The root of all evil…

 

ice cream goodness in a homemade waffle cone

Discovering Molly Moon’s second location near our home one month before the Shore Run wasn’t the best for me, running/weight wise.  Going there three times in one week sure didn’t help.  What can I say, the picture speaks for itself (single scoop – as big as little Ryan’s head – in background).  Scout mint, a favorite.  Along with strawberry, and vanilla.  I am afraid to try the coffee flavor (Vivace coffee) since going there every day would most certainly land me on the Biggest Loser as a contestant.  Go grab a scope or two at one of their two locations.  

I am not bothering with the Rock n Roll.  My A race this weekend is the Shore Run (6.7 miles) Sunday the 28th.  Last year I won my age group.  This year I would like to finish in the top 5 overall in order to score one of those gift certificates provided by Super Jock n Jill, but with the weight loss having gone so well (+1) we will see.  Current weight as of 6.25.09 = 179 yikes!

Day trip to Suncadia & Roslyn, WA

A week of amazing weather in Seattle lead Sunny & I over to check in on the progress over at Suncadia.  About eighteen months ago we headed over to see what all the fuss was about.  Condos and single family homesites were selling like hotcakes.  Well, the economic downturn has stymied  development of the much anticipated retail | restaurant area.  Not much has changed in eighteen months. The entertainment “hub”, if you will, was to rival that of Sunriver Resort in Bend, OR and Whistler Village in Whistler, B.C., but after all this time they haven’t even broken ground.  If you come to Suncadia to play some golf or take in some quality spa time, it would be worth your while to take the 5 minute drive over to neighboring Roslyn and eat at the Roslyn Cafe.  

Sunny & I stopped in for a quick snack.  The Roslyn Cafe is a charming and inviting place.  The menu is nice & simple – one page.  Torn between the burger and fish n chips, we opted to share the fish n chips.  It turned out to be the right choice (unfortunately no pics).  We got two nice sized pieces of fish with a generous portion of their famous crispy parmesan fries and a side of cole slaw.  The fries lived up to the reputation – they remained nice and crispy throughout the meal.  The fish-batter ratio was good, one could actually taste the fish, and the slaw was not drowning in mayo.  A third piece of fish can be added to the entree for an additional $3, brining the total to $13.00 – not too bad. 

 

On this beautiful sunny day we sat right under the sign

Breakfast at Salish Lodge

Almost forgot about the blog.  I have been increasing the mileage the last few weeks in preparation for the Shore Run (June 28th | 6.7 miles Seward to Madison Park). Last year I was in the top ten and managed an age group first place, but this year I want one of the gift certificates to Super Jock n Jill that are given out to the top five finishers.  

A few weeks ago Sunny & I had the opportunity to take advantage of a nice weather day in the middle of the week and decided to have breakfast at the Salish Lodge.  

Salish Smoked Salmon Hash

I went with the smoked salmon hash.  It was pretty darn good, and yes the bacon was as good as it looked!  

 

Create your own omelet

Sunny opted for the “create your own omelet”, which turned out to be a super veggie omelet as she chose every veggie on the list.  While, Sunny & I give the service and environs of the lodge two thumbs down; the Salish Dining Room is always two enthusiastic thumbs up, both in food quality and service.  

If you can get a window table, all the better.

Monsoon Restaurant – Seattle

Monsoon has been on a list of place Sunny has wanted to try for a while.  I have been hesitant because there is nothing more I hate than overrated, overpriced ethnic restaurants that have been dolled up to appeal to the “sophisticated” and “cultured” diners (not once did I mention Wild Ginger …).  Although a bit pricier than Tamarind Tree (which we highly recommend | 12th & Jackson), Monsoon’s prices were not bad.  The food was good and the service was AWESOME!  The freshness of the ingredients provided great flavor.  We ordered the crispy drunken chicken, asian eggplant, and crispy tofu with roasted bell pepper & shiitake mushrooms.  Sorry no pictures from dinner, but the dishes were elegantly presented.  

The decor was simple, which made for good ambience.  Sunny & I recommend a visit here, either for dinner or brunch.  We have experienced both.  

 

 

oxtail pho with Wagyu flank steak

The pho ($9) is offered during brunch.  

 

dumplings

The dumplings ($6) offered on the brunch menu.  

http://www.monsoonrestaurants.com/

Bing’s Bar and Grill – Madison Park

http://www.bingsbarandgrill.com

Despite the economic downturn and all the talk about discounts, sales and bargains being offered by local restaurants, eating out is still expensive.  There is nothing I hate more than shelling out money for half dollar size portion no matter who the chef is or how “amazing” the food.  Don’t get me wrong I enjoy eating  a great meal with the company of my beautiful wife, but do I really have to pay $42.95 for an entree that can be served in an espresso cup?

Since Sunny & I haven’t had a hamburger since we hit In-N-Out during our last visit to Las Vegas we decided to give Bing’s a try after reading a recent review by one of Seattle’s more well know celebrity chefs (name and restaurant will remain anonymous).  Bing’s in located in the exclusive Seattle neighborhood of Madison Park.  Madison Park is also home to our favorite sushi place – Nishino.  

Bing’s motto is “Nothing Fancy, Just Good Food” and they live up to they motto. Sunny ordered the Bing’s Cheeseburger with fries and I got the All-American burger with onion rings.  The burgers get a 1/3 lb patty with all da fix-ins and cheese (cheddar and american respectively).  Bing’s has a variety of different burgers – mushroom, Hawaiian etc. but in an effort to live up to their motto the burgers are nothing fancy, just good.

White Center for yummy chicken – El Paisano

 

 

Rotisserie chicken in White Center

Living in Seattle and driving past all of the “Azteca fresh aqua cactus mama taqueria wrap this and thats,” one would think that finding good Mexican food would be easy. Not so.  Trekking all the way to Ballard – of all places – is where we have found solace at La Carta de Oaxaca, until now.  We still have to drive a bit from our home in Central Seattle over to White Center, but it is a much easier drive than dealing with all the stop and go traffic trying to get to Ballard.  

Whenever I eat at an ethnic restaurant, I do a quick head count to see how many “natives” are eating at the restaurant.  If the number of whites outnumber the “native” I presume that I am in trouble (generally speaking).  Despite the food quality, Oaxaca always bucks the trend (which is why I say generally speaking).  El Paisano “wins” on both counts.  The food is great, which is probably why the majority of customers are Latinos.  There was a white couple present during our recent visit, but they didn’t appear to be eating the rotisserie chicken (what is that about? you can get a burrito anywhere – can’t you?) – the rotisserie chicken is what El Paisano knows best.  

We were going to get the whole chicken meal (rice, beans, salad & tortillas accompany the chicken for $14.99), but the friendly employee suggested that the 1/2 chicken meal would be enough for two.  In addition to the 1/2 chicken meal, I also ordered a couple of steak tacos – $1.50 each and also very good.  The 1/2 chicken meal was $7.95, a great deal for the amount of food you get.  There is also a 1/4 chicken meal ($3.95 or so) if you are dining solo.  The chicken meat was very moist and tender.  The sides were nothing fancy, just lots of it.  You also get a basket of chips with a trio of salsa and pico de gallo to munch on while waiting for your order.  Next time, we are going to try the spicy soup and maybe the carne asada.  

All in all, a drive down, up, or over to White Center is in order for great rotisserie chicken.  See you there.

Review of 2008, preview of 2009

Running wise 2008, was a great year.  Training and racing answered a lot of questions.  Didn’t realize I was this fast .  Back to back to back 100 + mile weeks didn’t fatigue me it just made me stronger|faster.  The running focus obviously cost me fitness on the bike.  2008 highlights:

1. 1.21.12 half marathon (PR) on October 19, 2008. Amazing when in March I ran the Mercer Island Half Marathon in 1.38.  If nothing else it proves that hard work really does pay off. 

2. LasVegas Marathon in 2.56.29 (PR).  Not only was this a PR, but it was my first marathon!  Although I fell short of my secret sub 2.50 goal due to calf cramps at mile 22, I am pleased with this effort since I am Boston qualified and sub 3 hour in my first attempt. 

3. Sunny’s running debut, Portland’s Run Like Hell 10K.  She impressed me with a solid 37th overall|5th age group (out of 487) finish in 49.52!  That is an 8.02 pace per mile, awesome!

Looking ahead to 2009, I would like to get more miles on the bike and actually get into the pool.  I have not planned out a race schedule for 2009, but I would definitely like to shoot for a top 5 finish & sub 40 in the Shore Run.  Sunny is planning on running in her first half marathon.

Las Vegas & my first marathon

It is 5 a.m. and we are driving out to Sea-Tac.  This is it, seven months of exhausting work, preparation and sacrifice all comes to a head in about twenty-four hours.  The sacrifice isn’t just mine, but Sunny’s as well.  Thank you Sunny for all your support and sacrifice for this vain pursuit!

Southwest gets us to McCarran on time and without issue, unlike Alaska Air.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Alaska Air?  We take a shuttle over to the Four Seasons and try to check in early.  Props to Four Seasons as they allow us to check in early (10:30 or so).  The Four Seasons Las Vegas is an interesting set up.  Although the hotel has its own lobby the rooms occupy five floors within the Mandalay Bay.  A hotel within a hotel concept.  It is very nice, typical Four Seasons set up, but the most refreshing thing about the hotel is that it does not have any gaming tables or slot machines.  One thing that Sunny & I noticed while touring the mega resorts is that once inside they all look the same from the inside.  It does not matter if you are in the Wynn (sorry Steve) or Bally’s. 

Serenity in sin city

After picking up my race bib, nice low number, and quickly walking through the expo (for a race of this size the expo was rather disappointing).  We grab some lunch at a restaurant called China Grille in the Mandalay Bay.  The China Grille is one of the worst restaurants that we have ever tried.  This place is so bad that I will dedicate a separate post just to slam the China Grille. 

After lunch we walked down to Bellagio to pick up our dinner and “O” show tickets for Sunday night.  We ended “donating” $100 to the Bellagio general gaming fund.  As we headed back to our hotel we stopped off at P.F. Changs for dinner.  We needed something familiar after the lunch fiasco. 

3:00 a.m. wake up call.  Didn’t sleep very well, pre-race anxiety, minor cold, I am not sure, but either way I was tired and looking forward to a few cups of coffee.  I had been weaning off the caffine for the last couple weeks, so a cup or two or four of regular coffee hit the spot.  Breakfast included scrambled eggs, toast, Clif Bar, juice and a couple of Cold-EEZE lozenges.  We headed downstairs at around 5:40 a.m.  Another great thing about staying at the Four Seasons is the fact that the start is literally less than 100 yards from the start line.  I thought that I would have to push and prod my way closer to the front.  I saw a few people jumping over the fence to get closer to the front.  So, I followed suit, and after landing on the other side a race official came up to me (I thought that I would be told to head to the back for jumping the fence) looked at my bib number and escorted me to the front right behind the elites…awesome, felt like a celebertity for about 5 seconds!  There I was less than 2 feet behind MACCA.  I thought he would be taller. 

Due to my minor cold I decided not to blow it and go out too fast, but that is always easier said that done.  At about mile 3 I was fortunate enough to join up with a group of 6 guys that were running consistent 6:25 – 6:30 miles.

At 10k I took my first gel.  We were off the strip by this point and the city turned real ugly, fast.  Not much to look at so the miles really all blended together.  The weather was perfect – 48 degrees at the start, light wind and the course was actually as advertised… FLAT!

We came through 13.1 at 1.25.31 | 6.31 pace.  I was thinking right on track and feeling very strong.  It seemed like the pack leader picked up the pace, enough so that half way into mile 14 our group was now down to 4. 

We came through 30K at 1.58.40 | 6.21 pace (still feeling strong, didn’t even notice that the pace has increased that much – feeling real good after some quick math – we were on pace for a 2:46 finish!  It was a good thing that I had packed a few gels b/c there were no gels at the mile 18 aid station.  I made sure to drink Gatorade when it was offered.  “Don’t bother wasting space drinking water…MEB.” 

At mile 20 it was me and the leader of our original group of 7.  I was about 10 yards behind him and I got through 20 at 2.07.22 – still on sub 2.50 pace.  I was still feeling very strong and wasn’t feeling any affects of the wall, other than my consistent coughing, but was unable to close the now 20 yard gap of the group leader. 

At mile 22 there was a downhill that put us onto Frank Sinatra Drive.  The downhill and the pace finally caught up to me… too much.  My calves started to cramp and I went from a 6.25 pace to a crawling 8.21 pace. 

Final time – a humbling 2.56.29 – 34th overall | 4th age group. 

I had been struggling mentally with my time.  My A goal was right there for a majority of the 26.2 I was running at a pace that would have bettered my A goal by 3 -4 minutes for my first marathon.  I quailifed for Boston and ran my first marathon under 3 hours so with that I am struggling less. 

 

The above picture is me sauntering into the finish, my calves were like rocks at this point, even hurt to walk. 

 My agent and PR people called for a race report…

Post run meal...In N Out

After a nice hot shower Sunny & I walked over to In N Out.  We had been counting down the days for this and we were finally there… so we thought.  Las Vegas has got to be the least walk friendly city we have ever visited.  I am sure that it has nothing to do with the number of obese people that Vegas attracts.  Anyway, after some crafty navigating we finally made it!  Sunny ordered the regular burger and I got the double – double with cheese and we shared an order of fries. 

yum...

As you can see I am holding that sucker tightly, making sure that it doesn’t fall out of my hands…

... round two, c'mon it was 26.2 miles after all...

Yes, the caption is correct, there was a second round, two more hamburgers and another order of fries.  Full, but not overly stuffed. 

Dinner at Sensi & the "O" show at the Bellagio

After a quick nap we got ready to head out  for our dinner & show.  Dinner was at Sensi an Asian fusion resturant at the Bellagio.  We were told that all the restaurants at the Bellagio were great… oh really?!?!? okay.  What we discovered is that food in Vegas is nothing great, but it is seriously overpriced.  Even with the celeberity chef associations, nothing outstanding.  In fact, we concluded that In N Out was the best food and best value in all of Vegas.  That being said, Sunny ordered the Aromatic Thai Chicken and Cilantro Soup in Young Coconut, this was pretty good.  Much better than my salad.  I ordered the Wood Oven Roasted King Salmon as my main dish – again good, but c’mon we live in Seattle – how good can salmon be in the middle of the dessert?  Sunny ordered the Pan Seared Day Boat Scallops & Porcini Mushrooms.  Again good, but nothing mind blowing. 

Aromatic Thai Chicken & Cilantro Soup in Young Coconut

“O” on the other hand was very entertaining.  The acrobats and synchronized swimmers were outstanding.  My favorite performance was from the divers, incredible.  Also, the two clowns were funny.  We made a quick stop at Bally’s and “donate” some more money to their general gaming fund – I wonder if these “donations” are tax deductible , I should probably ask my brother.  By the time we made it back to the hotel I was ready to sleep. 

Monday morning began with a quick trip to the Four Seasons’ spa.  Sunny got in a quick 5 mile run and I sat on the bike for 40 minutes at level 1 to get my legs going.  After cleaning up we were ready to walk over to In N Out.  We found a more direct route which got us there in a jiffy (we learn from our mistakes). 

Day two, round one... c'mon it was 26.2 miles...

No holding back on this last full day in In N Out land.  Two burgers and an order of fries each.  It still proved not to be enough – you got it, another round!  This stuff is that good.  For those of you who have not had an In N Out burger – you are missing out.  For those of you who actually think Dick’s Drive In food is good – um, get your head out of your arse! 

Day two, round 2... a day after the marathon, I think I am back over 180 lbs

The remainder of Monday was spent visiting other hotels, shopping, gaming, and of course more eating.  We had dinner at the Deli at the Wynn, another recommendation and well you know what we think of the food in Vegas.  On the way back to the hotel we did stop off at the Coffee Bean & Tea in the Planet Hollywood shopping center and I had a pretty good hazelnut latte – non-fat of course. 

The root of all evil...

We decided to grab a bit to eat before heading out to the airport.  We got a tuna salad sandwich at the Red White & Blue Deli in Mandalay Bay, again nothing great and of course overpriced ($11).  I did splurge for the piece of cheesecake, it was good!  No wonder half of the population out there is obese with giant deserts and grand buffets I am actually surprised that the percentage is not higher. 

Dispite the fact that I don’t understand the attraction of Las Vegas, I must say that we had a great time!

Pearl Izumi Streak

Three weeks to go, 24 days according to (www.lvmarathon.com).  All I can say is - finally.  I begin tapering on the 17th, have been looking forward to putting an end to the doubles and the 20 + long runs.  I have a final 20+ day on Saturday and that will be it until 12.7.  

On October 19th I ran a PR in the Portland Run Like Hell half marathon wearing the Pearl Izumi Streak. The Streak is a light flat, great shoe!  I buy these great shoes from the greatest online retailer, Running Warehouse (www.runningwarehouse.com).  These folks have the best prices with free 2 day shipping.  Check them out if you need a new pair of kicks.  After a couple of light weeks (40 – 45 miles) I got back into the rhythm and have gotten 190 + miles since 10.27.  I ran a comfortable 22.5 miles in 2:26 last Saturday at a nice comfortable 6:38 mile pace.  I felt really good.  I am hoping for another good 20+ this Saturday, hopefully this Saturday will be dry.  

When I started this madness the goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon (3:15 time for my age group) but with the effort that I have put in these last few months I am going for a sub 3 hour/sub 2:50 if all goes well.  Since the 1:21:12 half in Portland (2nd half was involved a climb from mile 6.5 to mile 9.5) I keep the 2:50 in the back of my mind and have actually started thinking about 2:46 – 2:48, am I dreaming… perhaps, but I would rather set a high goal and miss it than set something too low and reach it, but that is just me.  We’ll see… three more weeks.

October 19, 2008 – Run Like Hell – Portland, Oregon

Today was the Run Like Hell Half Marathon & 10K run.  The Las Vegas Marathon is now 7 weeks out.  I needed to see just what the 100+ miles per week has done for me.  Well it turns out that it got me 10th overall & 3rd in my age group (35-39) – 1:21:12 | 6:12 pace.  This was a downtown Portland start and finish.  I was hoping for a faster time, but what I didn’t realize is that downtown Portland has some hills. In any event, I am happy with the results and will use these remaining 7 weeks to pursue my true goal of a sub-2:50 marathon…I am sure that Las Vegas is flatter than both Portland and Seattle, right?

Heading to the starting line

Sunny invited my parents to join us in Portland.  We picked them up early on Saturday morning for a nice and fast drive down.  They were up again early on Sunday morning to walk us down to the start, hold our warm-up gear, and be our official race photographers.  We enjoyed having them with us and we are pretty sure that they enjoyed themselves.  

Despite our pre-race diet restrictions we managed to enjoy a nice lunch at Cafe Umbria in the beautiful Pearl District.  We went back to the Pearl District for dinner at our old sushi hangout, Sinju.  Sunny & I enjoyed a decent bowl of udon and a couple of rolls.  Our staple rainbow roll and a nice new find, the baked crab roll.  

 

Sunny - an impressive debut

I am very proud of Sunny’s run today!  Her time in the 10k today was 49:52. That is an 8:02 pace good for 37th female overall and 5th in her age group.  Awesome!  This was her first organized run and her 10k personal best.   

Da prize...

We had been planning to hit our fave pizza place in Portland (Pizzicato) after the run, but just our luck, the company decided to close down their stores for a company picnic.  We managed to find Tribute’s Pizza in Nob Hill.  It turned out that the pie was worth the long wait…I mean long wait!  The photo does not do the pie justice.  Finally, a pie that can be called a “large” – this thing was 20 inches, can’t imagine the box for this thing.  When in Portland and when in need to satisfy a pizza crave, this is your place.  

Overall, another great trip to Portland for us.  We are back to training!