A Case of the Runs

February is a naturally short month, but it really did seem to fly by more quickly than usual this year.  The majority of this month was cold (by California standards), but as it's ending, it feels like early summer outside. Homer: "Stupid Smarch weather!" "The Ukrainian" and I have been pretty busy getting his old unit rented, filing taxes, and other boring things.  Additionally, we've been training for LA Marathon , which is just a few weeks away!  We did a 12.5, 17.5, and 20-miler so far, which puts me way ahead of my training patterns over the past year or so, sadly.  Other than that, I've been running some 3-5 milers a couple of times a week and workout videos .  In a totally uncharacteristic move, I actually attended an official LA Marathon training run and had a good time running with like-minded folks! Near the end of the month, my sister got married!  She's the oldest of us sisters, so now everything feels more sequential now th...

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a California Walnuts "virtual dinner party" and found this wonderful Walnut "Cheese" recipe from chef Aida Mollencamp . This is actually a wonderful recipe, because it leads to a tangy, cheese-like spread that is dairy-free! Everything basically gets whirled together in the food processor, so it really couldn't be easier.  I had everything on hand, even the walnuts (although I was sent more walnuts to work with). The toughest part of this recipe is planning ahead the 12 hours that it takes to soak the walnuts in water.  I ended up soaking mine for nearly 24 hours, simply because of my schedule.  I'm not sure if it really needed 12 full hours... maybe there is something that can be done to decrease the soak time??  I also found the smell of soaked walnuts wasn't exactly pleasant at first, though it doesn't affect the end product. However, I did realize much later that the cano...

EVENT:  Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker Bike Ride (30 mi) DATE: Saturday, February 23, 2013 LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA RACE BEGAN: 09:05 am FINISH TIME: approximately 02:30:00 Last year , I ran the Los Angeles Firecracker 5K AND 10K run.  My friends and I decided to " catch 'em all ," so "The Ukrainian" decided to join us.  I was originally signed up for the 10K (I learned that doing both is not that fun, haha), but the race coincided with my sister's wedding. No fear, I switched us both to the 30-mile bike tour taking place the day before.  The longest bike tour I had ever done was around 20 miles, but the thought of another 10 miles was a bit daunting. I trained for this tour -- once -- in the gym on an upright bike, riding for 60 minutes (about 17.5 miles). On race morning, we took the train to Chinatown.  I got nervous as I saw everyone in their expensive road bikes and gear -- felt like a fraud, ha ha.  The race started with...

I think it's about time that I review the Physique 57 Volume 1 set of DVDs that I got during the holidays! The reason I was interested in this set in the first place is that I've read a lot of hype about it.   Physique 57 is a barre-type exercise program.  I've tried The Bar Method and some of its associated home videos before.  The in-person classes are fairly challenging, but I ended up reselling the DVDs because they just seemed too easy after a while. After cycling through the three discs for about a month now,  I definitely don't think these are "easy."  It definitely works up a sweat, and I definitely get to the point of failure.  Although the barre-method is a non-impact way of getting in shape, I definitely don't like for it to be a snooze.  This seems to give me the best of both worlds -- focused toning with no impact and even a bit of cardio. Here is my summary of each: Classic Workout (~57 minutes), recommended 2-3x/week  -...

This year, I decided not to run the Surf City USA Half-Marathon again.  I did this race in 2008 , 2009 , 2010 to earn my "Longboard Legacy" status, and even last year, 2012  for the Beach Cities series. Surf City has always been a nice race to run -- in fact, I've PRed on this course more than once.  However, it is kind of expensive for a half-marathon, and frankly, I get bored running the same course so many times. So just like in 2011 , I sat this one out while "The Ukrainian" ran .  He wanted to try the full marathon and finished at around 3:37 training just a few long runs with me. On Saturday, the day before the race, he and I did marathon packet pick-up.  Since we had the morning shift, it was hard to tell how many people would never come to pick up their bibs, but I did hear a lot of people were too sick to run. Sunday rolled around, and while "The Ukrainian" waited in the car before his race, I started my shift at 4:45 AM ...