writing as a release. I feel the need to get those thoughts down on paper (or the interwebs in this case) Mostly for myself. If no one ever reads them, it doesn't change much. I'm not sure if I'll ever share these anyway.
Maybe who my grandfather was explains this a bit. Last year I came across a book of his old columns. He was an editor and columnist for the Flint Journal in the 70s and 80s. Someone was good enough to bring together more or less a "greatest hits" book. It was a great way to see a part of a man I sadly never got to know. He passed away when I was only about two. As I did not get to have a close connection with that part of my family as a kid, it was also a great way to get those old family stories I had missed out on. The most moving piece of writing was a column that turned out to be a love letter to my grandma. It was his last column, and published only a few days before his death. Talk about heavy stuff.
I don't know how often I'll write. I don't know if I'll ever share. But at least this option is here.
I have always used writing as a release. I feel the need to get those thoughts down on paper (or the interwebs in this case) Mostly for myself. If no one ever reads them, it doesn't change much. I'm not sure if I'll ever share these anyway.
Maybe who my grandfather was explains this a bit. Last year I came across a book of his old columns. He was an editor and columnist for the Flint Journal in the 70s and 80s. Someone was good enough to bring together more or less a "greatest hits" book. It was a great way to see a part of a man I sadly never got to know. He passed away when I was only about two. As I did not get to have a close connection with that part of my family as a kid, it was also a great way to get those old family stories I had missed out on. The most moving piece of writing was a column that turned out to be a love letter to my grandma. It was his last column, and published only a few days before his death. Talk about heavy stuff.
I don't know how often I'll write. I don't know if I'll ever share. But at least this option is here.
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