San Jose Rock N' Roll Half Marathon 2008

October 5, 2008

The weekend had finally arrived where I was going to run the San Jose Rock N' Roll Half Marathon on Sunday. Yes, I signed up for my second half-marathon, did it on a whim following the Run SFM half-marathon at the beginning of August. I wanted to do another half before the end of the year, and with work and travel, I had to do it in early October or be outta luck (the US Marathon in SF would've been ideal on November 5, but Will and I are going to be on vacation!).

However, with the new house/bathroom renos and with work being utter insanity, I've been lacking in the training run department, so I was a little (a lot) nervous about doing this run.

On Saturday, I had to head down to San Jose to pick up the race packet. My sister and Olivia came along, while the twins were having their nap. We got back to the house just in time for the twins to wake up.

Simon was still a little camera-shy post-nap:


On Saturday night, I kept it pretty low-key with a pasta feed at home with Will, Sue Hee, Robert and Key. On Sunday morning, I woke up early and drove down to SJ in time for the 8 AM start for the half-marathon.



The run was pretty tough for me, particularly because of the really nice weather (oh, the sun, how it burns!) and the flat course....er, what?!? I know, that sounds counter-intuitive, but my ideal running weather is overcast sky, and after doing all my running in San Francisco (even with the hills!), I was a little bored. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice course and there's bands at every mile, but I was struggling mentally today.

Even with the challenges, I did manage to shave a couple minutes off my RunSFM time and here are the final stats:
- Total Time: 2:05:02 (9:33 min/mile pace)
- 3500 overall/9563 finishers
- 1197/5375 Female category


I will save my next half-marathon for 2009, I may do one or two more 10K runs before the end of the year, but the calendar is looking pretty full until then anyway. I'd consider doing the SJ Rock N' Roll Half-Marathon again next year, but only if I have more time to train. Anyone want to join me?

Tag-Team Birthday

October 4, 2008

On Friday night, it was Tuttle and Susan's tag-team birthday celebration. We started at Mecca, where the birthday couple hosted drinks and light eats, and then the group moved onto the Make-Out Room for more drinks and dancing.

As you can tell, there was lots of dancing and drinking. Good times had by all, great evening that caused head-ringing well into the morning. Oy!

Happy Birthday to Tuttle and Susan!

Ecco Restaurant

September 30, 2008

On Tuesday night, I went for a work dinner at Ecco Restaurant in Burlingame, a goodbye for one of our team members, Eric, who is moving onto another project. I love work dinners.

For starters, everyone got their own tomato salad and individual crab cake, which was very tasty:
We also shared the seared duck foie gras with toasted brioche, sauterne, carmelized apple and red onion:
For dinner, I had the Seared Filet of Angus Beef with wild mushrooms, Old Madeira Wine Sauce and gorgonzola. The beef was a little overdone, but very tender and still easy to cut with a butterknife.



Good luck Eric!

Shin Toe Bul Yi

September 29, 2008

Monday was Wendy's actual birthday, and a few of us went for Korean BBQ dinner with her in Parkside at Shin Toe Bul Yi. Key stayed true to his roots and ordered the entire dinner for us in Korean. I like it when someone else takes charge.


There was the typical assortment of kimchee and the other side dishes. Of course, we had some Kal-Bi and Bul-Go-Gi. This restaurant is also known for its fried chicken (??):


The meal was delicious and fulfilling. I heart Korean BBQ!

Kiddies Sunday

September 29, 2008

On Sunday, Will and I went to a work bbq in Redwood City at Red Morton Park and then went down to Santa Clara to see my sis and the kids. Good quality kiddie time all day long.