Surf City Here We Come

No rain! Yes! Forecast called for light showers this morning for the Huntington Beach Half Marathon which would have blown goats big time. But it looks dry out there. Kristen's knee is bothering her so she's not running the full marathon and is instead opting for the Half. She'll still beat me with a wounded knee. Well, away we go!

Santa Monica 13.1

Kristen ran the inaugural Half Marathon in Santa Monica on Sunday and ran a really great time: 1:37. She didn't PR, but it still kicks the living hell out of most people's time. And as a reward for finishers, Marilyn Monroe, Austin Powers and even Darth Vader joined in on the fun. Aw.

Mmmm beer.

I had a bottle of this the other night and I have to say that it is stellar. BevMo has it right now. Go out and get some. Anderson Valley Brewing Company makes some amazing suds so search them out.

Montreal 2009

Kristen and I hit Montreal for a quick vacation after Xmas this year. It's a great city. Metro. Underground city. Lots of old architecture mixed in with the new and the people are extremely friendly. And it truly is French. We thought it might be more "French" themed, but no no. It's like being in France without having to cross the pond. Nice. We ran on the hotel dreadmills every day and then walked around the city (in 0 degree weather btw) stopping occasionally to shop and drink some vino. Good times. Now, back to reality.

Up the cuts

Okay, after having about the 12th person tell me I look too skinny (several even used words such as "unhealthy" and "gaunt") I am kicking my weight gaining weight training into high gear. Lots of food all day with plenty of Cytogainer shakes. I was at 152 when I started training, ran the race at 140 and am currently at 148. My goal is 160. Not sure how long that'll take, but I can't have the wifey saying my skinniness is "not sexy" anymore. I agree with her btw. My biggest hurdle? Running. 5k and 10k's is one thing, but half marathon training puts my mileage for the week over 20 on average. This is gonna be tough.

Petit Verdot

Michael/David winery in Lodi has some of the best wines I've tasted that come from California. I know I know. Lodi? Huh? It's up by Stockton. They have a ton of wineries and I have yet to go to one that has been pretentious in any way. That's a huge plus. Anyway, Kristen and I opened up a bottle of their 2005 Petit Verdot. They call it "Inkblot". Amazing. Rich, fruit forward, but not dessert wine sweet, lots of vanilla and bing cherries, smooth finish, not a lot of tannin. The real bummer, which I just discovered, is that they no longer sell this wine and it's extremely hard to find a bottle anywhere. That's too bad. So, if you happen to see a bottle of this somewhere, GRAB IT! You won't regret it.

Thanksgiving '09

Ran the Long Beach Turkey Trot on Thursday and scored a PR! 54:03 for a 10k. Okay, nothing great, but it's 23 seconds faster than my previous. Kristen thought I was going to break 50 minutes, but I didn't. However, I did think I would have knocked it down to at least something in the 53 minute area. She asked if I try hard enough. You know, right now my philosophy is that it's only worth it ("it" being running) as long as it's fun. If training becomes a chore (as it did during the buildup to the LB marathon) and I push really, really hard to the point where I'm miserable, then I'll lose interest. Well, sort of. I guess if getting a PR is the be all end all then that would make running annoying. So, in the end, I cut 23 seconds off my last 10k time and I enjoyed the run while always being in that "slightly uncomfortable" mode. When I PR'd my 5k time last February I remember running the race in a "really, really uncomfortable" mode and as a result I knocked about 4 minutes off my previous time. That's okay for a 5k, but 6.2 miles of that...well, not right now. Right now I'm content to gradually lower my times. It gradually gets easier to run better times without the training and the actual race being something to dread. Then again, maybe I'm just a slacker.

Our running club, AREC, has a new trail running training program going on right now that is preparing people for the Catalina Half and full Marathons coming up in the winter. You don't have to be running the race to participate in the training runs so it's a nice change of pace to hit the hills occasionally on Saturdays. I'm hoping the extra effort will pay off during my half marathon in Huntington Beach in February and Kristen's full marathon. And speaking of Kristen's marathon, we just found out that the 2010 Boston Marathon is already sold out so she won't be able to run it. Bummer, but I guess you have 2 years from the day you qualify to run it so she'll give it a shot in 2011.

Well, I'm off for my long run.