Solid Italian Food With Bad Singing

I had the pleasure of joining my co-worker John and his wife Sara for dinner on Friday night in downtown La Jolla. Being that it was a hoppin' Friday night and we neglected to make reservations, we had to visit a couple of places before finding a spot where we could get in with less than an hour's wait.

This is how we ended up at this quaint Italian place. John and Sara had been there before and noted that the food was pretty good. However, when we walked in, the place had live Italian singing, which I thought was marginal (at best). We took a quick seat and enjoyed some bread with this phenomenal tomato-basil/olive oil dip. This dip was probably worth visiting the restaurant in and of itself.

However, as we continued to chat and wait to place our order, I noticed that the singing continued, with varied singers getting up to make their contribution. Some were notably worse than others (translation - some were tolerable and some were outright horrible). Our table wondered if we would get kicked out for turning off the speaker that was (unfortunately) facing our table, blaring the hideous music in our ears...

So overall the restaurant was pretty good - outdoor seating, righteous tomato-basil dip and quality entrees. I did, however, make one critical ordering mistake - including calamari steak in my order. Sara tried to forewarn me that calamari steak was not as tasty as the calamari you get as an appetizer. Despite this warning, I proceeded to order it as part of my seafood meal. I found out that Sara was being too nice - the calamari steak reminded me of the smell of cat poop.

Please, take this advice: never order calamari steak. Also - take note of any live singing that is going on before you commit yourself to spend a meal near a large speaker! Fortunately, I had great company...

Don't Open Your Yahoo! Finance Homepage...

Today was the ugliest day in the market I've ever seen. Don't look now but the DJIA was down almost 780 points (about 7%) and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were even worse...eek. Don't look at your 401(k) statements for the next couple of quarters. I'm kind of glad I invested in a Crossfire and didn't put all that cash into the market. Ouch!

Not Too Shabby on the Training

Saturday's 12.5 mile run was at an average pace of 8:31/mile. Not too bad, particularly during the 8 mile stretch when I was running at about 8:24/mile pace. This morning I did a seven miler at about 8:21/mile. I'm feeling a bit under the weather so was happy to get in a decent run, although I need to be about 20 seconds/mile faster...the legs were definitely feeling the cardio kickboxing this morning.

My New Favorite Food: Butternut Squash

After abandoning the blog and finishing up a couple of back logged posts, I can't stop blogging without posting something about one of my favorite subjects, food. My new favorite food (okay one of several) is butternut squash. I had some tonight and it was amazing. Simply rinse off the squash (ask your local produce guy how to pick out one that's ripe) and pop it in the oven whole at 400 degrees for about an hour. It will begin to burst open when done (and it will be easy to cut through). It is amazing and healthy!

Downtown La Jolla - The Place To Find An Ascot Shop

What is an ascot, you ask? According to Wikipedia, "an ascot tie, or ascot, is a narrow neckband with wide pointed wings, traditionally made of pale gray patterned silk." It is something obnoxiously wealthy people wear to show everyday people that they are obnoxiously wealthy (or at least that's my understanding of them). I think the best potrayal of my definition is the use of the ascot in the movie Igby Goes Down. In order to have a full appreciation for it, you'll have to watch this movie. It is one of my all-time favorites, so check it out.

But back to the topic - downtown La Jolla, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, is filled with random stuff like ascot shops. They also have several really exotic rug stores, ridiculous jewelry shopping and plenty of other things to check out. However, an entire store dedicated to ascots really made me take pause. I haven't actually seen guys out here wearing them, but I'll be on the lookout now.

Shout Out to Elle Belle, A Musical Genius (Among Other Things)

New my favorite song is "Fortress" by Pinback. How did I find this fantastic (but perhaps a bit obscure) song, you might ask? My lovely sister Alicia is apparently a musical genius. Thanks, Belle! I listened to it about five times during my long run Saturday. My second favorite song right now might be "Mr. November" by The National. I love The National...will probably blog an ode to them shortly.

WaMu...Another One Bites the Dust

I have very little commentary about this other than "scary." Three hundred billion plus in assets up in smoke. The fact that a private equity consortium led by someone as savvy as TPG (with David Bonderman leading the charge) flushed $7 billion in five months is mind boggling. The gravity of this situation and the surrounding mess in the financial markets is why I stick to blogging about food and working out - these topics are much more fun to blog about!

Keeping the Training Interesting - Cardio Kickboxing and Swimming

This morning I joined my friend and co-worker Judy at a cardio kickboxing class at La Jolla Sporting Club. I am becoming increasingly fit and it still kicked my butt. Outstanding workout, plus it was fun and something different. Think I'll be making it a regular part of my routine...although there is one thing I'd like to remedy. I was sweating so much, I almost slipped and fell doing kicks because my sweat pool made the floor quite slippery. Not quite sure how to fix that problem.

The other item I've added to my routine is swimming. I swam laps on Wednesday night. Unfortunately I learned that my high tech Garmin heartrate monitor that accompanies the Garmin Forerunner 50 is not waterproof. What kind of allegedly "high tech" training gear is that, Garmin? What serious athlete hasn't done at least one triathlon? That was a $40 lesson I won't forget.

Quick takeaway: swimming is pretty tough. I set the goal of swimming 30 minutes. The first time I checked my watch (huffing and puffing I might add) was exactly 3:44 into the workout. I have some work to do if I'm going to become a triathlon-er. However, I did get a new suit and goggles so I should be a bit more comfortable next time I swim.

Moving Along in the Training

I have been a blog slacker...apologies for the lack of activity but there has been a lot going on. First the update on the running - 12.5 miles through PB, Mission Beach and Mission Bay on Saturday in about 1:46. Not too bad - I felt really good for the first nine miles and struggled through the last couple. I'll update the times when I get my splits after uploading my workout data. Seem to be tracking pretty nicely, although a 8:00-8:15/mile pace for the Silver Strand is still ambitious.

I've also confirmed my hatred of interval workouts. This week's was supposed to be a 1 mile interval, 2 mile interval and then two 800's. I think a two mile interval is too long and will likely be sticking to the 800's and 400's (which I still hate)...

The Acai Bowl at Zanzibar

For those of you unfamiliar with Acai, it is a fruit somewhat like a blueberry but apparently with infinitely more antioxidants and other healthy stuff so it has recently become a bit of a health crazy. Places out in San Diego serve "Acai Bowls" - basically blended up Acai fruit topped with other fruit, granola and the like.

I had the good fortunate of sampling the Acai Bowl at Zanzibar a couple of Saturdays ago after my long run. It was amazing. I don't know what kind of granola Zanzibar uses, but it was the best I've ever had. Hopefully the Acai Bowls there are good for you because they taste outstanding!

For what Wikipedia has to say about Acai (pronounced asaˈi/) fruit, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Açaí_Palm

If you read on down the page, you'll find (shockingly) Acai is actually filled with calories and fat. Dang it, now wonder it tasted so good...

The Economy Is So Bad...I Lost All My Laundry?

I am not going to make too many jokes about the current state of the economy. Everyday I wake up and hope I don't see another major financial institution getting bailed out by the Fed, filing for Chapter 11 or getting forced into a shotgun wedding to avoid filing for Chapter 11. However, my current predicament is quite humorous and all goes back to corporate America trying to save pennies in the wake of the current global economic slowdown...

About a week and a half ago, the washer in our apartment broke. My roommate Sara called Whirlpool. She took an afternoon off work, waited for the Whirlpool repairman to show up and he never did. He claims to have called and she didn't answer (which is a complete lie). So the appointment got pushed back several more days. By the time the repair guy made it out, he informed Sara she needed to order some parts for the washer before he could fix it.

Apparently the parts have still not arrived because Whirlpool decided since the economy has slowed down (and I guess people no longer feel as inclined to wash their clothes) it would carry a barebones inventory at its warehouses. Long story short, we haven't had a working washer for a while....

After a long day at work and an interval workout at The Sporting Club in La Jolla, I decided I was going to brake down and go do laundry at the nearest place in La Jolla. By this time it is almost 9:30p at night. I throw my clothes in the washer and then wander over to Von's to do some grocery shopping because I am too impatient to wait (despite the 14 signs telling me "Do Not Leave Wash Unattended"). I mosey back over to the laundromat around 9:57p and it was locked. Apparently it closed at 10p and the management decided to close a few minutes early tonight.

Therefore I must get up bright and early tomorrow morning to drive up to the laundromat to (hopefully) reclaim my clothes and throw them in the dryer. If the economy wasn't in the crapper, I would never be in this predicament.

The Worst Movie I've Seen in Recent Memory/Ever

Generally speaking, when I've heard nothing but bad things about a movie, I'm not inclined to watch it. However, Sunday evening I had a bad case of the Sunday night blues coupled with sheer exhaustion from trying to learn to surf. When "Failure To Launch" came on at 8:00p, I decided that - despite hearing nothing but horrible things about it - I would spend two hours of my life watching it. Matthew McConaughey is never hard to watch and SJP in Sex & the City is one of my favorites...

There is not much else to say that the title of this blog doesn't already say. Part of me kept watching it because I kept thinking, "Seriously? Can this movie get any worse?" And it does. Matthew McConaughey is attacked by no fewer than three animals during the course of the movie - a dolphin, a chipmunk and a lizard.

I'm not really sure if there is a lesson to be learned from this post. But please don't think the consensus view on "Failure to Launch" is wrong. The movie is seriously one of the worst movies ever.

Large Hills + Long Runs = Not a Combination I Favor

I've tried to tone down the commentary on my half marathon training. However, I did put in a solid 12 miles this weekend in a run starting at the dog beach in OB (that's Ocean Beach for all you non-San Diegans) up through Sunset Cliffs, through the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University, to some historic graveyard and back. Although I made it, I seriously struggled and the pace was crawling (almost 10:00/mile pace). It is pretty depressing when you're trying to get in a good long run and know how slow you're running. Ugh.

Although I've found some quality running groups in the San Diego area, one in particular tends to favor huge hills in the middle of a long run (which I now realize I am not a fan of). Given that I'm training for a really flat half marathon, I can't decide if I'm going to continue torturing myself by participating in these hilly long runs, or wimp out and do flatter long run courses by myself. I just thought I'd whine about it on my blog for a bit.

I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and I am able to pick up the pace on my flat runs a bit. Sunday I did a five mile recovery run at about a 9:00/mile pace (which felt like I was crawling) and this morning I did a mile warm up and then five miles at a 8:07/mile pace. Now I'm wondering if it would be possible for me to run the half marathon at a sub-8:00/mile pace. Hmmm...maybe I should keep doing the hilly long runs.

Jeff's Burgers in La Jolla

I've officially consumed my first super-tasty burger as a Californian. As I frequently do on these posts, I often compare and contrast my new favorites in the San Diego area with my favorites from good old Cincinnati. In Cincinnati, I would point to the burgers at Terry's Turf Club and City View Tavern (The Big Ted) as probably my two favorites, although natives claim Zip's is the place to go.

After several hours of attempting to surf, I wandered down to Jeff's Burgers for a nice quarter pound cheeseburger (with avocado) with fries and a rootbeer for lunch. It was quite tasty and I think I inhaled the burger in less than five minutes. A great little spot to hit up when you've been down at La Jolla Shores working up an appetite surfing/swimming/bathing, etc. Unfortunately, I don't think Jeff's can unseat either Terry's or CityView, so I'll have to keep sampling burgers out here in San Diego.

Introduction to Surfing

This past Sunday I had my first official experience as a surfer. Although several of my co-workers (kindly) offered to help teach me to surf, I thought it would be wisest to first take a lesson from a professional before burdening them with a hard-core newbie.

I booked a private lesson with Surf Diva (www.surfdiva.com) and Morgan showed me the ropes. I started off on a 10 foot foamie (after getting the talk about ripcurls, the stingray shuffle, wearing sunscreen, etc.) and managed to stand up a few times (although not for long) during the lesson. I then rented a board for an additional couple of hours and continued to try to improve my surfing skills.

Some observations - there is definitely a high degree of difficulty associated with surfing - you have to time the wave right, do a lot of paddling (which requires a lot of upper body strength), pop up at the right time, have great balance, and the list goes on. Much respect to quality surfers. Hopefully one day, I'll at least be respectable. Also - surfing makes you incredibly tired and hungry. That leads to my next post...

Surf & Saddle and the Mighty Goldfish Races

Most of the drinking establishments I've been to so far in California have been pretty...high brow? upscale? you pick it - people tend to wander in wearing flip flops every now and then, but generally speaking (particularly downtown), the crowds have been pretty yuppie. However, this past Tuesday, I got a taste of the other side of Del Mar.

In Cincinnati, my friends had organized a group called DOMC - Dive of the Month Club. It was a competition held to see which Cincinnatian could find the most divey bar. Given the tenure of many of the DOMC'rs in Cincinnati, there was some pretty stiff competition. It was a hoot and a great change of pace from the typical Mt. Adams/Hyde Park scene.

Surf & Saddle in Del Mar would be a very strong candidate for the SD equivalent of DOMC. Perhaps I'll start my own chapter and lead things off with Surf & Saddle. In addition to the drunk old yocals enjoying Bud Light bottles, Surf & Saddle had one of the most entertaining sporting events I've ever witnessed - real live goldfish racing.

You can purchase a goldfish and then enter the tournament. The brackets are set and then the goldfish race in side by side troughs (set up on several bar stools, of course), urged on by the water coming from spray bottles of their jockeys. It was an absolute riot - some goldfish seemed as though they had been diligently training for the races for weeks; others chose to swim around in circles or hide in the corner; and some would swim 3/4 of the way to the finish line, and for no apparent reason, turn around and start swimming upstream. It was a nice change of pace and provided some high quality entertainment.

Taco Tuesdays

One of my favorite restaurants in Cincinnati was a modern Mexican joint called Nada. Although I miss the guacamole, Mexican mac & cheese and mahi tacos at Nada, I have been optimistic I will be able to find quality Mexican food out here in Southern California. This past Tuesday, I launched into a journey which will surely help bring this hope to fruition - an evening meet up with a fun group every other Tuesday or so at a new taco spot throughout the greater San Diego area, appropriately called "Taco Tuesdays." We will scour all taco joints in search of the rare five sombrero rating.

Tuesday's journey started at a place in Del Mar called En Fuego (http://www.enfuegocantina.signonsandiego.com/). It was quite a bustling place. Unfortunately, I arrived a bit late so the chips were not warm (ding the sombrero rating) and En Fuego did not offer a variety of salsa choices. Although the two tacos (one mahi and one carne asada) and mango margarita I ordered were quite strong, the tacos came on corn tortillas. Perhaps it's because I'm not truly authentic but I prefer my tacos on flour tortillas. There is something about the texture of the corn tortillas that I just don't like.

Overall, the atmosphere was fun, the food was pretty tasty and the group was a ton of fun. I rated En Fuego a 3 and 3/4 sombreros - not too shabby but still room for improvement. More to come in several Tuesdays...

Body Boarding in Coronado

My first effort to learn to surf didn't pan out. I went over to Coronado - the beach that is easiest to get to from my location in East Village. Upon arrival at the beach, I realized that there was not a single surfer there (although there were numerous signs for "Bobby's Party"). Not a good sign. Half of my strategy was to watch the really good surfers and learn from them. However, there were about 100 body boarders on the beach and it looked pretty fun, so I hoofed it down to Little Sam's and rented a body board for the afternoon...

A couple of observations. The waves were breaking in a very short period of time. That means you have to have really good timing or you get your butt kicked. Unfortunately my rented body board's leash only made it around my wrist one time...therefore, when I got really thrashed by a wave, I also had to go find my body board. I was not too pleased about that. It was definitely fun, but I now have a new found respect for waves - even if they are not huge waves - because if you don't pick them up at the right time, they can be brutal.

Since I wasn't able to try my hand at surfing, I also was fortunate to receive some really good advice on where I should try to learn to pick up surfing: Todd recommended either La Jolla Shores or a spot in Pacific Beach (PB). He also said that an hour lesson would be a very good investment, so sometime in the next week or two, I'll probably be giving Surf Diva a call. To be continued...