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Running in SF: 4 miles – 5.1.12

May 10, 2012 by

Last week I was in San Francsisco and Mountain View for work. I convinced my coworker BB, who finished this year’s LA Marathon in less than 5 hours, to run in the morning with me. [BB stands for Big Baller as I've now christened her.] It was her first time in SF, and what better way to get a handle of [the flat part of] the city than to run it?

We stayed at the Hotel Monaco (pics to come) and left Geary St and headed east to the Embarcadero. I thought BB was going run at my pace (13-min mile); instead, I chased her as she ran her 9-min miles. Let’s just say that BB left me in the dust, and I became a tourist runner. Lucky for you, I brought my HTC EVO with me.

BB runs fast. There she goes, leaving me in the dust - SF

Can you spot the Android made of Post-its?

BB would wait for me at stoplights to catch up, but I told her to keep going so she would keep her heartrate and pace up. I’d catch up to her… eventually.

When we hit the Ferry Building, we saw a protest going on. I caught the back end of the parade.

SF Protest on a Tuesday morning - 5.1.12

At this point, BB had gone all the way up to Fisherman’s Wharf, and I was taking a break at Alcatraz Landing.

Board a boat to get to Alcatraz Island here

BB met up with me here and we headed back to the Ferry Building for some breakfast before starting the rest of our day.

There she goes again. BB leaving me for the Ferry Building

I stopped at Blue Bottle Coffee to grab a delicious cup of drip coffee. While standing in line to pay, I saw this man with some tight wedgie pants. Is this attractive to you?

It's time for a bigger size, sir. Or a different cut and color.

BB and I picked up some breakfast foods at Cowgirl Creamery and had feast.

Breakfast at the Ferry Building: coffee, mini sammies

The morning was kicking off to a good start. Here’s BB and me on our way back to the hotel.

Me and the Big Baller post-run - SF

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Friday Five: 3.2.12

March 2, 2012 by

I can’t believe we’re in March. Yes, I can. No, I can’t. Yes, I can. Did you get your Comic-Con badge sales info email? I’m debating on whether to go for a day this year. My partner Jen is going to be there for the full 4 days of crazy to cover all entertainment – tv, film, books, music, etc. In any case, you’ll have one of us reporting at our Pop blog!

Top five on my mind this week:

  1. The city of Santa Monica and their parking nazis. I got another Santa Monica parking ticket when I went to see my doctor this week. I bet those parking meters have a warning 5  minutes before your time expires so that the parking devils can swing by and start processing. I swear I was only 5 minutes over when I got back to my car. This is what I get for getting to my doc’s early and only finding one-hour only spaces.
  2. Late discovery: There is a 101 Noodle Express in Arcadia! I never look in the other little strip malls when my focus is Din Tai Fung. If Daniel Day-Lewis was here, he’d say “There. will. be. beef rolls!” This is a little closer to my work than the Alhambra location. I found a 2009 article by Jonathan Gold about them. But wait, there’s more! There’s an Irvine location for your OC hoodrats! And oh my god, there’s a Culver City location for your Westside posers!
  3. Another late discovery: The Phoenix that sits next to Din Tai Fung serves FOOD and has seating! WTF! I’ve always walked past this Phoenix to go straight to Din Tai Fung. But now, I know they serve the same food as the one in Alhambra – yeah! Again, just a little closer to my work.
  4. Running on a treadmill is not fun. I ran only 2 miles yesterday morning at the gym, which is pretty pathetic. I found it boring and my attention kept waning. But I have to do it here because it’s why I joined a gym. I didn’t want to run in the dark or cold.
  5. YS Lee has her third book out – The Traitor in the Tunnel. It shall be mine.

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Run: 4 miles – 2.26.11

February 28, 2012 by

I’m back! [Or I'd better be back!] Last Sunday, I got dressed and debated on running at the gym or outside. I chose outside. I drove out to Griffith Park and got myself on the trail. And oh how new that trail is. I knew they were working on this road for months, but now it was done.

Crystal Springs Drive - Griffith Park, Los Angeles

This is version 3.0. In version 2.0, the paved bike lane was pretty wide and the dirt trail was narrower. In version 1.0, the dirt trail was half dirt, half asphalt, and there was a narrow bike lane. Version 3.0 has wood rails along the outside of the trail… and a pay phone. Ok…

It took me a while to get into a groove, and honestly, I didn’t have a groove. My feet were acting up in my running shoes. I don’t think they knew what to do with so much room in the toe box. I spent much of my time trying to get a breathing rhythm and working on hitting the ground mid-foot. After the first loop, I actually thought of going home. Then I thought that was so lame that I ran 2 miles and was calling it quits. So I ran another loop. “Ran” in quotes, because I walked a lot of my second loop. Nevertheless, I finished.

But wait there’s more! While on my little training jaunt, I ran into a purple fire hydrant and purple vents near the edges of the golf course. I don’t understand this. Did the city have leftover hot purple paint leftover and decide to paint them purple??

Hot purple fire hydrant and vent(s) - Griffith Park, LA

Run: 4 miles
Grade: B for suck. A for effort.

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TWiP: 2.20 – 2.26.12

February 27, 2012 by

Did you watch the Oscars last night? What’d you think?

It’s time for another This Week in Photos (TWiP) post. Guess what I did this week? I ran! Here we go. All photos were taken with my HTC EVO!

Nothing for Monday. It seems my TWiP posts always start on Tuesdays…

I braved the traffic to get to the Westside on a weekday afternoon for our SMCLA panel “Social CRM” at the ING DIRECT LA Cafe. This was a great panel with our guest speakers: Dr. Natalie Petouhoff (my fellow board member), Charles Miller of DirecTV (my fellow board member), Gary May of imacsweb, and Jon Ferrara Nimble. If you’re interested in joining me at the next event, let me know! (Save the date – March 20 – venue tbd!)

SMCLA 'Social CRM' panel - 2.21.12

I had a great lunch at Viet Huong in El Monte. Instead of the usual pho, I ordered my standard bun cha. It’s quite a popular joint with the local office folk as well as El Monte police officers taking their lunch break.

Viet Huong Restaurant, El Monte

The Wife and I had a late dinner at Pinocchio’s in Burbank. I had their pumpkin ravioli. Note to self: stick with my usual order of other pastas like linguini and spaghetti. We ate in the third dining room where murals adorned the walls.

Pinocchios, Burbank

On Saturday morning, I spent breakfast with two of my favorite former interns at one of my favorite restaurants, Alcove, in Los Feliz. Mention Alcove, and I’ll gladly meet you here.

Breakfast at Alcove, Los Feliz

At the register, I saw THIS: a red velvet milk chocolate bar. I had to get one. (It is delicious!)

Red Velvet Chocolate Bar - Alcove, Los Feliz

After breakfast, I walked to the Los Feliz branch of the LA Public Library. I was looking for an audiobook for my commutes to work. No dice. But I did spot this READ poster with LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The Mayor says Read! - Los Feliz, LAPL

That evening, the Wife and I headed to the KINGS game against the Chicago Blackhawks. They had just traded Jack Johnson away (meh), and there were trade rumors that Dustin Brown (the Captain!) was going too. Ridiculous! Wife wore his jersey for support.

Wife at Staples Center - Los Angeles Kings

Apparently, Brownie also heard the rumors because that night, he scored a freakin’ hat trick! For the uninitiated, a hat trick is when one player scores three goals in a game. The fans, in turn, throw their hats onto the ice!

Dustin Brown's hat trick - LA Kings 2.2612

The next day, I got up and headed to Griffith Park for a 4-miler. It was my first run of 2012. I’m baaaaack. It was also the first time I’d been back to the Griffith Park golf course area where there’s a new “trail” down Crystal Springs Drive!

Griffith Park "trail" along the golf course

There you have it. Enjoy the last week of February, readers! If you can get Wednesday off, perhaps you should go to Disneyland for 24 hours!

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