Restaurants, Races and Running Recap!

Good afternoon (I mean evening) according to this day light savings thing. I have much to tell you all. First off, I had a lovely evening last night at Pigalle in the theater district if Boston. I set out in my new outfit:

to meet Laura and Matt for drinks. I started with a Petite Syrah, which actually got better as it sat.

We chatted for about an hour and then headed over to Pigalle for our 9pm reservations.

The restaurant was super, super cute and small. It had a very romantic feel and it was kinda hidden, so it felt (in Laura's words) like a hidden jewel. The menu was traditional French fare and included all the favorites like Beef Bourguignon. The table started with a bottle of wine:

I actually liked this better than my first glass and wondered if the atmosphere or the storage had to do with the better taste?


First course was a field green salad with grapefruit and goat cheese. It was very, very good and the grapefruit added a hint of sourness that was a nice change of pace from my normal salad.

My entree was a tough decision, but I ended up going with the Salmon with beets, green beans, and lentils with a port reduction sauce. I am SO glad I did!!!

WOW, it was SO good. I am not a huge fan of beets, but boy was it a nice complement to the other flavors going on in the meal. The salmon was cooked medium and it tasted fresh and not fishy at all. SO, so, so good. I really loved it!


However, I would have to say that Evan's meal was the star of the evening.

This was a Cassoulet of Confit Duck Leg, Braised Lamb Shank and House-made Pork sausage. There were also a hefty amount of white beans on the bottom. I don't care so much for all the different meats, but the flavor and sauce was out of this world!


Unfortunately we were let down with the ending of meal, when Evan and I split: 

Coffee Neapolitan

Apple pop over

Sorry the pictures came out blurry, I am not really sure what happened with my camera. Anyways, like I was saying, both Evan and I said how disappointed we were with this dessert, especially after such an amazing first two courses. We felt that they went to the super market, went to the frozen section and bought these desserts to heat up. They just weren't great, but that didn't stop us for eating them.


Minus the dessert we all had a great evening and give Pigalle an 8 overall. I would highly suggest dining at Pigalle, but maybe skip the dessert.

---------------

I woke up this morning feeling energized for the race ahead. Evan and I arrived in Davis Square at 10:30  just as lots of green fitted outfits were also arriving.

There were some pretty crazy outfits. As Evan, our friend Matt and I lined up at the starting line I could feel the pre-race jitters starting. However, they were quickly pushed away as I had to push and fight my way to even start the race (there were 6,000 runners). It was kinda an unorganized race and it was difficult to run for the first 1/2 mile, but I still felt I worked hard and had a good race. Here are my stats according to the Garmin:

Distance: 3.13

Duration: 22:24

Mile 1.02: 7:21

Mile .98: 7:03

Mile 3: 7:04

Mile .13: :56

The good news is that I got faster with each mile, which usually doesn't happen for me. My splits, usually, get slower as I get tired, but today I had lots of energy and felt like I could even go faster. It also helped that the crowd thinned out as the race progressed which made it easier to navigate the road. The bad news is I wish I could have gone faster; this is a little slower than my last 5K, but I guess every race is unique. 

Congratulations on Evan's first 5K finishing in about 28 minutes! He did a great job!

After the race the four of us (Laura joined us) attempted to find a bar to celebrate the race and watch March Madness. However, every bar had a line that looked like this:

We finally got into the Foundry 

And enjoyed a few beers and lunch. Fun day and a great way to celebrate Saint Patty's day!!

On our way home we were all feeling kinda tired, but not as tired as this lovely couple.

I guess they had a tough race! Anyways hope you all had a good weekend and if you ran a St. Patty's day race hope you had a great race!

The Night before...

I am kicking off my racing season tomorrow with the Ras na hEireann 5K in Davis Square. I am not taking this race too seriously, since it is a fun drinking race and Evan is running with me. I think I am going to treat this as more of a "workout" than a race and just have fun! There is also a huge party afterwards at local bars for the runners. I am getting excited! Plus it is also fun to run with friends and fiances!!!

Since, I am treating tomorrow as more of a fun run, I decided to get a few miles in today. It was a beautiful 50 degrees and sunny in Boston, so I took advantage of the nice weather and ran outside. I planned on running between 5 and 6 miles, but as soon as I went out I had horrific cramps in my stomach. I don't know if it was the beer and chili I ate last night or what. But it was not a pretty run. I pushed myself (since it was so nice out) to go at least 5 miles. I did run them at a good speed and my cramps eventually went away, but it was not my best (feeling ways) run. Here are the stats:

Distance: 5.12
Duration: 42:42
Mile 1: 8:19
Mile 2: 8:09
Mile 3: 8:18
Mile 4: 8:25
Mile 5: 8:15

I did a loop up Beacon street, to Beacon Hill, around the Common and back through the South End. It was nice and I am glad most of my splits were consistent and the weather was unbelievable. I just hope that tomorrow's run is better and most importantly that I feel better with NO cramps!!!

How do you get rid of cramps during a run?


At least I will be well fueled for tomorrow's run. I am headed out to meet some friends for some fine French cuisine to celebrate Boston's restaurant week. Oh, and I have a new dress to dine in. I can't wait! Hopefully (unless I have too much fun at the after party tomorrow), I will be back to recap tonight's dinner (and outfit) and the race tomorrow!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

A Week of Home Cooked Meals

After a week of indulgent meals (in San Francisco) and with restaurant week(s) coming up in Boston, Evan and I tried to eat healthy home cooked meals this week.

Starting off with Monday: Naan Caprese pizza:

Complete with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and fresh basil. It was delicious!!! And I had lots of good leftovers for the week.

For our next meal we made grass-fed burgers with Gouda goat cheese, Brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes!

YUM!!!! Great burger! It was funny because I (without realizing it) had 3 days of no meat. On Tuesday I started feeling kinda weird (almost like I had no energy) and I wondered why. As soon as I ate the meat, I felt a hundred times better. I wonder if I had a protein deficiency? Or iron deficiency? I know you can get good protein from other sources (cheese, eggs, nuts), but I think I just didn't realize I wasn't eating meat, so I kinda forgot to get it in in other places.

How do you get protein into your diet? How much protein do you eat a day?


And for my final homemade meal of the week so far (and the best in my option) was this recipe from Cooking Light.

Chicken Piccata with orzo and sauted kale. This recipe was so easy and inexpensive. I just LOVED it! As I was making it, the sauce appeared to not be enough, but the chicken and rice really absorbed the flavor well. I highly recommend this recipe!!!

As for running, I ran 6 miles on the treadmill today in 52 minutes and 30 seconds. I felt strong and fast. I think I will be ready to kick off my racing season this Sunday!!  Stay tuned for Saturday's post as I prepare for my race on Sunday. Hope you had a great week!!!

Good shoes that lead to good runs!

Hello! I hoped you liked my San Francisco recap. But all good things must come to an end, SO back to reality...

On Saturday, I purchased (finally) a new pair of sneakers. Again, I went to Marathon Sports. After trying a few pairs and actually running in three, I decided to stick with the Brooks endurance (an updated  version of the brand I already have).

So far so good. I have gone on two runs with them and both runs felt amazing. I can really tell I needed new shoes once I put on the new guys. I try to change my shoes every 4-6 months depending on how much I run. I had my old shoes for 5 months, but I also ran a 1/2 marathon in them. So, I was definitely in need of new shoes! I will let you know how they hold up when I get a few more runs in.

As for those runs.....

Saturday I did my first long run in a while and it felt great (but hard)! The weather was great and the shoes felt good and I went fast! Here are my splits:

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:07:22
Mile 1: 9:15
Mile 2: 8:35
Mile 3: 8:33
Mile 4: 7:58
Mile 5: 8:14
Mile 6: 8:12
Mile 7: 8:43
Mile 8: 8:27

I completed the run around the Charles River, so it was relatively flat. Like I said before I have not run 8 miles in a while, so this run was pretty tough and I was out of breath when I arrived home. However, all day I was glowing and my legs felt great because of my new shoes (think!).

Today, I took my run inside (Boston's weather turned cold again). I did a speed workout on the treadmill: .5 mile warm up, 6 x 400s (with 400 rest in between), .5 mile cool down. I completed the whole run in 35 minutes and covered 4 miles. I did my first 400s at a 8mph, second two at 8.5mph and last two at 9.0mph. It was really, really tough! I was, again, huffing and puffing, but my legs felt great! Thank you new shoes!!

What brand of running shoes do you like? How often do you change your sneakers?

San Francisco: Part 3 (Final Edition)

So, I bring you the final edition of the San Francisco trip. I cannot believe it has been one week since we got back!!! Anyways, I left you as I was drinking my way through San Francisco's Haight district.

Around 7 we decided it might be time for a little food. Laura and Matt invited us to join them at Millennium for dinner. Millennium is a vegetarian restaurant that was conveniently located in our hotel. In addition it was highly recommended by Kath. However, not all of us (Evan) were super excited to go to an all vegetable restaurant. All night he kept saying "Really, there is no meat??!!" But he was a good sport and kept an open mind to try a new cuisine.

WOW, I am so glad he did because this was by far my FAVORITE restaurant on the whole trip. Just AMAZING!!!!

The table started with Black Bean Torte and a complimentary Crusted Oyster Mushrooms.

Oh my goodness the torte was simply amazing and heaven in my mouth!!! I am drooling just thinking about it!

For my entree I had seared sweet potato griddle cakes:

So creative and delicious! BEST meal of the trip, enough said!

Friday morning I attempted the hotel gym one last time. I ellipticalled for 40 minutes and then did push ups and sit ups. After breakfast we showered and checked out of the hotel and headed over to the boat for Alcatraz Island.

So cool! I loved this event, especially since I had never visited a jail before:

After Alcatraz, Evan and I walked around Ghirardelli Square and then over to the Marina District. We stopped in a cute little coffee shop and grabbed a tea to warm up. Once we worked up an appetite we headed back to the Ferry building for an early dinner.

We dinned at the infamous Slanted Door restaurant.

We started with the slanted door spring rolls

For our entree we split:

Banana leaf black cod

Baby Bok Choy with mushrooms

Shaking beef (cubed filet mignon)

Everything was good, but  not great at Slanted Door. It was actually pretty expensive for not amazing food. I was kinda disappointed for this meal because I was really looking forward to dinning here. It was not like it was bad, just not incredible for the price.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and then headed to the airport for our red eye flight home. I had an amazing trip in San Francisco and can't wait to go back!

I hope everyone has a great week!!! Happy Weekend!!

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!!!