Christmas Eve Eve

I haven't posted here in a while. I was sick for a couple of weeks, so just getting to feel well enough to get in my marathon training runs and get all my Christmas shopping done were major tasks. I'm happy to say that all my shopping was done on Sunday and Tuesday, nicely wrapped (for once) and no runs were missed. (Yes, there was a day where I had to do two runs in one day to make up for my sick days, but at least I did them all!)

I've missed strength training class for a couple of weeks because of not feeling that great.  I feel flabby and have gained a few pounds even though I'm eating the same. I tend to gain a few pounds during half marathon training and I've heard this is normal for marathon training as well, but I don't like it one bit. Oh well. I figure I've been exercising more than most people do (and way more than sick ones do), so next week I'll just add back some variety (strength training, yoga, and maybe try spinning) and see if that helps.

Today is a rest day for my 13 mile "long run" tomorrow morning, so I think I'll just have a little sushi for dinner and maybe do some laundry, continue to read my book, and make some candy.  (These bars are DELICIOUS!!) Oh, and I want to buy the Wild Flag album from Amazon (it's only $5!) and the most recent PJ Harvey one.  I also like the most recent Lykke Li album, so I may need to binge on the music purchasing tonight!

It doesn't really feel like Christmas, does it? Maybe it's just me. I deactivated my Facebook account a couple of weeks ago (on Monday it will be three weeks), so maybe that's why. I'm not seeing all those annoying holiday posts.

Speaking of deactivating Facebook, it's the best thing I could have done! I've tried it a couple of times in the past and only lasted a couple of days, but this time I don't even miss it. People keep asking me why I deactivated it. I guess it is odd for someone like me to abruptly deactivate Facebook.  I regularly posted status updates and photos, so it's not like I was a "lurker" on there. There are several reasons why I deactivated my account, but I don't really feel like I need (or want) to explain them to anyone. A lot of the reasons are personal and I don't feel like sharing other than saying that a daily irritant has now been erased from my life and it feels great.

Merry Christmas and enjoy the long weekend if you get one!

Kim

What do you do to relax?

Listen to music, read, watch Netflix, or get a massage.

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Do you prefer candy or popcorn at the movies?

If I get anything, it's popcorn, but I usually don't get anything unless I haven't eaten and I'm starving.

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An "Occupy" Right Up My Alley

The "occupy" this "occupy" that jokes are played out, but this made me chuckle. Maybe because it made no sense? The lights are pretty and I love Prosecco though!




Now I'm having a little sushi & sake. I've been sick all week and haven't been out with the exception of a low key event at TCHO Chocolate, so I need some sushi to celebrate the end of the week.

I should be carbo loading for my 12 mile run tomorrow, but I'm having mostly sashimi. Running fail.

Happy Friday!
Kim

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Do you like playing in the snow?

I've never played in the snow since I haven't been around it much, but I'd have to say that I wouldn't like it. I don't like being cold and wet.

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Christmas Wish List

Mizuno Running - Mizuno Women's Wave Precision 12 Running Shoes

I bought Women's Running magazine this weekend and this shoe was listed as "Most Comfortable" in the Winter Running shoes section. I like Mizunos because they're so light and not clunky on my feet and will need a new pair soon. I currently wear the Wave Riders, but this pair got rave reviews...and check out the cherry blossoms near the heel! I'm afraid to just buy them online without trying them on first, so I'm going to see if my local Fleet Feet has them in stock. WANT!

Marathon training is rolling along and today is the start of Week 7. I was a little derailed last week because of a major sore throat and lethargy which eventually turned into a full blown cold. I missed a 5 miler and a 3 miler, so I crazily made up both of those runs yesterday instead of doing cross training (5 miles in the morning and another 3 miles in the afternoon). 18 miles for Week 6....DONE!

This week the mileage starts increasing and I'm not going to have any single digit recovery runs on Saturdays, which is a little scary. This week I have two 3 milers, 6 miles, and then 12 miles on Saturday. I'm hoping to work in yoga on Friday and maybe a strength training session on Thursday. I have plans on Wednesday night (a free seminar at a chocolate factory where they teach you how to mix cocktails that pair with chocolate), so I hope my body cooperates and gets well!

Have a good week!

XOXO
Miss Kim

How much TV do you watch?

30 minutes a day or less. I don't have cable anymore & don't miss it!

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Turkey Trot!

Tomorrow is my first Turkey Trot ever!  I did an easy 4 mile run this morning before work to shake my legs out after a hard Boot Camp class last night.  Boot Camp didn't ever appeal to me (I don't respond to being yelled at when I'm exercising), but was open to trying it since my friend was teaching it.  I was afraid it would be too much cardio and not enough weights, but that wasn't the case at all.  The short cardio bursts between the weight routines made me feel like I was working harder than usual. 

Today I'm at work (blah), but I'm going to sneak out a little early.  I need to drive to my parents' house tonight (we're supposedly having crab for dinner...yum) so I'll be close to the start of the 10K Turkey Trot tomorrow.  The race doesn't start until 9AM, but I want to get there by 8:15AM to get my bib and warm up.  Let's hope I can get a PR!

What are you doing for Turkey Day? 

XOXO
Kim

Mystery Solved!

OK, this photo was taken at Noe Valley Tavern!  (See this post...)
You'll notice that right behind me (under the picture) is a toilet.  Unbelievably, the area where the men pee is right behind where everybody washes their hands.  Eww.

I'm so glad there wasn't a guy peeing in there when I came out of the restroom, but then again, it couldn't have made the evening much worse. Some guy who messaged me on Twitter about going out agreed to a date, rescheduled the date, and then didn't follow through. He showed up at this bar the day before we were scheduled to go out (but I already wrote it off as not happening because I hadn't heard from him) and had a drink with my friend and me. (We have a friend in common who was throwing a benefit for fire victims, so that's why we were all there.)  He then looked at his watch after about 10 minutes and said his girlfriend was meeting him.  Then the four of us had to sit through drinks until they left.

Girlfriend. Did you catch that? He had a girlfriend all along. At least I'm moving up. The last guy cancelled our date two hours before we were supposed to meet and I realized the next day that he was married.  (Thanks, pipl.com.)

Anyway, this was supposed to be a funny post about the bathroom!  :)

XOXO
Kim

Short Week!

I was going to say how glad I was that this was a short work week, but then I realized that's pretty obvious.  Who isn't happy with a short work week?

My weekend was good. Sunday was awesome because I had a deep tissue massage and some "me" time sweating out the toxins in the wet sauna and then went to see The Descendants. I'd highly recommend it! Besides the story being engaging and the acting top-notch, the Kauai scenes had me itching to go back there. It's not my favorite island because of all the driving you have to do to get around and the resulting traffic on the two-lane roads, but seeing Hanalei Bay made me nostalgic for a surfing trip I took there in November 2010. 

After the movie I headed to the gym for a yoga class. My marathon schedule dictated 60 minutes of cross-training, so I did 30 minutes of cardio (20 on the elliptical and 10 on the bike) and then took the yoga class.  I guess it did something because my obliques, back, and arms are all sore today. 

Saturday was a bit of a blur. I slept in a little (if you can call 7AM "sleeping in") and then did my 5 mile recovery run (through Fisherman's Wharf and down the Embarcadero). Then it was home for some Instant Netflix time on the Wii (watched my first episode of Breaking Bad and loved it) and a little reading. 

I'm currently reading Sideways on a Scooter by Miranda Kennedy. It's fascinating to read about what it's really like to live in India (from the point of view of an upper middle class American, that is), but reinforces my desire to never visit there. I can't even camp, so visiting India would be out of the question.

Later I went dancing, but didn't have that great of a time. It wasn't awful, but I'm just not big on dance music from the "90s, 00s, and 10s." I just stayed for 3 hours and then headed home.

My plans for this week start with looking over my marathon training schedule: 

Monday:  Rest
Tuesday:  Boot Camp (60 minutes)
Wednesday:  Run (4 miles easy)
Thursday:  Run (Turkey Trot 10K = 6.2 miles)
Friday:  Rest
Saturday:  Run (9 miles)
Sunday:  60 minutes Cross-Training
Total:  19.2 miles

I modified the original schedule, which had 18 miles for the week and no 6.2 mile run in the middle of the week.  I just tweaked it a little so the mileage wouldn't go too far over the 18 miles, but I could also do the required 9 miles on Saturday. 

Today I'm at work and then I'm getting together with my favorite college roomie and her family!  I got a surprise call from her last night and always have a good time together.  We'll probably go to dinner and wander around Fisherman's Wharf.  We're all big ice cream fans, so I'm sure we can fit that in even with the cold San Francisco weather today.

Have a good week!

XOXO
Kim

What are you looking forward to today?

My favorite college roommate (and her husband and kids) are in town for a couple of days, so I'm looking forward to seeing them tonight after I'm off work.

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Weekend...finally

I had yesterday off, so I shouldn't complain because my weekend got here earlier than it did for most people.  It was the usual...gel manicure, some blogging, some reading, some laundry, and then some sushi!

Oh, I did something else that I hadn't done in a long time....synched my iPhone AND backed up my hard drive, which I hadn't done in over a year.  (Hey, I forgot how to do it!)  I need to find a boyfriend who knows a lot about computers and stuff like that to help me.  Or just a boyfriend who doesn't know anything about computers would be fine, too.  :)

I hate doing posts without photos, so here's one of me, but I can't really figure out where I took it!  Based on the date I *think* it's Noe Valley Tavern when I was there for a benefit, but not sure.  I'm not in the habit of taking photos of myself like a lot of people do, but when I get that one day every few weeks where my hair, make-up, and outfit are all working, I like to document it.

Crap, where is this?

I also found my photos from the Nike Women's Half Marathon during the sync (which is good because I wanted to sob at the thought of losing the photo of me at the Nike wall* pointing at my name), so I can work on a post about that.  It almost seems anticlimactic a week after the event, but as long as I get it up before next year's lottery so you'll know how to avoid my mistakes, that's good enough.

Goals for me today are running 5 miles (recovery run) as soon as I can get up, laundering all my running clothes, baking banana bread, going to an opening at 941 Geary for Blek le Rat's new show, and then going to Club Vogue at the Cat Club.

Tomorrow's a little up in the air.  I have a massage at 11, but I need to swing by The Warfield before that and buy tickets for Adam Ant.  (Yes, THAT Adam Ant.  He's still around.)  I'll be downtown for the massage, so I'm thinking of going to a movie after the massage.  The new George Clooney one by the Sideways director called The Descendants looks good.  I also need to work in 60 minutes of cross training, so I'm thinking I might accomplish that with a yoga class at 5:30.

Have a good weekend and let me know if you did anything fun.

XOXO
Kim

*The photo came in handy yesterday.  The dry cleaner lost a blouse of mine and is still looking for it.  I realized that Nike wall photo was the only photo of me wearing it, so I went to them with my computer and showed them.  The reason they're still making such a valiant effort to find it is because I told them I found the receipt from May and I paid $135 plus tax.

The missing blouse and my big arm.  Eek.

I'm usually not in the habit of spending anywhere near that for a blouse, but it was for a first date.  It taught me a lesson because the guy cancelled the date 2 hours before it was supposed to happen.  That's the second time that's happened before a first date (Kim spends too much money on an outfit for a date that never happens), so next time I'm just wearing some old crap that I already have.

Anyway, the blouse was always a little too big anyway and cursed from that date, so I'd be just as happy if they don't find it as long as they refund the purchase price.  They said they'd "make it right," so we'll see.

XOXO (again).
Kim

Are you afraid of heights?

It really depends on the situation. I'm fine with roller coasters and ziplining, but the thought of skydiving terrifies me. Standing on the balcony on a higher floor freaks me out, too, and I'm not really thrilled when I'm stuck in a window seat on an airplane.

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Robyn Hitchcock

A few months ago I got really burnt out on going out dancing/clubbing and all the socializing involved.  I realized that I'm not really that much of a social animal.

Don't get me wrong.  I love going out and doing things that are social (seeing bands, dancing, restaurants, bars, etc.), but I realized that I really don't enjoy doing those things in large groups.  I'm more of a solo or small group kind of person and realized that I'll never change no matter how much I'd like to be one of those "popular" kids with tons of people around.  It's not really necessary or pleasurable for me to have to be friends with a huge clique.  It only took me 44 years to figure that out!

Anyway, I have been doing things besides working out and running!  I saw my friends Jennifer and Brian last night for the second time in two weeks.  Crazy.  We hadn't gone out together in ages, but we went to dinner and the Wild Flag show a couple of weeks ago and last night we went to Mercury Lounge before the Robyn Hitchcock show at Slim's.  

We were all interested in trying Mercury Lounge after seeing it reviewed on one of our favorite TV shows, Check, Please Bay Area.  I would probably go back again for Happy Hour since they had some good $5 appetizers that were large portions.  However, I'm not really sure about dinner.  The dishes were family style and we were told that the portions were large, which they weren't.  The food itself wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable either.  My Cucumber Drop was tasty, but not on the Happy Hour menu ($9).  I'm wondering how their Sunday brunch would be since they have bottomless Mimosas or Bloody Marys.  You can't really go wrong with brunch, right?

Unfortunately, we got to Slim's after all the seats were taken.  Had I known that there would be tables downstairs (which I'd NEVER seen at Slim's), we would have arrived earlier.  In spite of that, we were there early enough to get situated in a good standing area where we weren't jostled.  (Usually when I'm at Slim's I'm in an area where I'm always in someone's way.)  

I hadn't seen Robyn Hitchcock in years and forgot how fantastic he is live!  He performed all of the Eye album and was just so great.  That album was recorded in San Francisco in 1988/1989, so it was really special having him coming back to San Francisco to perform it live.  He is just such a great storyteller and so witty!

Here's a video of him playing "Madonna of the Wasps" at a festival.  Last night it was just him with an acoustic guitar (with harmonica on some songs), but this will give you an idea of how great he is!

Today's my day off from work and supposed to be a training "rest" day.  I was going to go to yoga, but my legs are kind of tired this morning, so I might just do it later from one of my videos.  My training weeks start every Monday, so this is how this week (Training Week #3) is shaking out:

Monday:  Rest (I baked cookies after work!)

Tuesday:  60 minute Boot Camp + Run 3 miles

Wednesday:  Run 4 miles

Thursday:  Run 3 miles

Friday:  Rest?  Yoga?  Upper body weight workout + Yoga?

Saturday:  Run 5 miles

Sunday:  60 minutes Cross Training

Next week the mileage starts to climb again and I'm running a 10K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, so that should be fun.

I'm going to be better about updating here (and not being lazy about downloading photos from my iPhone), so thanks for reading! 

XOXO

Kim

Today is 11/11/11. How will you celebrate it?

I'm at work, but my Outlook calendar is set to remind me to make a wish at 11:11AM. What else should I do?

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Race Registration and a Loss

Today (11/11/11) from 11AM to 11PM PST, you can save $20 on registration for almost any of the Rock 'n' Roll series races!  Thinking I'm going to take the plunge and sign up for the Seattle Half Marathon one, which is only $45 with the discount.  They don't have the course up yet, but it sounds like it starts right in Seattle by the convention center, so I wouldn't have to worry about getting on a bus for a race that wasn't really in the city.

My excitement for this is tempered by some bad news that I received last night about a good friend of mine.  He was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the end of August and passed away on Wednesday night.  I last saw him on Friday, July 29th.  We wandered around SFMOMA and went to lunch at 54 Mint.  The next week he got really sick and a CAT scan revealed a mass in his abdomen.  The next week he was admitted on a Friday, but they were unable to operate once they opened him up because the "mass" was cancer that spread.  They biopsied it and a couple of weeks later they told him they couldn't operate because there was so much cancer that they couldn't tell where it started.  Long story short, that was the beginning of a slow decline.  He's been in and out of the hospital for the last couple of months because the cancer caused an intestinal blockage.  This week he had a lot of pain and nausea and was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, where he died peacefully late in the evening.

I knew that he was not going to live long, but I still wasn't prepared for it to happen this soon since I was planning to see him on Saturday.  The last time I spoke with him was on Halloween (his birthday) and he invited me to a family get-together.  I was going to bring him some tea as a gift (since he was unable to ingest anything other than clear liquids because of the blockage).  His wife is still having the get-together, so I guess now I'll be bringing flowers or a plant. 

Sorry, I didn't mean for this post to be such a downer!  I'll let you know once I've pulled the trigger on the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon registration! 

XOXO

What are you looking forward to?

Practicing yoga with my new DVD, running wearing my new capris, facial on Saturday, picking up my reserved book at the library, and cooking/baking this weekend.

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Blog Design

I realized that the previous color scheme for this blog was lame, so I'm playing around with it.  I'm not sure this is 100% me, but I have to go back to work now. 

Do you like it?  Hmm.

XOXO
Kim

Bad Blogger

Gah, I've been bad for not updating here in a while!  Once I ran the Nike Half Marathon, I just became a lazy writer.  My apologies!

I've definitely been keeping up with all my running and cross-training for my next goal...the Napa Valley Marathon.  Meanwhile, I've signed up for a couple more races.  I'm doing a 10K Turkey Trot (on Thanksgiving Day, obviously) and I'm also doing the 2nd Half SF Marathon in July 2012.  I'm also considering the Portland Wine Country Half Marathon (Labor Day weekend 2012) and maybe another one at the end of next year.  Any suggestions?

I've seen a few bands over the past few weeks.  Last night my friend and I had wine and dinner at Fat Angel and then saw The Bangles at The Fillmore.  I was surprised to see it not very full, but the band sounded and looked great.  They did a good mix of all the old hits plus some new stuff.  Best of all, the show was over by 10:45PM.  (I haven't been feeling that great, so I was pleased to be in bed before midnight.)

Last Friday I went to Thai food with my friend and her husband and then we went to the Wild Flag show at Great American Music Hall.  Wild Flag is basically a "supergroup" of some of our favorite musicians, including a couple of the members from Sleater Kinney (a band we both LOVED back in the day...and still do even though they're not together anymore).  The show was SO rocking and badass.  I haven't heard the CD, but my friend (who is a college radio DJ) told me it just doesn't compare to the live shows.  Bummer, but that happens sometimes. 

Next up is Robyn Hitchcock at Slim's next week and Peter Murphy/She Wants Revenge at The Fillmore in December.  Then that's it until March when I see Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers (plus Clem Burke from Blondie) at Red Devil Lounge.  I'm sure I'll find something else before then.  I'm just waiting for some of the venues to publish their Spring calendars. 

I need to figure out what I'm doing for New Year's Eve.  Last year was a dinner and clubbing night, but I'm actually kind of over going to the clubs.  Shocker, right?  I'm actually happy just hanging out alone and doing stuff. 

Any suggestions for a solo gal on New Year's Eve?  I might want to get out of town for a couple of days and do something mellow (and not too expensive). 

Glad to be back!  Maybe I'll do some blip.fm DJ-ing tonight!

What's your favorite spicy food?

I love all spicy food, but my favorite type of food would be Indian. I really love Achar Gosht, which is a spicy lamb.

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Blech!

I know it's been a while since I've done an official post, but the Nike Half Marathon happened and I just felt like taking a recovery break.

In the meantime I'll post this review of a book that I thought I'd love, but ended up hating. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Unique idea? Yes. Clever writing? Yes. Enjoyable? No.

I'm glad I read other books by David Sedaris first because I never would have wanted to read them if I'd read this one first. The stories just became more negative, disturbing, and creepy as I progressed through the book. It was a quick read or I wouldn't have wasted any more time on it.

View all my reviews XOXO Fog Chick

What are you looking forward to?

Nike Half Marathon tomorrow, dinner with my parents tomorrow night, and a day off with massage on Monday.

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Would you rather go out for dinner or cook at home?

Go out for dinner!

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What's your favorite card game?

War. Just kidding! I'm not a big card player, so I'd have to say Crazy 8s or Solitaire.

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Do you like reality TV?

I like some of it (like the ones on Bravo) in small doses, but most of them seem like they are full of untalented and unremarkable people who have "Look at Meeee!" syndrome and are fame whores. Fortunately, I don't really watch TV much, so I don't have to watch it!

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What Happened to Sunday?

This post was started on Sunday, but I'm just finishing it now!  It's been a crazy week and I was meaning to add some photos to this to make it less boring, but that just didn't happen.

My Sunday was productive, but it slipped away from me.  I woke up early and made my usual smoothie and then went back to sleep until 8:15.  That's crazy for me.  I would have lazed around, but I needed to get my rear end down to The Fillmore to get tickets without those pesky surcharges!  I nabbed tickets for my friend and me to go to Stevie Nicks, The Bangles, and Peter Murphy/She Wants Revenge and saved about $38 for each of us.  Yay for being OCD.

Then I headed over to New People in Japantown to have one of their Blue Bottle lattes and continue reading Born to Run.  My half marathon and upcoming marathon training are nothing compared to the distances that these people run so effortlessly.  (150 miles in Death Valley in July?  Crazy.)  It was nice to just hang out a while before the icky part of my day.

The icky part of my day consisted of cleaning out one closet, which turned into two clothes closests AND four clothing drawers.  I have five (FIVE) leaf bags full of clothes and shoes plus another one of trash (underwear, lame socks, etc.).  Can you say "hoarder"?  I have no idea how all this crap fit.  Before it gets all jacked up again, I'm going to The Container Store and buying some organizers for the drawers and the closets.

The rest of the week was taken up with running workouts, a Yelp Elite Party, and a yoga class where I was finally able to do an arm pose...the Firefly...minus the straight legs.  (Now if I can ever do the Crane, I'll know I've progressed!)

XOXO

Review - Born to Run

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a runner and really loved this book, but I don't think you have to be a runner to appreciate and enjoy the real life "characters," the narration of the races(some that are 100 miles long and in scorching heat), the research and science behind what makes humans natural endurance runners, and the spirit behind the Tarahumara and others who take up ultra running. It's motivated me to look further into the ultra runners mentioned in the book and maybe take up trail running in addition to my regular road runs.

I'm not sure if I'm 100% sold on the barefoot running fad, so I would probably only try that if I was experiencing constant injuries or pain (which is what prompted the author to write this book in the first place). Give this book a try even if you don't run!

View all my reviews

Where would you travel if you could go anywhere in the world?

I'd go to Fiji. I've never been there, but those little houses over the water look so relaxing!

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What's your favorite app on your mobile phone?

Twitter for iPhone is my favorite, but I'm also a fan of Instagram, Yelp, and Pinterest.

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Weekly Workout & New Wave!

Sorry it's been a while since an official update, but it's been busy and I received some bad news this weekend about a friend's health, so I just wasn't up to blogging.  


I'm feeling better now, so here's a little bit of what I've been doing.  First, half marathon training is still on track and I made every workout on the original schedule, but I tweaked some of the original cross training that I planned.

 Monday - Run (5 miles Easy/7 minutes Fartlek)
Tuesday - Strength Training Class (60 minutes) I was waiting for a call from my doctor and only needed 55 minutes of cardio, so I did the elliptical & recumbent bike for 55 minutes so I wouldn't have to miss his call & start over.
Wednesday - Run (5 miles Easy/7 minutes Tempo)
Thursday - Strength Training Class (60 minutes) I ended up taking a Yoga class (60 minutes)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run (9 miles Easy/7 minutes Tempo)
Sunday - Run (5 miles Easy)


Saturday was super busy since I had a long run and then I needed to be at the SF Ferry Building in time to check that my Clipper card was loaded for the ride over to Sausalito for the art festival.  Good thing I got there early and checked it because the line for the machine was crazy later and we barely made the ferry as it was.


I know you're asking why we almost missed the ferry if I got there so early (11:10AM for a noon ferry).  Well, my friend and I waited in line for 40 minutes (yes, 40 minutes) for lattes from Blue Bottle.  It was delicious (and pretty....see below), but seriously, I would never have waited if we hadn't been waiting for a noon ferry.  

Blue Bottle Latte

We had to stand on our way to Sausalito because the ferry was PACKED, but it was only 30 minutes and the weather was nice.  

Not the best shot, but it was crowded & we were moving!

We got to the festival too late to see Men Without Hats, but made it in time to see all of The Romantics.  I like their two hits from the 80's, but everything else sounded the same to me.  No matter because the audience was way into them.

After wandering around looking for food (I was starving after a 9 mile run and only some chocolate soy milk for recovery), we settled on some mediocre pizza.  I would have preferred the gyro, but the line was too long.  Crab cakes were our second option, but the woman was kind of bitchy, so we moved over to pizza.

The main reason we went to the festival was to see The Human League.  I'd seen them a few years ago at Red Devil Lounge and they were AWESOME.  This show was no exception.  

Here was the setlist:

1.  Never Let Me Go
2.  Open Your Heart
3.  Sound of the Crowd
4.  Heart Like a Wheel
5.  The Lebanon
6.  Egomaniac
7.  Empire State Human
8.  Night People
9.  Human
10.  Love Action
11.  All I Ever Wanted
12.  Tell Me When
13.  (Keep Feeling) Fascination
14.  Mirror Man
15.  Don't You Want Me?


Encore:
16.  Being Boiled
17.  Electric Dreams

Songs #1 & #8 were from their new album, which I'm totally buying because the songs were fantastic!  Sometimes you just want a band to stick with their strengths and not try to create something totally new and that's what the new songs were like.  


Here's a link to the one I really liked ("Night People").  (Sorry, but there's an ad at the beginning.)

The rest of the weekend I spent at my parents with a little trip to Bodega Bay to The Tides Restaurant for Dad's birthday.


Tonight I'm off to dinner in Los Gatos and then Tears for Fears at Mountain Winery.  Tomorrow I need to do a 10 mile run, so hopefully I get enough rest tonight!


Have a great weekend!  What are you up to?


XOXO

What is the most difficult job you can think of?

Heart surgeon. It would be delicate, detailed work that would require several hours of concentration and standing on your feet plus the added stress of knowing that you held someone's life in your hands.

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What flavor goes best with chocolate?

Peanut butter, of course. Or red wine.

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What's the best afternoon snack?

Greek yogurt with a little fruit and Barbara's Puffins cereal. It fills me up and it's high in protein, so it helps me make it through my workout!

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What's for Breakfast on Monday

Yum! Pumpkin overnight oats with sunflower seed butter.
Delish!

I finally bought a recipe box yesterday so I could get rid of all these random magazines, pieces of paper, and scribbled recipes. That'll be today's project during work breaks.

I'm looking forward to a three-day weekend coming for Labor Day and my first long-ish run of this training on Saturday. I don't have too much extracurricular planned this week, but I might try to hit SFMOMA or the Legion of Honor.

Have a great week!



How was your weekend?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

In Bed...

It's Sunday morning at 8:41 and I'm just going to laze around in bed for a while.  I've been up for a while and already had my oatmeal spinach smoothie and was going to just stay here and do my run later.  However, once I heard the fog horns and started thinking about how nice it is to run Fisherman's Wharf in the fog with no tourists out, I got dressed and did my run for today (4 miles).

A lot of people don't like the fog, but I love this weather.  The only thing I don't like is wind!  Here are a couple of shots during a quick photo stop at 3 miles at Aquatic Park.  Cool, right?

You can't even see Alcatraz behind that big ship!

View of Fisherman's Wharf

This week's workouts went pretty much as planned except Thursday, but I still completed everything on the schedule.  Next week the running mileage will start to climb!

Monday - Run (5 miles Easy/5 minutes Tempo)
Tuesday - Strength Training Class (60 minutes)
Wednesday - Run (5 miles Easy/7 minutes Tempo)
Thursday - Strength Training Class Cardio (55 minutes - Elliptical, Stationary Bike, Stair Climber)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Recovery Run (5 miles Easy)
Sunday - Run (4 miles Easy)


I didn't really go out this week...shocker!  I think I was burned out after months of going out 3-4 nights a week.  I'm also suffering from allergies and sinus headaches that just wear me out.  I did manage to finish two great books.  Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (a re-read of a childhood book that's on my 101 in 1001 list) and The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton.  The Lock Artist kept me riveted, so I'll definitely be looking for some of his other books.

I haven't done much cooking this week except experimenting with different smoothie recipes.  This one is the same as my oatmeal smoothie, but without the oatmeal.  Instead I added spinach and Trader Joe's frozen three berry medley (with Barbara's Puffins in Cinnamon flavor on top).  The taste was good, but I'm not into the seeds in my teeth from the blackberries in the fruit.

Yesterday I went to a birthday luncheon at Golden River Seafood Restaurant at Geary and 23rd.  My friend's mother passed away last year and this would have been her 80th birthday, so he generously included me in the celebration.  I really need to do a review of this place on Yelp to get their score up.  Three stars isn't a bad score, but I would put it in the four stars category.  I'm still not drinking (today is day 30 with no alcohol!), but they actually comped about ten large bottles of beer because my friend is such a good customer.

OK, I'm rambling now.  I cleaned out a huge cupboard in the kitchen yesterday along with two carts, so today I'm going to tackle either my clothing drawers or one of my clothes closets after my massage and spa time later.  If I have time, I might make the peanut butter scone recipe I found.

Have an awesome Sunday!

XOXO

Why Am I Working?!

I want to be outside!

Today is a rare sunny, warm day in San Francisco. I took advantage of that (and my supervisor being on a long lunch) and took a walk to the Ferry Building for lunch.

I picked up some Carrot & Ginger soup and a Hijiki & Soybean salad from Delica, one of my favorite spots. Their food is tasty and nutritious. The soup tastes so decadent, but there's no cream or milk in it. It's just carrots, onion puree, and ginger.

I couldn't be too healthy, so I eneded up having a scoop of Ciao Bella gelato (Belgian Chocolate S'mores flavor).  I started eating it before it started to melt and didn't get a shot of it.  I did get a shot of my view of Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge.

After that I walked around Sur La Table looking at all the cool cooking stuff (*sigh*) and then made my way back to the office.

All that and I was only gone an hour!

Hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday!

XOXO

P.S.  I posted this via e-mail and I had to recreate most of this post and it reformatted where I had the photos positioned, so sorry about that.  Live and learn on Blogger!

Me the Mummy

Here's a photo of me being wrapped like a mummy at our company picnic (with my co-workers faces obscured by my very talented spray paint job).  Our team lost this round, but ended up coming back strong at the end and winning the whole thing!  (Payoff:  Movie tickets....two for each of us!)

Some might say this is my best look...

Looks a little like a Vivienne Westwood, no?

How do you like your eggs cooked for breakfast?

Over easy.

Ask me anything on Formspring!

Week in Workouts

It's Sunday and I finally got a good night's sleep.  I had a major headache last night, so I decided to just stay in and go to bed early after watching a movie.  Harold and Maude is streaming on Netflix.  How have I never seen that movie?


My week went pretty much as planned this week as far as workouts, but with a few tweaks....


Monday - Run (5 miles Easy/6 minutes Fartlek)
Done!


Tuesday - Cross Train (55 minute 50 minutes) - I read the schedule wrong when I typed this.  It was actually 50 minutes of cross training, so I got up early and did 25 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes on the stationary bike, and 10 minutes on the stair climber.


Wednesday - Strength Training Class Yoga - This was going to be another cross-training day and I usually go to strength training on Tuesday/Thursday.  I realized that I needed to make pasta salad for our company picnic the next day, so I ended up coming straight home from work and taking care of that and then taking a 60-minute Vinyasa Yoga class.  It's still a form of strength training and I got some stretching in, too!

Thursday - Run (5 miles Easy/5 minutes Tempo) - Done! I did this out at Ocean Beach after our company picnic.

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Run (7 miles Easy/7 minutes Tempo) - I did this, but didn't really enjoy it.  I wasn't feeling well at all and wished I'd saved this run for Sunday!

Sunday - Run (4 miles Easy) - This was a lot more enjoyable after a full night of sleep and rest.  I could have kept going, but 4 miles was all that was on the schedule.


It's really overcast here, but I wasn't planning to go out today anyway.  I'm going to try to clean either a closet or my drawers and maybe bake a loaf of bread.  Later I have early dinner plans with a neighbor at a popular SF restaurant, so I'm looking forward to that.


Have a great Sunday!  XOXO

Where Did My Saturday Go?

It's almost 4PM and I've done a lot today, but somehow didn't do everything I wanted to accomplish.

I started the day with a smoothie experiment.  Here's what I used:

1/2 c Oats
1/2 Frozen Banana
1 c Almond Milk
1 T Flaxseed Meal
1/2 scoop Whole Foods Vanilla Soy Milk Protein Powder

I mixed that in the blender, poured it in a bowl, and topped it with a few Barbara's Peanut Butter Puffins.  It was delicious, but hearty and filling!

Banana Oat Smoothie posing on my rug

I decided to drive out to Ocean Beach for my second run out there this week since I was up early enough and wanted to make a couple of stops out that way on my way back.  The run was kind of a struggle because I wasn't feeling great and didn't realize how much uphill there would be from mile 2.3 until my turnaround spot at mile 3.5.  I almost didn't do the 7 minutes of tempo because it was getting warmer, but I ran it between minutes 53 and 60.  It was worth it to see the 650 calories burned at the end!

I finally tried out the new Fresh and Easy store out in the avenues.  It wasn't busy at all around 10AM and is an alternative to Trader Joe's.  I mostly bought fruit and veggies, so I'll be interested to see if the produce lasts longer than TJ's.

After that I made a stop at Cheap Pete's to get frames for my Go-Go's and Duran Duran concert posters from The Fillmore.  They make frames specially sized already for the posters, so I bought a couple (one in silver and one in black).  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that they weren't the wooden ones that I bought before and I didn't know how to get the posters in, so I had to make another trip across town for a remedial lesson.  It paid off because they're now framed and beautiful!

I came home and made a little snack using the banana bread that I made early in the afternoon (I told you I did a lot today).  I tore up a thin slice of the bread and put it over plain Greek yogurt with strawberries:

Snack...posing on my rug again

Now I'm trying to get myself to relax.  Laundry, mopping and vacuuming might need to wait until later or tomorrow.  I'm still not feeling great, but I agreed to meet a friend and go out for a while tonight.  I'm not really in the mood, but I'll be on the guest list, so it'll be free.  If I rally, I'll go on to the next place, but not sure if that will happen.

Hope you're having a good Saturday!  I think I'll read my book now.

XOXO

What's the strangest thing you've eaten?

Probably a Filipino dish I had a few years ago. It was a soupy dish made of pig blood (!) and it looked kind of like black beans and tasted a little like pate. They served it poolside at a BBQ with some bread to dip in it. I actually liked it, but it was strange (with pig blood and all).

Ask me anything on Formspring!

Is It Friday Already?

I survived my week!  Sorry I didn't do much updating (other than posting a few Formspring answers), but I like having photos on the blog and I didn't have time to download them from my phone until today.  This will be a pretty long post, so grab something to drink and get in a comfy position.

Monday was pretty much a typical day until the evening.  After work and running I attended a Yelp Elite BBQ party at Radius.  Here was the menu:

Unfortunately, I got there 30 minutes after the event started, but in that short amount of time they had already run out of the pulled pork, brisket, corn bread, and most of the potato salad!  The wings were pretty tasty though and I liked the space and the owner's impassioned speech about his employees and using local ingredients, so I'd definitely try it again for a regular meal.

Tuesday was a little more of a challenge because I had to fit in a cross-training workout along with work and The Go-Go's concert later at The Fillmore.  I decided it would be easier to work out before work instead of running around like a crazy person after work, so I got up extra early to do my 50 minutes of cross-training at the gym (25 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes bike, 10 minutes stair climber in case you're interested).

I met my friends at The Fillmore later and we took a photo of the collage that turned out to be what was used on the awesome free poster that they gave away!  

Artwork by Jason Mecier

The collage was gorgeous as you can hopefully see.  (The iPhone just doesn't do it justice.)  The artist's name is Jason Mecier and you should check out his website to see some amazing work.  He's a mosaic artist and will make artwork out of anything.  This piece of artwork had everything:  tampon boxes, make-up containers, bandage boxes...the works.  Really beautiful.  The poster was cool, too, so I'm going to Cheap Pete's on Geary and get one of their white frames:

Anyway, The Go-Go's came on at 9 and played until 10:15.  They were as good as all the times I'd seen them in the past and everyone had a blast!  The band was tight, Belinda's voice was strong, and they were all getting along and having fun.

I was counting and the first show I saw was their last tour in the 80's with Jane at the Greek Theater.  Then I saw them twice in the 90's:  once at Shoreline Amphitheater with The B-52's and Psychedelic Furs and later at The Warfield.  Then I saw them a few years ago at The Independent on Divisadero.  

Here was the setlist from my trusty iPhone notepad:

Vacation

Tonight

How Much More

Get Up and Go

Mad About You (cover of Belinda's solo song)

Lust to Love

Mother's Little Helper (cover of The Rolling Stones song!)

Automatic

Fading Fast

Cool Jerk

Cool Places (cover of the song Jane sang with Sparks)

This Town

Unforgiven

Our Lips Are Sealed

Skidmarks on My Heart

We Got the Beat

Encore:

Beatnik Beach

Fun with Ropes

Head Over Heels

Wednesday I came home from work and prepared a huge pasta salad for our company picnic on Thursday.  There was a lot of chopping and dicing involved, but here was the finished product:

I must say that it turned out really well!  Pasta salad isn't that complicated, but I did use a recipe that I ended up tweaking.  For one, it called for 8 oz. of tomato sauce to be mixed with 8 oz. Italian dressing.  That sounded weird to me and it sounded weird to other people, too, so I just used 16 oz. of Italian dressing.  I also omitted the mushrooms and used a yellow pepper that I had on hand.  Whole wheat pasta would have made this even healthier, but I wasn't sure how that would go over at a company picnic.  

Speaking of healthy, I made these awesome (and relatively healthy) "no bake" cookies right after the pasta was done:

Just oats, maple syrup, cocoa, and peanut butter.  They satisfy my sweet tooth without making me feel guilty!

After making the pasta salad and the cookies, I went to a free yoga class at Lululemon on Union St.  It was from 7:30-8:30 and it was the first time I'd taken a yoga class from an instructor other than one at 24 Hour Fitness.  (Oh, except a couple of Bikram classes, but that's a whole other arena of yoga.)  It was crowded, but I felt great after class.  I might start going on Wednesdays after my runs since it's so convenient.

Yesterday was the first night that I stayed in all week and it was so nice!  We left our company picnic at Golden Gate Park around 2:30 and I drove up to the Beach Chalet to change into my running gear and do my 5 mile training run.  It was so great for a couple of reasons:

1.  I ditched the heart rate monitor and decided to rely on what felt right as an "easy" pace instead of relying on the monitor.   Runs were becoming less enjoyable and I felt that I was able to converse (the path wasn't crowded, so I talked to myself for a while to see if I could carry on a conversation and keep my breath) running at my regular easy pace.

2.  The route was one that I hadn't done in quite a while, so the variety made it more interesting.  I was running across from Ocean Beach, the path had small rolling hills and wasn't crowded, and the weather was nice and cool like I like it!  I have 7 miles to do on Saturday, so I might do this run with an additional 2 miles tacked on somewhere.

Tonight I'm still in a staying in mood and I need to rest up for the run tomorrow and all the other stuff I'm doing this weekend.  I'm going to put off making banana bread until tomorrow afternoon and read my new book from the library tonight and maybe watch the last episode of True Blood on my Netflix DVD.  

In addition to finishing my re-read of Harriet the Spy, I'm now reading Orange Is The New Black by Piper Kerman.  It's about a woman who did some drug trafficking for a girlfriend for a short time in her early 20's and then had to pay for the crime 10 years later when she was indicted and eventually sentenced to 15 months in a women's prison.  I just started it and I'm hooked!

How was your week??

XOXO

If you won a $1,000 shopping spree for any store, which store would you pick?

I thought about a lot of high-end places that I like (Anthropologie, Apple, Lululemon), but ultimately Target would be where I'd love a $1,000 shopping spree. I'd get a lot more for my money than I would at a more expensive place: running gear, underwear, electronics, inexpensive shorts and t-shirts, costume jewelry, DVDs and video games, things for my apartment...the list goes on!

Ask me anything on Formspring!

If you could bring anything home from a hotel room, what would you take?

If I was staying at a Westin, I'd take home the whole bed (including sheet set and pillows). If it was any other hotel, I guess I'd just take home the maid to clean my apartment every day.

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What's your most-hated chore?

Cleaning the tub and shower! Mopping comes in a close second.

Ask me anything on Formspring!

FroYo Makes Monday Tolerable

It's Monday and I have a lot of extracurricular stuff to do in addition to my half marathon training. I have an event tonight (after running), a concert tomorrow night (after cross training at the gym), making pasta salad for a company picnic on Wednesday night (after another run), and strength training on Thursday night (after the company picnic).

I'm not going to worry about it because it will all get done. It's better to think about the Yoppi frozen yogurt from after lunch: Yellow Cake Mix and Cookie Dough flavors with just a sprinkling of almonds, mini M&Ms, and Thin Mint dust. This was less than $3...I just wanted a little taste of sweetness and a walk after my soup.





Updates on all my events will be forthcoming after they happen (assuming I survive). Have a good week!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Big Gay 10K

Yesterday was the Big Gay 10K race from Fort Mason to Fort Point (just underneath the Golden Gate Bridge) and back.  The morning started pretty chilly, but really cleared up and was pretty warm by the time we were on our way back from the bridge.  This outfit would have worked a lot better without the long-sleeved shirt underneath:

My outfit for Nike Half Marathon?

Note how sunny it was near the finish line!

The costumes this year weren't quite as crazy as they were last year (when there was a team of guys dressed as geisha or another couple dressed as The Ambiguously Gay Duo), but at least we had a penguin:

Penguin...bundled up in the fog at the start

My finish time was 1:04:59, which was more than two minutes less than last year and got me a spot at #17 in my age group (out of 43, not 17...ha ha), so I was happy!  A blinking pin for finishing was the icing on the cake...

Instead of a medal. This is cute!

Oh, that and going to dinner with my parents at Panama Hotel in San Rafael.  Half of my Dad's hamburger with bacon and avocado hit the spot.  I love the Fire Roasted Chile Stuffed with Quinoa (and mushroom and a bunch of other good stuff), but my body was craving beef, so we brought most of that home.  We also split a really good Apple and Strawberry Crisp with Tahitian Vanilla Gelato for dessert.  The perfect end to my running day!

I almost forgot what we split as an appetizer since we have it every time we go!  It was the Tuscan Toast Platter with roasted garlic, sundried tomato tapenade, goat cheese, and olives.  A great start!

On Friday I just relaxed (my workout "Rest" day) and got a gel mani and pedi (with extra 10 minute leg massage...aah), bought some more hair dye, stopped by Trader Joe's, and then made this salad for dinner:

This salad looked crazy and there was a bunch of stuff hiding in it, but it was mixed greens, avocado, carrots, chickpeas, a Spicy Bean Garden Burger (ripped up!), alfalfa sprouts, and a few crumbled up pretzels to add some carbs and crunch.  The dressing was my own concoction:  1T Greek yogurt (plain),
1t Sweet & Sour Mustard (from TJ's), 1t minced garlic, and a couple of shakes of soy sauce to make it a little more liquid.  Yummy!

Today I'm chilling at my parents' house after an early 4 mile run and a shopping spree at Target.  We're catching up on the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Hilarious!

XOXO

P.S.  Bear with me while I goof around some more with the design of this blog!