Skip to main content

Watch out for the good guys

By

Back from the great beyond- all parts, California. I got a little bit of everything in: a stop at Polly's for coffee on a couple occasions, wine tasting in Napa, celebrity treatment at a top-notch French restaurant, and some excellent scenery and running. I spent the first couple days in Long Beach and got a solid 20 miler in running from my uncle's house all the way down to Huntington Beach and Bolsa Chica. Next up was a stay in Escalon just north of Modesto, which is serious orchard country with trails in every direction and fresh fruit stands all over the road. From there we headed to Napa


to stay with my dad's old UCLA roommate. He took us to 2 really nice wineries set in amazingly lush hills. We then had dinner Chez Jeanty which offered traditional French fare. It was a great experience as we were treated by the owner to several dishes and desserts in addition to what we ordered. I had Coq Au Vin, but also sampled sweet breads,

escargot, pate', and crepe suzette to name a few. Next, we went to Rio Nido by way of Bodega Bay which is the setting of Hitchcock's The Birds. Rio Nido is a quiet little place set right on the Russian River, another big wine region. We visited with my mom's cousins here who have these great houses precariously situated on the top of hils with amazing views. I really liked this area because it was more rural then Napa but also had more character then Modesto, with alot of counter culture types and less of the yuppy appeal. Apparently, my mom's cousin is a member of Levi Leipheimer's gym and I also saw a guy who was decked out in full Slipstream attire so I presume he was a real team member. So, just a quick run down of the last 2 weeks. Alot of exciting travels and some harrowing driving through the Central Valley in high winds.
As far as giving a head's up to a local eatery, the fact that I haven't been in town makes no difference. It's been far too long since I've taken the short jaunt north on Sooner Rd. to Royal Bavaria.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ride the wave

By
I hit the track this morning for some work. It was another nice morning but I can't imagine the humidity abating for long. Jordan and Meagan had matching workouts of 4-8-12-16-16-12-8-4 w/ 60 second rest. The paces prescribed were quick and I didn't run great but I tried to hang with Jordan on the middle reps. I should hopefully be able to substantially improve on my efforts this morning and maybe feel better doing it. I did something like a 200-500-1100-800-1600-1200-600-200, I wasn't happy with missing out on the first 1600 but I had to break for the restroom and I at least touched on some faster paces on the other reps. The recovery made it a pretty honest effort and I at least was able to sneak below 5:00 pace. My goal for the summer is breaking 15:00 so we'll see what happens. The picture above is my uncle's digital rendering of a wave complete with a frigate bird. I think he used only Adobe throughout the process.
Post a Comment
Read more

some ups and downs

By
I ran the Little Rock Marathon last weekend, finishing in 2:28:30ish. The race director took good care of all the elite runners, giving both the 1/2 and fullers the option of staying in the race hotel 2 nights prior to the race. I will note that their standards seem fairly relaxed and yet they gave us some nice little perks, with staging areas before and after and dinner before and whatnot. I again have to tip my hat because this is clearly not the norm in today's race circuit and if it is offered, there is often a very limited number of allowed elite spots. I had contacted the Woodlands marathon for instance and was not going to be offered any more than a comped entry, even though the marathon field was very limited. I have a number of issues surrounding this phenomenon but will just make note of the races that make an effort to help someone like myself. The course at Little Rock is quite winding and undulating for about 18 miles but then smoothes out and allows for a steady fin...
Post a Comment
Read more

blog, blog, blog

By
I'm spreading the gospel in a few other forums. Firstly, I'm going to be remarking to the appeal of Okie fitness advocates, hopefully including crossfitters, at okathletes.com . Additionally, I'm keeping a training log at Fast Running Blog , where there are a few other Oklahomans, namely Jason Butler and Jake Buhler along with some other salty characters. I needed somewhere to tally the training miles so right now it will be this place, although I'm well aware there are probably better online training logs. I'm back to logging some miles, feeling fitter and having good company from Asher, I think his secret is recovering well, utilizing the most comfortable places to sleep and plenty of strides chasing squirrels.
Post a Comment
Read more