SC Half

April 19, 2009

On Saturday afternoon, I braved the massive traffic jam called Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz. It was stinking hot, and everyone wanted to go to the beach. 

I was spending the night in SC because I was signed up to run the SC Half Marathon on Sunday morning, so I had gotten a room in a motel (Comfort Inn) super close to the boardwalk. After picking up the race packets, I met up with Abe and we went for dinner at Drunk Monkeys (great Asian fusion food and drinks under $4!). Gail and Sandy met up with us there, and Gail was crashing with me at the motel (she was running the 10K).

Early on Sunday morning, Gail and I braved the continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn, and got ourselves psyched to run in the heat (it was so nice already at 7 AM!)

Pre-race giddiness:

The course was beautiful, the official description from the organizers:

The Santa Cruz Half Marathon consists of a 13.1-mile run/walk along scenic West Cliff Drive past breathtaking vistas of the Pacific coastline. Runners then pass through the surrounding neighborhoods and make their way west along a paved path through strawberry fields, past historic farm buildings to Wilder Ranch Sate Park. From there, it's a loop on the Old Cove Landing Trail (unpaved) with incredible views of the rugged ocean bluffs. Runners then retrace their steps back to the finish line festivities on Cowell's Beach just a stone's throw from the start line.

The weather report held true, it was stinking hot, and there was less than 10% shade-cover on the route. The course was well-supported, with well-placed aid stations right when you needed them. I took full advantage of each one, taking in as much Powerade and water as possible, drenching myself with a third cup of water to cool off. It was well worth the hit in time to make sure I could hydrate along the course.

There were more hills than advertised, but that was actually in my favor (apparently, I don't mind some hills here and there, they kick my butt into gear). I hit a bit of a wall in the last couple miles, and I struggled mentally with trying to maintain the ambitious pace to get a personal best. My feet were hurting (time to retire my old orthotics!), and I also knew that the race ended on the beach, so I was not looking forward to that! In the end, my mental competition won and I pushed myself to get a PB and finish (just barely!) under 2 hours (previous PB was ~2:05). Sweet!

My official stats:

• Time: 1:59:56
• Overall, Gender, Division Place: 783/2602, 307/1549, 120/557
• Pace: 9:09 min/mile

Post-race with the ladies:

After the race, Gail and I got cleaned up before checking out of the motel and heading over to Abe's place that he's sub-letting for a month or so. Will, Wendy and Double-A also met us there, and we hit up brunch at Paula's Brooklyn Coffee House. 
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the gorgeous weather, cruising on bikes, hanging out at the beach, etc...








Hooray for California days!

Kiddies - 04/18/09

April 19, 2009

On Friday night, Will and I hosted dinner with Beth, Tony, Frederick and Lisa. It was really great to catch up and gear up for the hot weekend. 

On Saturday morning, I headed down to Santa Clara right away to hang out with the kids and do a little morning babysitting. 







The kids opening up Jack's old childhood books that Helen had sent from Rochester:


Cuties!

Mos Def

April 14, 2009

On Tuesday night, a bunch of us (Will, Gail, Robert, Henrik, Matt and I) tackled the traffic and high winds to cross the Bay Bridge to Oaktown. 

Our first stop was early dinner at Everett and Jones for bbq...yum!



I had the combo plate with the E&J classic ribs and beef brisket, with a side of honey yams and potato salad. Delish! There was too much to finish in one meal, so Will got a nice lunch for the next day. 

From E&J, we headed to Yoshi's (East) less than two blocsk away to catch the early Mos Def show. Whee!!!

Camera use was strictly forbidden, so you'll have to trust me that we had awesome seats, the concert was fantastic, and Mos Def and his band are incredibly talented. 

Thanks to Henrik for getting us tix!

Nopalito

April 14, 2009

On Monday night, Will and I caught up with Kareem and Daniela, in town from Vancouver and in the middle/start of their travels. We decided to check out the newbie restaurant, Nopalito, located next to Falletti Foods on Broderick St. 

Michael Bauer of SF Chronicle has recently claimed that Nopalito offers up the best Mexican food in the Bay Area and it made the Top 100 list for 2009 restaurants. Nopalito is the brainchild of chefs from sister restaurant, Nopa, and is supported by the owners of Nopa. 

We shared the house-made guacamole and chips, as well as the ceviche (ceviche verde de pescado with marinated rock code, lime, tomatillo, cilantro and avocado).  Both were absolutely delicious. 

Will had the Carnitas (long braised pork with orange, bay leaf, cinnamon and beer, served with cabbage salad, pickled jalapenos and tomatillo salsa). 

I had the Mole Poblano con Pollo (sauce of toasted chiles, chocolate, cinnamon, nuts, sesame seeds and chicken leg). The chicken was delicious and incredibly tender, falling off the bone. 

The meal was fantastic and very reasonable. I would definitely return to Nopalito again. 

Happy and safe travels to Kareem and Daniela!

Points of Contact

April 12, 2009

Good Friday turned into Great Friday after work. Will, Gail, Key, Robert, Sanyu and I went to Beretta for happy hour drinks and early dinner. Yum! A lot of other people had the same idea, so the place was packed early. The server warned us of the 30 minute wait for the specialty "artisan" cocktails, so we ordered in bulk and in courses, starting with beer/wine first and then the cocktails afterwards (strategery!).




From Beretta, we headed to Inner Mission (Valencia Corridor?) to The Lab, where ulti-friend, Mike, was having an art show opening. Mike's show ("Points of Contact") is one of three exhibitions that opened on Friday evening.

In the Main Gallery, Rie Kawakami's "Living Cube" was on exhibit:

The wired cubes began as a mirror image on the floor to those hanging from the ceiling. But by the time we go there, they let the crowd go wild with the floor pieces to make the art interactive.











From The Lab, we headed over to Elixir for drinks before calling it a night (at midnight, phew!, we started early!).