San Francisco: Part 2

I think I left off Wednesday afternoon after our hilly walk back to the hotel. We rested up and then went to a Massachusetts School Psychology social on the 42nd floor of the Hilton. The view was amazing, too bad I forgot to take a picture (oops). I did mange to get a group shot of our cohort!

I have had an amazing 3 years with these guys and am sure going to miss them next year!!! We did not want the fun to end, so our cohort (plus a few significant others) went over to Limon for dinner.

Limon is a Latin-style tapas restaurant recommend to us by friends. Oh my, this restaurant was in the top 3 of the trip!!! It had a Latin feel and was also hip and trendy. They seated our large group on the loft overlooking the entire restaurant.

I started with a glass of Malbec and then switch to sangria.

Cheers!

Evan and I split a few small and large tapas. First up yucca fries (best fry EVER!!!)

Beef stir fry

Short ribs (Best meal of the night)

Stuffed Calamari (actually this was not very good, but maybe because we were too full at this point)

Amazing dinner!! If you are in San Fran, RUN to Limon!!!

After dinner the group headed out for a few drinks and laughs at a bar.

Thursday morning, I woke up early to head tackle these San Francisco hills. I decided on a route that included some flat terrain and some hills. I ran to Market Street, down Market to the water, along the water to Fisherman's Wharf and then back down the roads we walked up on Wednesday to the hotel. The total run was just under 5 miles. Here are the stats:

Distance: 43:25
Duration: 4.9
Mile 1: 7:31
Mile 2: 8:12
Mile 3: 8:08
Mile 4: 10:42 (major HILLS!!)
Mile .9: 8:52 (1/2 of the mile was HILLS!!)

The run was really good, tough, but good! The first part, I had a lot of energy and went FAST!!! Then I got to the hills and I cannot even put into words how tough it was. I only did about a mile of hills, but at some points I had to walk (OK at a lot of points I had to walk). There was even a few cars that drove by and beeped at me for being crazy. Haha, I am glad I can say I got to run up the San Fransisco hills!!

After recovering from the run, I met Laura at the conference to attend a few more presentations on RTI and high school students. They were pretty good, one was better than the other. After the talks, we met up with the guys and headed over to the famous Ferry building for lunch.

Unfortunately it was raining, so we grabbed a cab. However, the Ferry building was literally my favorite event all trip! Here are a few sites from the building:

We made our way to a food court like restaurant in the ferry building for lunch: 1/2 sandwich, 1/2 soup, 1/2 salad

And amazing dessert: Vegan caramel donut and Blue Bottle coffee (split with Evan)

We spent the rest of the rainy afternoon sampling beer at local brewpubs. Check out Evan's blog for the  beery details. All I can say is we tasted some AMAZING beers, too bad we can't get the good stuff in MA.

Stay tuned for the final addition of the San Francisco trip, including my number one restaurant out of the whole vacation!!!

Beer and Bowling!

We are experiencing some wet weather here in Boston (at least it isn't snow!). Since it was raining, I decided to head back to my old pal Mr. Treadmill. I went back on the Woodway and ran a quick 6 miles in 53 minutes. Man, was it fast! I was sweating and huffing and puffing, but it was a good workout and I even sustained an 8.0 mph pace for a while! It was good to work up a sweat for the first time all week!

I am dealing with a little issue that I hope you guys can help out with....My training hasn't been going exactly as planned with all this snow and wedding stuff. So, I was kinda revisiting my race schedule for the spring. I noticed that a lot of bloggers are running a "Run to Remember" in Boston at the end of May. However, if I run the Providence marathon (with the DreamFar team) at the beginning of May it might be too much running in one month for my legs. However, I noticed that the The Cox marathon (Providence marathon) also offers a half marathon option at the same time/day/and place as the full marathon. So, I was thinking of running both the Cox half marathon at the beginning of May (instead of the full marathon) and then the "Run to Remember" half marathon at the end of May. There is also the New York marathon in the Fall or the Lowell marathon, and it would be SO much nicer training for my first marathon in the summer months........

What do you guys think? Do you think that would be too much running in the month of May? Would it be a bad thing not to run a marathon this spring and wait till the Fall of next year? Thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!


In other news, I had a lovely afternoon of beer and bowling today! Evan, unfortunately, had to work so I met my mom and brother for a little bowling. I had heard of this new bowling alley that opened up in Davis Square, so when we were thinking of something to do on a rainy winter afternoon I suggested checking it out!

The place was called Sacco's Bowl Haven and man was it cool! It is owned by Flatbread's, a pizza company, that offers a 10 lane bowling alley with a pizza restaurant attached. Flatbread's is an organic, locally grown minded restaurant that features unique pizzas and local beers. Also most of the tables and the bar were made from recycled bowling lanes.

VERY COOL!! We weren't hungry for pizza, but since there was a one to two hour wait we decided to sit at the bar and grab a beer! I started with a Ommegang Carranza-- Mmmm, yum!

After we finished our first round, our lane was ready and we started bowling! It was a LOT of fun, but I was not very good.....

As we bowled, I sipped on a glass of organic Cabernet Savigon that was dry and spicy and just how I like it!

Needless to say I lost both strings, but I had SUCH a fun time! I will definitely need to take Evan back, so I can practice for a future rematch!

Relaxing the rest of the night and getting ready for the big game tomorrow!

Any fun Super Bowl plans?

Slow Saturday Slosh in the Sloppy Snow

Friday night I went out for a few drinks after work with my friends Vicki and Laura. I started with a glass of Riesling (Chateau St. Michelle) and then split a UFO white with Laura. I LOVE the wine, but did not care for the beer.

After drinks, we said goodbye to Laura and headed out to dinner downtown. I purchased a $25 restaurant.com gift card a few weeks ago to Red Sky and could not wait to use it. I started with a Key Lime Pie Martini:

BEST DRINK of the night!!! For dinner, Vicki and I split a caprese salad:

For my entree I ordered a chicken flat bread (unphotographed). All the food was delicious and inexpensive. I would highly recommend going back to this restaurant if you want a hip vibe where you can have fun drinks and a few appetizers.

After dinner we spent the rest of the night bar hopping around the Faniel Hall and Financial District areas. I had two more drinks through out the night and tried to drink lots and lots of water. It was a really, really fun night!!! However, I quickly discovered that my body is not like it once was when I was 21.

I woke up Saturday morning at 10am (Which is SO late for me) and rushed out for a run. My family, Evan and I were scheduled to go out reception site hunting, so I had to get out quickly for a run. I was supposed to do 12 miles, but only had time for 8.

Let's just say it was NOT a pretty run!!! I felt horrible, horrible and almost stopped and walked a few times. I felt nauseous, dizzy and was overheating. Here are my stats:

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:11:46
Mile 1: 9:08
Mile 2: 9:37
Mile 3: 9:04
Mile 4: 8:55
Mile 5: 8:41
Mile 6: 8:52
Mile 7: 8:29
Mile 8: 8:57

The good news: I felt better as the run went on and I completed the 8 miles. The bad news was it wasn't pretty! Between not feeling good and the roads (especially at the start) were SO snowing. It was NOT a good run!

Would you go out for a run after a night out? How do you conquer snowy roads? 


Feeling better today! So, I am off to take a Body Pump class and run my last four miles to equal the 12 I was supposed to run yesterday. Hope you had a great weekend!!!

Tuning Up!

Well, we have another snow day here in Boston! I had a 7 mile run planned with DreamFar, but due to the weather (and no school) I was (again) on the treadmill. However, the run was not too bad and I finished in 61:30 minutes. I kept my incline at .5 and varied my speed between 6.3mph to 7.5mph.

What made the run go by nice and fast was my music selection. I thought I would use this post to discuss music taste. Just as important to feeling good on a run is having some good music to get you through it(especially when you are on the treadmill!!). Here are my current top 10 favorites:

1) Club Can't Handle Me: Flo Rida
2) Dynamite: Taio Cruz
3) Dog Days are Over: Florence and The Machine
4)  King of Anything: Sara Bareillas
5) Medley: Jersey Boys
6) Bad Romance: Lady Gaga
7) December 1963: Jersey Boys
8) Break Your Heart: Taio Cruz
9) Not Afraid: Eminem
10) Defying Gravity: Wicked

What are your favorite tunes to listen to while you run? Do you prefer listening to music, podcast, watching TV, reading magazines, talking to friends or nothing while you run?


Once home I fueled up with this nutritious and delicious lunch!

Pastrami and mustard on honey bread with a side salad of spinach, cinnamon almonds, pepper, carrots and cucumbers (and an unphotographed apple)

Mmmmm I LOVE toasted sandwiches!!! Off to meet a friend for coffee and then to a wedding gala with my mom!

Oh and check out Evan's new blog Just Add Beer!! It is great!

Impromptu Night Out

We ended up getting hit pretty hard yesterday and the snow kept coming even into the early evening. However, Evan and I saw the snow storm as an opportunity to get really cheap theater tickets! Let me explain: for Christmas my mom bought my dad tickets to Jersey Boys and the performance they chose was for last night (Wednesday). Since we got hit hard with the snow storm my mom wasn't sure if the performance was still going on. She received a phone call mid afternoon saying the show was still going on as planned, but if she decided not to attend they would refund her. Hmmm, this got me thinking: What are they going to do with all those extra tickets? Maybe they will sell them at half price? So, Evan (after work) trudged through the snow and went to the box office. They were not selling half price tickets but, they had "obstructed view" seats for only $28 (my mom paid $75 for hers). The guy at the box office told Evan to buy them and just move seats when we get there because a lot of people would not show up with the weather. So, what to do?

And my parents ended up coming in too!!! Before the show, we met up with them at an old German Pub (oldest bar in Boston) for a quick bite and beer.

Evan and I walked through a winter wonderland on the way to the restaurant.

Immediately upon entrance into the restaurant I ordered a Goose Island Matilde to warm up!

Mmmmmm...I love Belgium Beers!!

Then munched on some amazing corn bread!

For my entree, I ordered the spinach salad with walnuts, a soft cheese (not sure what kind), grilled pears, and chicken.

It was very good, nice and light. Thus, I could eat more corn bread and drink more heavy beer!!!

The show was VERY fun!! It had a great story and great music. I know the Four Season's music, but I didn't know the story behind the group. I danced the night away and Evan and I ended up getting great seats! It was a wonderful impromptu night out!!!

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I did not end up running with DreamFar today because I was afraid I would get injured with all the snow still unplowed on the sidewalks. So, I ran 5.5 miles on the treadmill in 49 minutes. It was a a good run and it was nice to have a controlled temperature and environment, especially when I looked outside and it was SO snowy and cold! I decided I really like running on the treadmill with runs shorter than 6 miles, but prefer outside for longer runs. 

Do you prefer treadmill or outside? What about in the winter?

Almost Friday!!! 

Burgers and Beer!

Just got back from a great run with the DreamFar team! Man, was it fast and cold!! There is a storm coming in tomorrow, so today definitely felt like the calm before the storm. Before our run today we got photographed by a photographer for a local on-line newspaper. She took a photo of the team plus a few "action" photos. I will link to the article when I find out when it comes out. Ok, so back to the run: we ended up running a little under 6 miles (I am not sure because we ran around a half a mile till I started my Garmin). Here are the splits once my Garmin started working:

Distance: 5:35
Duration: 45:39
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:45
Mile 3: 7:41
Mile 4: 7:58
Mile 5: 9:24 (running with an injured team mate)
Mile .35: 3:05

Mile 3 and 4 were FAST. This one kid really really pushed me hard. I was trying SO hard to keep up with him, but never did. Oh well, he really gave me a run for my money. I felt like I got a good training run in today. The Brookline High track team was running around the pond that we were running at, but they were doing some kind of work out. Man, they are fast!! They blasted right past me when I was going 7:41 minutes/mile.

We were only supposed to run 4 miles today, but our head coach likes to push us a little so we ended up doing close to 6. While I am glad I am getting in the miles, some of our kids are getting seriously injured. Over half of our runners are injured and some seriously injured.  


I know that you can get injured if you run too many miles, but we are only running three times a week, so I am not really sure if the students are getting injured from running just a few miles over the suggested amount.

How close do you follow a training plan? Do you think you can get injured from over training, even if you only run 3 days a week?

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Since there is a HUGE storm coming in tonight at midnight, the surrounding school systems (including the school I intern at) have already closed for tomorrow. So, what to do with a night off? 

DRINK BEER!!!

Eating Burgers (with sauted spinach)

And watching movies about beer: Beer Wars! Evan and I are currently drinking another beer and watching a documentary on Netflix instant about the war between large beer companies (Coors, Budweiser, Miller) and microbreweries. It is pretty interesting so far! I will let you know more about it when it is over!

Do you drink beer? If so would you rather a beer from a large beer company or a micro brew? What is your favorite kind of beer?

Girl with the Black Fit

For Christmas, Evan gave me a wonderful warm running outfit to complement my winter running. I have tried it out twice this week (one time being today!). And because he knows black is my FAVORITE color, the "fit" is ALL black!

The pants are Nike thermal insulated spandex and the jacket is Saucony and is a lightweight  windbreaker (with multiple pockets, reflectors and a cool light to use at night). After using the fit twice, I have to say I LOVE the pants; they are SO warm, but do not make my legs feel sweaty. I feel like I can run in all temps/conditions with these babies. The jacket is a nice extra layer. You definitely cannot wear it with only a t-shirt under it (at least not in the winter), but it is a nice complement to a long sleeve shirt. And I do have to say that I look pretty cool in it (haha)!!!

What do you wear running in the cold weather? 


Using my hot new fit, I ran 8 miles around my parents' neighborhood (we are staying with them for a few days). I decided to do a long run today because we are heading up to the mountains with friends for a long weekend and doubt there will be any form of exercising going on besides skiing. So 8 miles it was this morning, and here are my stats according to the Garmin (why does it work so much better in the 'burbs than in Boston??)

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:9:30
Mile 1: 8:57
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:28
Mile 4: 8:50
Mile 5: 8:31
Mile 6: 8:23
Mile 7: 8:31
Mile 8: 9:12 (MAJOR, MAJOR hills!!!)

This run was challenging for many reasons! First the roads out here are a mess and there is deep snow and ice EVERYWHERE!! I tried stay to stay on the sidewalk whenever I could, but that is where the snow was the worst and it was to hard to run. My legs felt like they were running in place multiple times. However, when I did venture off the sidewalk I had to dodge multiple different cars coming my way! It was a very scary run! Especially because I kept going from street to sidewalk and then back to street. In addition, the hills around my parents' house are a nightmare. Almost the whole last mile was up hill!!! Anyways, the time is a minute and a half longer than my 8 mile run over the summer, but that run was done with no snow on the ground and in flat Boston. Oh well, no two runs are ever the same, at least not for me, but that is kinda what's fun about running!. But on a more positive note, my stomach and knees felt great and the weather was absolutely beautiful today!! Oh yea, and I had a pretty awesome outfit on!!!

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In other news, I met a few high school friends for lunch yesterday. We met up at the Rattlesnake in Boston. We enjoyed catching up (one friend that was there I hadn't seen in over 4 years!!!) and eating (and drinking) some yummy food. Over the course of the afternoon I enjoyed two Magic Hat #9's, which is one of my all time favorite beers! And ordered a swordfish sandwich and side salad for my entree.

This sandwich was surprisingly very good! I was not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised!!! The swordfish tasted fresh and the aioli sauce and olive tapenade were nice complements to the sandwich! It was a lovely afternoon and a great time with friends!

Unfortunately, I will not be able to post over the weekend because the Mountain house we are staying in does not have Internet access. So, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!! I hope you have a wonderful night/day and the new year brings you lots of happiness!!! 

What are your New year plans? Anyone have any resolutions for the new year??

Happy Halloween!!

If you guessed I was a Vampire than you would be right! 

I actually thought my costume came together pretty well, considering that I threw it together at the last minute and at an inexpensive price tag. Unfortunately, my fangs fell out as soon as I left the house and would not secure back in for the rest of the night. Which was kinda my whole costume, so I didn't quite look like a vampire when we arrived at our destination. However, I still looked good for pictures!

Evan was a hunter and had "bite" marks from me, haha

The Girls: We went with our friends Laura and Matt: Laura was a Lobster

 

The guys: Matt was a cop

We arrived at the Cambridge Brewing Company (CBC) around 6:30 thinking we would only have to wait around 30-40 minutes to get in. However, when we arrived the line was wrapped around the corner and they were at capacity inside. Which meant we had to wait till people left for us to get in. Unfortunately we could not buy tickets in advance, so we had to either wait in line or go somewhere else. I kinda wanted to leave because it was freezing out, but my friends felt otherwise. We ended up waiting in line for close to two hours.

The waiting was not horrible, we were able to put our name in so we did not have to wait for a table to eat once we got in. Also, there was another bar next door, so whenever we got cold we went in to warm up for a little. 

We FINALLY got into CBC around 8:30 and we were able to sit right away, but not without getting a beer first. OMG, let me tell the 2 hour wait was WELL worth it, we had entered pumpkin beer HEAVEN!!! There were 32 different pumpkin brews spread out over three beer stations inside and out of the restaurant.

Drink tickets were 4 for $5 and the majority of the beers cost 1 ticket for a 4oz pour. You could also choose a 4, 8, 12 and 16 oz pour with the corresponding amount of tickets. I only had 4oz pours to maximize the variety of beer tastings. 

a 4oz pour in the souvenir glass 

Once we sat for dinner, I started with a Grilled Flat bread that I bought on the patio from the Grill Menu and brought into the restaurant (I am not sure if this was legal, but I was DYING to try this flat bread and it was not on the inside menu). The flat bread contained Tuscan kale, fontina cheese, roasted pumpkin and dried cranberries. HEAVEN!!!!

This is what was left after I inhaled some and then realized I should take a picture

For my main course, I ordered the local honey glazed pumpkin and celery root timbale, watercress, arugula, fired procuitto, and aged gouda salad with a hazelnut-sage vinaigrette. 

The salad was SO fresh and delicious and I LOVED the huge hunks of glazed pumpkin on the bottom of the salad stack. I was very impressed that the restaurant was busy and they were still able to get quality food out. I also had a taste of Evan's roasted sugar pumpkin bisque and grilled pork sausage with braised collard greens and pumpkin mustard relish. 

YUM!

And finally (because we didn't already eat and drink to much) Evan and I split the pumpkin bread pudding with pumpkin ale ice cream and house butterscotch. 

I liked the bread pudding a lot; however, Evan was not to crazy about he thought it tasted to bready. Clearly not a problem for me!!

As for the beers, I had about 8 or 9 tastes throughout the night and the few that stood out to me were: the CBC Punjabi Pumpkin, Iron Hill Bruce Camp-Ale, and the Elysian Hansel & Gretel. I decided I really like pumpkin beers that are more gingery than sweet, so if you are in the same boat these three are great ones to try, although the Iron Hill Bruce Camp-Ale is a little more buttery sweet than gingery, but not overpowering. 

Around 10pm there was the Taping of the GREAT PUMPKIN.

Beer was tapped and passed out straight from the pumpkin. I tried some, but it was kinda watery compared to all the great beers I had been trying all night.

Around midnight the four of us departed home via the T (the public transportation in Boston).

Not really sure what's going on here, but I think Evan might be explaining his pain
from the cycling class from earlier in the day!

GREAT night with GREAT friends, food and drinks! I hope you all are having a GREAT Halloween! 

Now off to do a little running to detox before another yet another celebration:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!