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.

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.

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

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.