As I wrote about in February, my coworker Dave and I spent 30 days engaged in a miles challenge. Two other coworkers, Magnus and Robert, joined the challenge late, and Dave was battling the flu. With 96.32 miles in 30 days, I won the first challenge:
The very next day (Thursday, March 13), Challenge II began with 5 of us (Cecil joined the 4 of us from last time), and is already proving to be a tough battle between Dave, Magnus, and me for the leading position:
As of tonight, with 22.88 miles since Thursday, I pulled ahead of the pack following my 6.49-mile pre-dinner run (and also boosted by my 10.12-mile TnT run yesterday). I set a new per-mile record in my run today (7:24 in mile 1). Magnus currently holds the #2 spot with 21.17 miles and Dave is in the #3 spot with 16.56 miles.
This was also a record week for me, with 5 runs (M, T, Th, Sat, Sun) and 32.64 miles!
Speaking of dinner, Jen made a most delicious baked ziti tonight, which we enjoyed with Jen’s mom, Jane. It was perfect post-running, carblicious cuisine.
Saturday, March 15th, 2008 · Comments Off on A Downtown Saratoga Morning
Last Saturday morning Jen and I woke up bright ‘n early and had a really great outing in downtown Saratoga. We started the morning with a pleasant breakfast and some delicious eats (quiche, coffee, apple tarts) at the delectable Mrs. London’s, which was recently featured in USA Today as having “artisan breads (that) have long been among the best in America” and where “everything is done with a spectacular flair for both presentation and flavor.” I agree.
We then walked over to the winter location of the Farmer’s Market (inside the Salvation Army building) to secure some local, farm-fresh eggs, yogurt, and other items. Then it was on to Sloppy Kisses to buy some natural rawhides and other meaty treats for Stella and Happy.
The rest of our morning outings brought us to Wilton, but our handful of visits at downtown Saratoga shops was a really cool experience, which reinforced just how much we enjoy living in our little city in the country.
This morning I ran 10.11 miles in Albany, so my legs feel a bit like Jello right now.
The last meeting of the Saratoga Wine Club was in November, so we were overdue. Sarah and Eric stepped up to the plate to host their second consecutive rockin’ wine club, which doubled as a send-off for founding club member Brian, who’s moving to San Francisco.
The evening was great fun, with tastings of 3 whites and 5 reds. Anne and Tom were yet again declared winners with their entry of Red Truck. My favorite wine of the evening was Pacific Rim dry Riesling, which Alexis brought.
Good times, Wine Clubbers, and thanks again for hosting such a fun evening, Sarah and Eric!
We partied all weekend (more updates soon) and I ran 8 miles on Sunday. Then I ran 3 more miles with Happy Dingo on Monday. Then, with yesterday’s 6.61-mile run, I reached almost exactly 100 logged miles (100.33) on my Nike+ site. I earned this cool little 100-mile certificate:
That brings my total training mileage since December 26 to 170.13:
The other cool thing I discovered in the last mile or so of my run yesterday — after struggling and having some leg pain — is a new technique that seems to require less effort and helps me run faster (akin to the first time I skied on shaped skis). It may sound obvious, but I realized that I hadn’t been pushing off my toes — leveraging the full length of my foot. As a sprinter, I had been accustomed to running solely on my toes. Then when I started running more than a mile, I switched to landing on my heels. So I think I went from one extreme to the other and had been running somewhat flat-footed with my heel strikes. I’m looking forward to making the most of my stride in the next 100 miles and beyond!
And although I’ll likely be taking a day off running today to rest, today ends the first miles challenge with my coworkers, which started with just Dave, then Magnus and Robert joined later. With 96.32 miles in the challenge, my win is looking secure, with Dave and Magnus battling it out for 2nd:
Saturday, March 8th, 2008 · Comments Off on Nana: A Memorial Resolution
Last night I dreamt that Stella, Happy, and I were hanging out at Nana’s house. We were playing in the yard and Poco was in one of the bedrooms, awaiting her turn to run outside (since she never got along with Stella and Happy). I hung out in the driveway, sitting on the bumper of the old Saturn wagon (the Golden Chariot, as Jen and I fondly nicknamed it). I was just enjoying being back at that house. I often have dreams like that, and Nana is often in them.
So today — on the 6th year anniversary of Nana’s passing — I blog once again in Nana’s honor and memory. This post includes some great photos of Nana with Jen and my Dad from Easter 2000 (April 23, 2000), which we hosted at our old home on Treasure Island:
Nana loved visiting us on Treasure Island and she loved the fresh ocean air, which was great for her breathing. That year my Dad apparently joined us for what seems to have been a small Easter, at least according to the photographic evidence I could find.
In the below photo Jen and Nana are showing off their turkey, and Jen’s looking at me as if to say, “will you stop taking pictures and give us a hand already?” 🙂
So cheers to Nana and the joy she brought so many of us and the difference she made in so many lives. To that end, I also decided to include in this year’s post some photos and scans of California State Assembly Memorial Resolution Number 1750, sponsored by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, which was passed in Nana’s honor “this 8th day of May, 2002:”
Page 5 of the PDF outlines some of Nana’s amazing accomplishments in her life, from working in then-Governor Reagan’s administration in the 1970s to founding 3 publishing companies (one of which, Capitol Enquiry, still thrives today under the management of my uncle and aunt) to being a lifelong advocate for women’s rights, including being the founder of the Sacramento chapter of the National Women’s Caucus. I like how the resolution concludes:
Resoved by Assembly Member Darrell Steinberg, that the exemplary life and illustrious record of professional and civic accomplishments of Ruth Cory Pritchard be memorialized henceforth and hereafter, and that her bereaved family and friends be extended heartfelt sympathy.
Monday, March 3rd, 2008 · Comments Off on Weekend Recap: Movies, Snow, Taxes, Running
Movies, more snow, taxes 2007, and running. That’s pretty much what sums up mine and Jen’s past weekend.
Friday night we rented a couple movies and watched the first one that night: Eagle vs. Shark. It was a cute New Zealand flick about a shy girl who falls for a dorky guy. There were some great laughs. It was both funny and sad. Who will you root for? The eagle or the shark?
Saturday we awoke to another 8 inches or so of snow, so spent some time snow blowing, roof raking, and shoveling.
Then we spent most of the afternoon working on (and finishing) our taxes. We have a pretty good system down where we start with this spreadsheet that summarizes all our income, interest/dividends, and deductions (mortgage, charitable, DBA business expenses, and miscellaneous), then we use the spreadsheet to help us fill out the “tax organizer” that we get from our tax preparer (we still use the same awesome tax professional we did in San Francisco). And that’s it! Then we just make copies of originals and FedEx the rest to San Francisco. It’s pretty painless and we always rest assured we’re in good hands with our Enrolled Agent.
Saturday evening we cruised down to Albany to meet up with Alex and Cati for drinks, pizza, and another movie: In Bruges. The movie was not so great. There were some funny moments, but the trailer is misleading. It’s a pretty dark and violent film, and I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone.
Luckily, before the movie we had some bright moments at a really fun British-style pub called Mahar’s. It’s a beer drinker’s place where beer’s the only thing on the menu — and plenty of it. Alex and I counted 34 beers on tap, and hundreds more bottled options. They do this beer club thing where you can print out a list of the beers you’ve tasted and work toward the ultimate of goal of 500 beers to get your name engraved on a plaque. Sounds like fun, but I’ll be sticking to my local mug club.
After just 4 hours of sleep Saturday night (1am to 5am), I woke up and cruised back down to Albany for the weekly Team in Training run (psst… sponsors still needed, please, in the fight against blood cancers!). It was really windy and I was having a hard time breathing, so I only did 9 miles instead of my planned 10. Alex and I did run together for the first 6.61 miles, though, which was cool, before my iPod conked out and I lost my run data. Luckily, though, I spent the afternoon hacking my iPod to recreate the lost run.
Four hours of sleep and a 9-mile run has a way of making one pretty beat. So the rest of Sunday was pretty lazy. Aside from aforementioned iPod hacking, and blogging about it, we just lazed around watching the tube and another movie: Waitress. It was a really great movie. I’d put it in the category of a dark romantic comedy, if there is such a thing. But less romantic comedy and more about a woman’s struggle to discover who she really is and to break away from her abusive husband.
Tragically, the writer/director, Adirenne Shelly, who also played one of the leading women in the film, was murdered in her apartment before the movie was released. The asshole who killed her got only 25 years in prison (meanwhile, introducing two people who want to buy and sell marijuana in Indiana can land you a life sentence; Jen’s reading Reefer Madness now so we were talking about this terrible injustice).
Happy February 29! It’s not every day I get the opportunity to blog on February 29th, so I thought the -16 degree temperature showing on my Google Desktop gadget right now was as good an excuse as any to post something:
Wow, negative 16. Now that’s freakin’ cold! We’re about to walk the dogs and find out just what that feels like.
Google is celebrating today with a frog in its logo:
The last two days brought some insane snow here in the Northeast. It snowed nonstop all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Only this morning has the snow subsided and the skies parted to a glorious, sun-filled blue. It’s beautiful out there today and there’s a ridiculous amount of snow on the ground.
It snowed at least a foot Tuesday — so much so that I spent about an hour plowing our driveway (Jen and I both intended on leaving the house to go to respective meetings), only to find that when I was done, the city hadn’t yet plowed our street, so there was at least a foot of snow in the street… no way we could’ve gone anywhere without getting stuck. I ended up helping a neighbor dig her car out of the street in front of her house where she’d gotten stuck trying to get home from work. It was also a good excuse for a photo shoot, of course.
The snow continued all day yesterday, so I did two more snowblowing sessions — one in the morning and one in the evening before Jen returned home from her internship. There wasn’t quite enough snow to justify blowing this morning, so I just finished shoveling away the final light, powdery inch or so. It doesn’t help that my wrist still hurts like hell from skiing on Saturday.
Before yesterday I hadn’t run since my 10-mile run on Sunday, so I was feeling the need to clock in some miles. Yesterday I braved the still-falling snow, piercing wind, 24-degree air temperature, and slushy roads to clock in a short 2.3-miler before my better judgment told me to bring it on home before I fell on my ass:
Despite the conditions (and no doubt due to its being such a short run), I got my best per-mile time so far (7:30) and best overall pace (7:48). I’ll be back into my college era low 6-minute pace in no time. 🙂
On a dare from my wife almost exactly 3 years ago, I posted to my blog one of the worst photos ever taken of me: Gabertooth Tiger. The photo was taken in August 2000, shortly after my wisdom teeth removal surgery.
Just over a week ago Jen got all 4 of her wisdom teeth out, and we spent all last week bringing her back to health — and taking fun photos. So now it’s Jen’s turn to show off some of her post-wisdom teeth removal glamour shots. Oh yes. Let the fun begin.
Why did I look so awesome, I know you’re wondering. Well, I may have had the hair, but Jen gets the prize for the yellow face, as seen here in this ultimate glamour shot:
