bulldog 25K training run

bulldog 25K training run officially in the books as of 9:57am. here's the final tally:

14.1 miles
2:47:12 total time
11'53" average pace
1,607 calories burned

i woke up at 5:15am to put down some food for the long slog ahead. made a smoothie of celery, raspberries, blueberries, a banana and carrot juice, packed my trusty salomon rucksack (50oz water in the bladder, 3 gels, a clif bar, a pro bar, a trail map, a digital camera, an extra 16.9oz water bottle & a ziploc for garbage) and hit the road at 6am. today's run was a non-sanctioned training run organized by the race director, so everybody pretty much arrived at the same time, formed small sub-groups and took off at their leisure.

i arrived at 6:40am, only to find all of the small lots already full. fortunately i found a spot off road 1/4 mile W on mulholland, so the walk to the inside of the park wasn't too bad. i bumped into a couple of coyotes to run with, so we shoved off at 7:10am to cloudy skies - perfect for running.

and... not for long, as about a 1/2 mile in the clouds dissipated and the sun reared its ugly head, so it was going to be a challenge to stay properly hydrated over the course of 14+ miles. at the xterra in april, my calf threatened to cramp up starting mile 11, so i wanted to play this one smart.

strategy-wise, i wanted to switch it up to try a different tactic. instead of blowing my wad trying to run all the way up bulldog (i made it 80% of the way up last time), fellow coyote louis and i decided to power walk most of it and run on the lesser inclines, in order to pace ourselves and save some juice for later.

the view headed up

no joke that bulldog

i'm not sure which method is better, but for me and on this day, that ended up being the right move. we crested bulldog - around mile 6 - in 81 minutes and fought our way thru rolling hills for the next 4 miles. my stomach started making hunger pangs, so i took down my blueberry pro bar around mile 8 to stem the tide.

mesa peak fire road

continuing down mesa peak

i felt pretty good hitting the single track at mile 11.5 - the start of my demise at the xterra - and joined up with an asian couple in order to not get lost thru the tricky and not-so-well-marked paths. also, i fueled up with one last gel at mile 12 to get me thru the last part of the run.

my pacers for the last 4M

hairpin turn at mile 11

the one final peak at mile 13 is a doozy - i had to walk part of this - but the remaining bit was relatively flat paved cement back to the starting line, where i promptly collapsed at the picnic benches in a joyous delirium of relief.

more horses!

finish line

i finished the 14.1M loop in 2:47:12, which was about 16 minutes slower than my race time at xterra, but the combination of the increased heat, walking up most of bulldog, as well as slowing down to draft behind the asian couple factored into the time. nevertheless, i set out to go under 3 hours and accomplished the goal in relatively good form, so i'm right in line with where i want to be...

2012 bulldog 50k / 25k trail run

i just signed up for the bulldog 25K trail run on august 25 at malibu creek state park, which kind of fit a few of the criteria i was looking for:

one, i was looking to bridge the gap from xterra point mugu (october 14), so this race is smack dab in the middle in terms of dates. two, i was looking to avenge my finish of the first half marathon i completed, so it's neat that this race happens to take place at the same exact scene of the crime. three, i feel like i've gotten stronger on the intermediate runs (7-10M), so i wanted to test the limits with a longer but still do-able run. 25K equates to 15.53M, so it's a mile and a half longer than xterra malibu creek.

there's also a 50K ultra that goes on simultaneously, which has runners doing the 25K loop twice. uh, i'll save that for another day...

the event organizer (trail run events) actually puts together non-sanctioned race previews a few saturdays before race date and sure enough, the first one is tomorrow morning. it will be a good indicator as to where i stand training-wise seven weeks out, so fingers crossed i'll be able to make it thru the heat and distance in one piece.

wish me luck!

http://trailrunevents.com/bulldog

coyote run - dirt mulholland

i thought about skipping out on thursday morning's run, because i did 9M the day before at crystal cove, and that it was my day off. plus, this is the only run in the rotation that's on the other side of the hill - meaning one must take the 405 freeway - so all signs were pointing to pass.

but when one of the coyotes posted that a few of them planned to start from mandeville canyon to avoid the 405 - albeit earlier at 5:45am - that helped turn the tide. it added another 3.4M total to whatever the group was doing, but i was game.

the four of us - erin, gwen, jack & i - started our ascent at the intersection of mandeville and hollyhock and soon joined the rest of the pack at 6:15am. dirt mulholland takes you out west instead of the usual north/south and you hit the backside of the nike missile tower, which is the usual destination when we do westridge.

there are options to do single track up top, so we did an assortment before heading back down. the final tally was 7.9M, which put me at 17M total in back to back days (wed/thurs)...

4th of july - BBQ

my friend elise was hosting an intimate shindig on the 4th at her spread in studio city, so i hitched a ride w/becky & joseph to partake in the tomfoolery. the home actually belongs to her grandmother, so the 70s interior vibe immediately transports you back to the time of the brady bunch and whatnot.

hilarious background

bathroom wallpaper

however, we spent most of our time outside enjoying the sun, the kiddie pool and a gripload of good food...

kiddie pool

all under control

loaded quesadilla

bomb salad

elise doling out handspun ice cream

backyard fun

crystal cove - trail run

arrived home on monday night to put in a 3/4 day of work on tuesday, before finding out that we had thursday & friday off in conjunction with independence day! woo hoo!

in celebration of my 5-day weekend, vim and i hit up crystal cove state park in newport beach for a longish trail run on wednesday. we plotted out an 8+ mile run using the xterra race as our guide, and set off from the parking lot just above el morro school off the PCH.

took the no name ridge for 1.1M before taking the connector to rattlesnake, which is a tasty 1.4M treat of single track and a helluva lot of fun.

access road

going up rattlesnake

0.4M further on the red tail ridge put us at the far north end of the park, then we made our way east before taking the moro ridge 3.4M all the way down.

missing link

furthest point from our car

spider web

last TO on the run

view of the coast

mysterious hatch

after checking out beautiful coastal views - despite more fog! argh! - at the tail end of moro ridge, we took the BFI then the last connector back to the car to finish at just over 9M for the day.

san francisco - day 3

monday was a leisure day, as our flight back to LA wasn't until 5:05pm. we hit up lunch with my mom - my dad had class at CCSF! - at crepevine, which serves up enormous portion of all things crepe (both savory & sweet).

irving location

the santa fe

moms and i split the santa fe w/scrambled eggs, grilled chicken apple sausage, green onions, provolone & salsa fresca, while heidi ordered the milano w/grilled eggplant, mushrooms, roasted garlic, spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella, cottage cheese & marinara (wow that's a mouthful).

we saved room for a dessert crepe as well - the riviera w/lemon butter & brown sugar, served with whipped cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. delicious.

the rest of the afternoon was spent kickin it w/my parents before heading out to SFO.

exciting!

rustic macarons

this time out, the weather was all clear so there were no delays getting out of there. it's always difficult to say goodbye to the city and to the folks, so hopefully we will all see each other soon enough...

flour + water review - san francisco

finally made it to flour + water on sunday evening for my dad's birthday! i've always wanted to visit, but seeing as i don't make it up north that often and seating comes at quite the premium here, it's never been in the cards.

that being said, i made a reservation for 6 nine weeks out, and even then the best time i could get was 5:45pm. no matter, as my parents eschew a big lunch and actually prefer an early dinner, so it couldn't have worked out better. the restaurant received a bit of notoriety last year when steve jobs paid a visit for dinner, but was turned away because he didn't have a reservation.

iFail

there was already a long line out the door prior to 5:30pm - when they open their doors - for those trying to snag an early seat, but we were promptly seated at 5:45pm. corkage fee is $20 if you bring your own bottle of wine, but if you purchase a bottle there, they waive the fee, so that's what we decided to do. they picked out a luscious and drinkable nero d'avola at $45 and brought out fresh bread and focaccia, so we were off to the races.

july 1 menu

cheers dad!

complimentary focaccia

main dining room

since our family wanted to try a variety of dishes to get the full first-time experience, i ordered across the board at whatever caught my eye. let's just say it wasn't difficult to do. a quick recap of our dishes:

* cured duck breast w/apricots, pickled ramps, carrots & bread crisps
* marinated squid w/melon, cucumber, avocado & mint
* lardo w/figs, whipped ricotta, charred eggplant & almonds

* cappellacci dei briganti w/rabbit polpettine, carrots & chili
* radiatore w/whey braised hen, speck, wild arugula & peppers
* salumi fattisu w/whole grain mustard
* spaghetti w/slow cooked egg, bread crumbs, squash & ricotta

* zucca pizza w/summer squash, pancetta, shaved onions, rosemary & fontal
* salsiccia pizza w/sausage, kale, caramelized onions, mozzarella di bufala & chili

* seared king salmon w/white corn, fava beans & summer squash
* roasted rabbit & pork belly w/smoked potatoes, carrot purée & nectarine

i can safely say that all of the above were amazing and on point, but if i had to take favorites, the marinated squid was one of the best dishes of the night. fresh and light, it was akin to a shot of cool summer in your mouth. but the real star of the show was the salsiccia pizza. if you know me at all, i'm not one to throw around hyperboles like candy. but i can honestly say that it was the best pizza i've had in my lifetime. bar none. the texture and chew of the crust, the incredible balance of flavor, not to mention that every ingredient on there is a favorite of mine.

the amazing salsiccia

good lookin couple

birthday boy!

awkward group pose

because we were planning to take a stroll for ice cream at humphry slocombe after dinner, we begrudgingly had to pass on dessert. but fear not - a return visit is definitely in the cards.

while at humphry slocombe, i went all alcohol all the time: the potent rum raisin and the even stronger secret breakfast, which consisted of bourbon and cornflake clusters. do you even need to ask how good it was? haha

you scream, ice cream

rediscovering our youth

flour + water

2401 harrison st. (at 20th st.)

san francisco, CA 94110
http://www.flourandwater.com/

humphry slocombe

2790A harrison st. (at 24th st.

san francisco, CA 94110

http://www.humphryslocombe.com

san francisco - pork store café + ferry building

since the GG bridge was nearly invisible due to cloud cover, we skipped walking across it and headed to the venerable haight/ashbury district to refuel on brunch. caroline recommended the pork store café, so away we went.

corner of haight/ashbury

look up!

it's a small and bustling SF institution that doesn't hurt for customers, so there's typically a short wait outside. FYI they won't seat you until everyone in your party is present, so keep that in mind if you pay a visit.

captured in mid-chew

line & heidi up top

i went with the two eggs (scrambled), two blueberry pancakes and sausage, and it couldn't have hit the spot any better, especially after my 9M run. after filling up, we headed to the ferry building to check out even more food - a common theme here - to consume...

attractive duo

wine bar

pork store café

1451 haight st.

san francisco, CA 94117

http://www.porkstorecafe.com/