It’s been a while, my friends (all 4 of you who may actually read this, ha!). But – I just wanted to provide an update as to where I am (still in San Francisco, thank goodness), and why I’ve been silent.
It hasn’t been for the lack of tasty adventures. We took a trip to Florida, for the wedding of DD’s younger brother, and ate at a couple of memorable restaurants (Pubbelly Sushi and Sugar Cane Raw Bar & Grill). When we’re not traveling I’ve still been cooking during the weekends for our weekly meals, but haven’t been as assiduous with documenting those attempts. We’ve also been eating out while in the city, but I’ve a backlog of photos needing to be processed and uploaded. During Porcini season, DD had been in full-forage mode, and we tried to come up with more recipes to use up the lovely mushrooms he’d been bringing home.
And so perhaps I should let on about another obsession that’s taken over me – and that – oddly enough, has been this thing called running.
I have never, ever, been a runner. In high school, the best I could muster was a 13+ minute mile, and that was with a lot of walking and wheezing and complaining. But this year I learned about a Couch to 5K iphone app called Get Running from a friend, and decided to give it a go. Perhaps what was key was the fact that DD was also interested, and we completed the training program together. At the time when I started, I wanted to use it as nothing more as an intro to get started with including running as a regular form of exercise for me – if I could run 3-5 miles 3 times a week for fitness and health, that would be a good goal.
But DD had loftier ambitions, and declared that we should sign up for an actual race – a 5k – to run just as we were finishing our Couch to 5k Get Running program. And sure enough, there happened to be one, put on by the Dolphin South End (DSE) Running Club, billed as San Francisco’s oldest club of its kind, the very week we ran our final 30-minute jaunt with Get Running.
I’ve told the story of our meal the night before, of how I foolishly, somewhat wilfully “forgot” that we had a race the next day, and whipped up a batch of very spicy pork and rice cakes. The havoc this spicy dish wreaked on our insides and the hilarity that ensued is now recorded, for posterity, on Facebook.
But by the end of 2011, Danny and I had run about 5-6 races officially between us (from a 5k, 7k, 10k, 12k, and our first ever Half Marathon with Brazen Racing over Thanksgiving Day weekend (where DD placed 3rd in his age group, btw!), while DD continues to train for his first-ever marathon in Napa on March 4th, his first before he turns 30 this year. We run 2-3 times during the work week, and make sure to never miss our long training run on the weekend. Danny has made it up to 18 miles; I’m topping out at 13.1, sticking with Half Marathons for a bit this year.
We’ve been inspired by Endorphin Dude, who completed 52 marathons in 52 weeks(!) this year, and the Not That Lucas Family, with a truly awe-inspiring and almost mind-blowing spreadsheet of races from 2011.
And there you have it – a little explanation about why I haven’t been posting too much. Oh – and we’re in contract to buy a house of our own! (But that’s for another blogpost…)
And, just in case you’re interested, here’s a summary of our races from 2011:
- 09/04/2011: DSE Marina Green 5k (CC + DD)
- 10/02/2011: Glide Floss Bridge to Bridge 4k/ 7k (I did the 4k; Danny the 7k)
- 11/12/2011: Mermaid Series 10k (CC)
- 11/24/2011: Brazen Racing Nitro Turkey 5k (CC + DD)
- 11/26/2011: Brazen Racing Quarry Turkey Half Marathon (CC + DD)
Pingback: New Running Shoes | Tabemasu()