Forming Traditions; the Best Way to End the Day of a 10k

Father’s Office II.

Melville Syrah Wine (one of my favorite vineyards).

Beet Salad - with blue cheese and walnuts (and some lettuce hidden underneath it all)

Scaldís Noel Beer - A Winter Ale

Strangely, FO wouldn’t let me have the Scaldís bottle. Apparently there is a rule that they can’t let the bottle cross over the bar counter. Weird, huh? They did let me take a picture. This beer is a seasonal and delicious. It is thick, creamy, and had a hint of cherry and clove to it. It’s one of those beers you can’t drink too many of because it’s so filling and rich, but it was nice to sip on and perfect for the winter.

31st Annual Santa Monica Venice Christmas 10k Run 2008

Even though it started raining and was cold, today was awesome. My big dorky watch clocked me at 57:26 with an average speed of 9:18 minutes per mile. My official chip time was 56:56 with a 9:11 minute per mile pace. I am very happy with this number for several reasons. It is at least 15 minutes faster than my first 10k I ran earlier this year. I trained on a treadmill at a slower speed of 10 minutes a mile. I was a little worried that I would try to run too fast in the beginning and would not be able to maintain it or improve, especially since I was moving a little faster than normal. But, by mile 5, I was in it to win it. I am really pleased with the way it all went down. I especially enjoyed this event because there is no other time in my life where I can blatantly ignore red lights and stop signs in Los Angeles. I was also able to see parts of Venice that I have never seen before. I met some nice people at the end of the race. My ipod shuffle worked and played all the right songs at the right time (I sprinted to the finish line while listening to a song from Run Lola Run). And of course, I did it under an hour.

Mile 0-1: 9:45 minutes / mile
Mile 1-2: 9:38 minutes / mile
Mile 2-3: 9:34 minutes / mile
Mile 3-4: 9:22 minutes / mile
Mile 4-5: 9:11 minutes / mile
Mile 5-6: 8:48 minutes / mile
Mile 6-6.2: 6:43 minutes / mile

Who wants to get a beer?

Must be a case of the…

Spent most of the day in bed. Tried writing a post, but didn’t have the energy to finish it. Will make another attempt at it tomorrow. A lot on my plate, but unfortunately it’s not food. I’m going to watch Heroes right now. However, today I registered for the 31st Annual Santa Monica - Venice Christmas Run (10K). And, I am also going to be getting this poster by Jay Ryan that I fell in love with to decorate my walls: Swimming Diplodocus.

Silver Lake: Local

Seriously, the name of this restaurant is Local. Even though it is not local for me, Local is worth the trip. Local has been open since September 2nd, 2008 and was only breakfast and lunch until a few days ago, now they also serve dinner. Local was opened by the executive chef behind Cobras and Matadors, Jason Michaud. Through internet research I have found out that Michaud is one cool guy; along with working in restaurants for the greater part of his life he was also a drummer in the metal math bands Spilth and Men of Porn. Metal math is experimental rock that is mostly guitars and drums and is complex, atypical rhythmic structures including irregular stops and starts, angular melodies, and dissonant chords. The mission statement behind this restaurant is genuine: committed to using local, organic products as much as possible. Local goes beyond just food and also uses antiques for furniture, energy efficient lighting, glassware (no plastic table cups), and the food for takeout rides in biodegradable plastic plates, bowls, and cups (made of potato and/or sugar cane, like these!). Bad ass.

It sits somewhere between Silver Lake Lounge and Dusty’s on the other side of the road on Sunset. I made my visit on a Wednesday at approximately 12:00pm. For lunchtime it wasn’t as packed as I thought it was going to be, but there was still a good number of hip Silver Lakers (or is it Silver Lakians?). It is the type of restaurant where you order at the counter, take your number, find seating and wait for the food to arrive. However, there are servers around to refill your water, get you silverware, napkins, condiments, or anything else you might need. It is a small/medium sized restaurant. Everyone that was working there (which were all guys) were above and beyond friendly and were obviously passionate about the restaurant. I think this is important to stress because when people show that they are invested and care about what they are doing (in general, not just food), it makes the whole experience much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Good tingling feelings. I was told that it gets packed on the weekends - I hope that they are just as friendly and outgoing under crowded conditions!

As you can see there is an organic salad bar. The fact that this salad bar is organic makes it a million times better than any other salad bar I have been to before (Whole Foods). After getting the recommendation for my meal of “everything is good”, I decided upon the Rocky Jr. Free Range Chicken Sandwich and an Iced Coffee. On the menu, there is no description of what is in the Rocky Jr. Free Range Chicken Sandwich, so it was an exciting surprise! Rocky Jr. is a free range, younger chicken that weighs on average three and half pounds and roams in spacious growth houses (not outside because they are young and partially feathered). The chicken is cooked with herbs and joined with fresh, perfect tomatoes, daikon sprouts, pickles, and sprinkled with salt. It sits between a bun that I don’t recognize but tasted like Hawaiian bread (yellowish insides) with sesame seeds on top. It was a big sandwich, one that requires two hands to eat. At first intimidating,  after the first bite it becomes a challenge you want to take on and conquer. Instead of fries, I opted for a salad with a roasted red pepper purée on the side. It was all delicious. The salt really made the flavors in the tomatoes and pickles pop out. I would order it again. The iced coffee is made from Alessandro beans. Unfortunately, I cannot find anything on the internet about Alessandro coffee; let’s hope it’s organic too! (Free refills on Iced Coffee).

In regards to what is organic and what is not, it varies week by week because large shipments of organic food is not common right now in the restaurant world. The guy I talked to about organic food said that they try their best and want to go completely organic, but at this point in time they have to make do with the situation. The price of organic food is high, thus the prices on the menu are higher. My meal totaled to be around 17 dollars.  I know, pricey, but it really is not too much more than most trendy Los Angeles breakfast/lunch places, so I don’t think it should be a big deal if you go to other expensive places already. If you look at it as being preventative maybe it will make you feel better: paying extra now so you don’t have to pay later in health and medical bills. Go to Local!

Local keeps things interesting; check out what I found in the bathroom! The statue/boy definitely scared me at first, but then I laughed about how creepy it is.

Here are some poor quality pictures I took of their menu (like all my pictures, click on them to make larger):

Local
2943 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 662-4740

Hours
Breakfast and Lunch: 9am-3pm
Dinner: 5pm-10pm
They take credit cards!

Frustration

U.S. Airways now forces all customers to pay extra to check-in luggage. People avoid this extra cost by over packing their carry-on luggage. The overhead compartments now become filled halfway through the boarding process, in which then U.S. Airways forces people to check their bags. Thus, wasting a lot of time and irritating a lot of people who did not plan on having to check their baggage. Also, U.S. Airways has stopped giving out complimentary water, soda, and juice.

Prediction: U.S. Airways will soon force customers to pay extra for each piece of carry-on luggage. AND. More people will be laid off.

San Diego: The Half Marathon

Sunday, August 17th, the race day had finally come. For months, I have been training for America’s Finest City Half Marathon. I had invested many hours, running upward of 25 miles a week. The training required a combination of physical discipline and social sacrifice to accomplish the long distance runs that prepared me for the race. Although I followed my training by the book, I was still nervous about the race.

I slept so lightly the night before the race that when 5am came along I practically jumped out of bed. I ate breakfast, put on my big dorky watch, pinned on my bib number, grabbed Shuffley (my iPod Shuffle) and headed out the door. I sat down on board the freezing shuttle bus, wishing I had stopped at the Starbucks for coffee. A woman in her 40’s sat down next to me and as if we had been awake for hours and known each other for years, we immediately started up a conversation. I found myself more outgoing and talkative than I usually am, especially towards a stranger, to distract my thoughts from the race. We were dropped off at the starting point, Cabrillo National Monument at around 6am. My new friend and I hung out for the hour that remained before the race started. At this point, it started to feel surreal to me; the many months of training alone had made running become a personal outlet for me, but now I was surrounded by hundreds of people, all in it together with the same purpose and goal.

At 7am, the runners began to slowly move forward meaning the race had begun. I said my final words to my new friend, put on my headphones, and went on my merry way. The merriness quickly came to a halt when I realized Shuffley would not turn on. Months of training and preparation to the sound of music, only to have the next 13.1 miles without a song or a beat. Within a few strides, I realized that being upset about it was useless and nothing could be done. I had no place to store the headphones, so I kept them on, secretly hoping that maybe Shuffley would start working throughout the race. In the meantime, I listened to sneakers hitting the pavement, conversations, and cheers from the sidelines. I was surprised by the number of people who stood outside their homes in their pajamas, with a cup of coffee in their hand, cheering everyone on with words of encouragement.

I ran across the finish line to Coldplay’s Viva La Vida playing on the speakers, a song I never thought would become so important to me. My finish time was 2:21:04, which means I was running at a 10:46mins/mile pace. My overall place was 4169 out of 6474. In comparison to all females, I was was placed at 1787 out of 3335. And finally in comparison to all females between the ages of 20-24, I placed 185 out of 303. As you can see with these results, I am not a very fast runner. However, the race for me was not about speed and competition, but instead more to do with finishing. Although very tempting, I never stopped and walked, but only pushed myself through to the finish line.

In the end, I enjoyed San Diego and it’s half marathon; it certainly is a fine city. I love running and I have come a long way with it, which makes me happy. I definitely plan on doing another half marathon again, along with hopefully someday completing a full marathon. However, I am in no immediate rush right now to start training again for long distances, but will continue running regularly.

Note: Shuffley started working again while driving to the hotel on the shuttle bus (!)

New Vitamins; New Chapter

I have been taking vitamins everyday for the past 200 days. I know this because I have finished my first bottle of Women’s One A Day. Although I did not experience any negative side effects or had trouble digesting the One A Day’s, I have decided to change brands to New Chapter’s Every Woman’s One Daily. New Chapter is a small company in Brattleboro, Vermont (the second fairtrade certified town in the nation, joining Media, PA) that was founded in 1982.

Even though the cost is almost as bad as a kick to the ovary, I have chosen New Chapter because they do not make their vitamins with chemical isolates or solvents. The vitamins are not synthetic, they are just food. I don’t know much about chemistry, but it just seems like the organic alternative to isolated or USP vitamins and minerals is the better choice. If I’m wrong, put me on the sucker list.

I have a two month supply, so if any major breakthroughs, breakouts, breakdowns, or unexpected breakdances happen, of which I can link to these vitamins, I will let the world know. Until then, bottoms up!