Honing my Knife Skills..

Often times I look back on my college years and wonder.. Why didn’t I go to culinary school?? One reason that perhaps made me shy away from that route (other than the fact that it didn’t seem practical at the time.. and that I was relatively good at math and science) is that I enjoy the use of my fingers. I have horrible knife skills. My uncle tried to give me tips one time because he thought I was going to cut off my fingers while prepping a meal. I have to say, though, that although my knife skills are pretty bad (mostly due to having dull knives in my home), I’ve seen MUCH WORST knife skills (where I’ve got my hand on the phone ready to dial 9-1-1).

Prep Kitchen Essentials in Seal Beach

To hone my knife skills (… see what I did there? hehe.. I crack myself up…), I signed up for a Knife Skills Class with Chef Suzan Gray from Prep Kitchen Essentials in Seal Beach. We would be learning vital (for my fingers) knife skills while cooking up a four-course meal of Herb Roasted Chicken with Garlic Parsley Oven Fries and Sweet Potato Fries, Shrimp Ceviche with Pico de Gallo, Chopped Salad, and Fruit Salad.

Shrimp Ceviche.. delicious.. but could be spicier..

Herb Roasted Chicken ... coming out of the oven

Tossing the salad

Yam Wedges

Fruit Salad.. simple, yet delicious

Finished Meal.. BON APPETIT!!

I came to the class with this great expectation that in 2.5 hours, I could learn to cut vegetables like a seasoned pro. Yes.. lofty expectations… no wonder I was a little disappointed at the end of the night. The class itself was good. Chef Z was energetic and fun and helpful. The class was small (only 8 people), and we split up the recipes so that we could get the meal done on time. The food was good, and I came home with the recipes (though I probably have all these recipes already). There just wasn’t much knife skills involved in the actual preparation of the food. That, and since everyone else came in pairs, I got stuck with a lame partner (not that he wasn’t nice, because he was, just socially awkward and slow). Another surprising thing was that we were supposed to make SWEET POTATO fries.. but ended up making YAM FRIES instead… how do you make that mistake? (Note: They were still yummy)

Mis en place containers and cooking utensils shelf

Easy access to cooking utensils

Easy access to silverware

Things I did learn:

• The most important thing is that the knife must be SHARP (I already knew this, but good to reiterate)
• Sneeze into the crook of your elbow
• How to peel a kiwi (with a spoon)
• How to halve grapes and grape/cherry tomatoes in bulk
• Sawing motions are key
• Peeling and de-veining shrimp is easier when raw (learned this the hard way)
• Always bring a friend (don’t risk partnering up with a socially awkward stranger)
• To avoid cutting fingers, make a claw to hold down food (kinda already knew this too)
• Put something under the cutting board to keep it from slipping

Cute aprons (from Heavenly Hostess) for sale

Love the labeling on Mrs. Meyer's soaps

Gourmet Salts... sound and look delicious

All in all, it was a nice night, but I didn’t gain much from it. It’s a nice store though, and a good concept (group cooking classes). Minh and I still have two more Groupons to redeem to here, so we’ll be back. I’m hoping they have another pasta making class, because that should be more informative and fun.

Prep Kitchen Essentials
12207 Seal Beach Blvd
Seal Beach, CA 90740
562-430-1217

One thing that I did decide coming out of the class… I LOVED the knife we used. If I could only have one knife, I’d have to go with the Shun Elite Santoku Knife. Add that to the WISHLIST.

Wishlist: Hembakat är Bäst

If anyone is going to Sweden anytime soon, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get my hands on one of these cookbooks from Ikea. Even if I can’t read the recipes, the photos alone would be worth it (via NOTCOT).

Hembakat är Bäst - "Homemade IS Best"

Entitled Hembakat är Bäst, which translates to “Homemade is Best”, this book features 30 recipes for Swedish baked goods, ingredients and finished products beautfilly photographed by Carl Kleiner. Some snippets from his website are included below…

Ingredients for Mandelmussla

Baked Mandelmussla

Ingredients for Schwartzwaldtårta

Baked Schwartzwaldtårta - omg.. it looks so good..

Training in the HEAT!

All the talk on Southern California’s twittersphere the last couple days was about the weather.. more importantly.. the HEAT WAVE! The weatherpeople say it’s caused by a high pressure system that keeps warm air from moving around or something. I’m not a meteorologist. All I know is that IT’S HOT. Our annual Santa Ana winds haven’t even kicked into high gear yet.. which means it’ll get even HOTTER as we move into fall. Luckily for me, I’ve got a treadmill and a trainer indoors (and a bunch of Spinervals videos Minh got for me). I HATE training outside in “less than perfect” weather. I get whiney and disheartened and always end up cutting the session short (unless I’m with a group, then I just have to suck it up and keep the whining in my head.. one good reason to train with others.. unfortunately.. I do most of my training alone).

Anyway.. This past weekend was the first of the year for training in HOT weather (we had a rather mild summer). I hit the park for a tempo run after work on Friday. The goal was to average 9:00 min/mile over four miles (i.e. one lap around the park). My shins were KILLING me pretty much right from the start, but I decided to stick it out. Rather than a tempo run (which should mean going at a constant pace for most of the distance), I ended up doing something more like intervals to average my pace out to 9:00 min/mile. My shins were killing me and I needed to stop and walk more than usual, which meant the “running” portions just had to be that much faster. Hit the goal though, which is good, and iced the shins for 20 minutes before showering.

Towards the end of the run, I had to average <8:00 min/mile to meet my goal time…

Minh built the Xtracycle back up, so we’re trying to use it more for local errands and stuff. We also have more lights now, so I feel safer riding at night. After we got cleaned up, we rode to El Pollo Loco for dinner. Stuck to the sidewalks because we didn’t want to have to cross the street twice for no reason (El Pollo Loco is on the same side of the street as the neighborhood, but going against traffic). The new Queso Crunch Burrito with Jalapenos is good. I opted for chicken instead of steak, just to be a little bit healthier.

Taking the Xtracycle out for dinner..

Saturday, I headed down to Rock’n'Road Cyclery for an intermediate road ride with the Rock’n'Road Divas. They host a ride the last Saturday of the month, and it alternates between mountain and road, beginner and intermediate. It wasn’t too hot when we started off, but it got hotter as the morning progressed. I was able to keep up pretty well at the beginning, but got dropped the last few miles back to the store. I would catch up at the lights, but then they would just be faster getting up to speed… that and they were showing one of the new girls how to do pacelines, so they were gaining distance on me. I was trying to catch up on my own.. hit 22mph with the wind and still couldn’t catch them. It was a good time though.

Conditions were good for a morning ride on Saturday

Stopped for a photo op when we entered Turtle Rock/Shady Canyon..

Stats from the Diva Ride.. not bad..

After the ride, I stopped by the Traveland Farmer’s Market, since it was on my way home. I read online that they sell Pappardelle’s Pasta there, so I wanted to check it out… THEY DO!!! I picked up 1/2 lb of Rosemary Garlic Linguini and 1/2 lb of Whole Wheat Chipotle Lime Mafaldine. There weren’t a whole lot of other booths there, so I didn’t stick around to browse.

Pappardelle's in OC.. now there's really NO reason to go back to Seattle..

Sunday had a trail run on the books, but the idea failed due to record heat, so we stayed indoors. Minh suggested running later in the evening, but he never mentioned it again, knowing that I really didn’t want to go. Hopefully the heat subsides as predicted. Sounds like it’s a good opportunity to spend more time in the pool, though.

Restaurant Review: The Bread Crumb Ohana Cafe

There’s a reason they call it “Lazy Sunday”…. when the temperatures start rising past 100°F, training goes out the window and “recovery” naptimes prevail. Originally, the plan was to go for a trail run and then head out to the SoCal Cross opener at Irvine Lake. Once we got out of church, the temperature was already unbearable, and I knew that I would last maybe one mile on the trails before succumbing to the inevitable whining and complaining. Minh didn’t want to spectate out at Irvine Lake, knowing from experience what it’s like to stand in one spot in the heat. Instead, we opted for brunch at The Bread Crumb Ohana Cafe and attempts to stay indoors.

The Bread Crumb is a small diner-style restaurant in the back corner of your normal strip-mall. If Minh didn’t suggest it, I probably would have never tried it out. I am so GLAD he suggested it. The place is small, with tables inside and outside on the sidewalk. The staff is amazingly friendly. The decor is standard for your local eatery: polaroids of customers on one wall, clippings from reviews framed here and there, autographed memorabilia from celebrities who have visited, pictures of what Huntington Beach looked like back in the day, a splash of tiki to tie in the Hawaiian theme. But the food…. AMAZING!

Wheaties.. Breakfast of Champions!!

Tiki Masks for the Hawaiian theme...

I’ve had a thing for biscuits’n'gravy ever since my gradschool research days in Virginia. Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits smothered in rich, creamy sausage gravy… what’s not to like about it?? (Unless you’re a vegetarian or suffering from Celiac‘s.. in which case.. stay away!). As of late, my biscuits’n'gravy trials at various restaurants have all come up lacking. The biscuits may not be quite up to par: too dense, too bland, too something not right…. The gravy will be a little lackluster: not enough sausage, not the right consistency… But it’s still my “go to” breakfast meal of choice… so when I saw it on the menu, I knew I had to order it. (Back in highschool, my “go to” diner meal of choice was chicken-fried steak.. I love things smothered in gravy).

mmm.. Biscuits'n'Gravy...

Minh ordered the Corned Beef Hash (was also good)

Let me just say that the biscuits’n'gravy at The Bread Crumb is THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD!!! This is coming from an Asian girl who only just discovered biscuits’n'gravy within the last 4 years (didn’t have the pleasure of grandma cooking it at home.. she probably doesn’t even know what biscuits are). I would definitely come back to try some other things from the menu, but now I know when I’m craving some biscuits’n'gravy to head here. I’ll never have to worry about sub-par biscuits’n'gravy ever again.

The Bread Crumb Ohana Cafe
19079 Beach Blvd
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 960-5051

Wishlist: Easy Tasty Magic by Laura Santtini

If I died and went to food heaven, I would hope that all their food was made with a pinch of something from these gorgeously packaged spices and rubs from Laura Santtini.The collection is aptly titled “Easy Tasty Magic“, and Laura Santtini even wrote a little spell to draw you into the site:

“I have gathered and milled the stars for you; And danced them to your lips;
Eat slowly, lest you should swallow me whole and forget to spit out the pips!”

Alchmemic Larder - a mix of 16 spices and salts - would LOVE to get my hands on this..

With names like “White Mischief”, “Salt of the Earth”, and “Angel Mist and Broken Halos”, it would seem like these salts and spices would add a little bit of magic to any dish. A little dash, and my dishes will be flying off to Neverland!! Buy on line from Sternbergs Organics or Selfridges & Co. I would LOVE to get my hands on the Alchemic Larder - it includes Persian Rose Petals, Carnal Sin, Mediteranean Lavendar, White Mischief, Nutmeg, Devil’s Pen!s Chilli, Grains of Paradise, Saffron, Salt of the Earth, Smoke Paprika, Cocao Nibs, Bitter Orange, Renaissance Stardust, Bay Rose Peppercorns, Furikake, and Sumac. OMG.. think of the possibilities!!!

Salt of the Earth

Gold Leaf - Silver Leaf - this isn't even a spice.. just BLING for your food..

MmmMMMmmm... Umami...

Imagine spraying "Angel Mist" on your food.. magical..

Restaurant Review: iPho Restaurant

Minh and I have driven by iPho Restaurant a bajillion times (since it’s right by where we live), but have never been inside. We had ordered food from the place that was here before (Oh Me Ly!), but hadn’t stepped in since this place opened. Saturday night was the time to try.

iPho Restaurant in Fountain Valley, CA

First of all, I would NOT recommend this place to ANYONE. I’m having a hard time deciding where to start the review, so I’ll start with some words off their menu:

Applying family culinary secrets and experiencing satisfying hosts of indigenous and foreign customers of every nationality in over three generations of service develop the exceptional cuisine of iPho Restaurant. French, Vietnamese, and American flavors with exceptionally fine quality of ingredients are evident in our very own “Vietnamese-American” style cooking. Hue, Saigon, and Hanoi of Vietnam include lush, bountiful, bustling culture that reflects the cuisine of its own home. The demands for high energy, non-filling , non-fattening nourishment sustain them throughout a tropical workday resulting in the evolution of many diverse culinary dishes of unique distinction and is not find great appeal and high favor in Western diets. We hope you enjoy eating here and thank you for choosing iPho Restaurant for your dining experience.

Ignoring grammar and general comprehensibility, I still don’t understand the description of this place. It’s supposed to be Vietnamese-American-French Fusion. That’s as much as I could gather from that. The rest of the description is just gibberish. Who wants to read that the food you’re about to eat is “non-filling”? Isn’t that a good indication to stop eating?

The Menu

Below the above [ridiculous] description on the menu is a little warning. I’ve re-typed it as well:

Actual food times may vary. Certain dishes may take less preparation time than others. Please let your server know if time is of a constraint to you, and he or shee will help find the best possible dish in the time that you have allotted. We try to provide the best accomodations that we can. Please be advised that Vietnamese cuisine features an abundant variety of spices and seasonings that may not be well suited to your dietary appetite. Please alerty your waiter to any food allergies that you may have with regards to certain products such as peanuts, spices, dairy, MSG, and etc.

This is basically telling you that they can take as long as they [damn well] please trying to get your food out to you (don’t worry though, it didn’t take forever for the food, just the check… more on that later). It also says that they use MSG in their food! Last time I checked, MSG is not a “key” ingredient in ANY traditional Vietnamese food (or any “traditional” food) that I can think of. Maybe your great grandma left you recipes that include MSG??

Secondly… You would think walking into a place with “pho” in the name and a hot bowl of soup as the logo would serve pho or soup. I think that’s a fair assumption. Boy was I wrong!! Apparently (I found out later when looking on Yelp), this place only serves pho (and a very small selection of it) during lunch hours. During dinner, they serve French-Vietnamese “Fusion”. Their menu consists of… Vietnamese appetizers (eggrolls, spring rolls, calamari, etc etc..), French appetizers (escargot… I guess that’s French), Italian “style” pastas (huh???), and standard American “fine dining” entrees (steak, lamp, Chilean sea bass… what??). Where’s the fusion? Just because you have a hodge-podge of dishes from different areas of the world doesn’t mean you can call it fusion!!!!

Anyway, I was slightly disappointed (OK REALLY disappointed) with NO PHO on the menu. That’s the WHOLE REASON we decided to eat here in the first place.  We ended up ordering Banh Cuon Thit Nuong (BBQ pork wrapped in steamed rice noodle sheets.. that’s the best explanation I can give it) and iPho Spaghetti special.

Banh Cuon Thit Nuong

The Banh Cuon Thit Nuong was good, but nothing special. You could get the same thing, just as good, at any Vietnamese Restaurant in Little Saigon that specializes in Hue/Central Vietnamese cuisine.

iPho Special Spaghetti.. with mushrooms???

Why we ordered spaghetti?? Minh was curious what it would taste like.. and he was really drawn to the sautéed mushrooms that were supposed to be in the sauce. I was curious a little, too. It looked OK when it came out. The meatballs however, looked kinda… I don’t know… overdone?? The sauce had a very strong, sweet, strange flavor to it. Couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but it wasn’t good. It wasn’t horrible, but not good. What was really odd about the mushroom sauce was.. there were NO MUSHROOMS in it (perhaps not THAT odd for a pho restaurant that doesn’t serve any pho). The meatballs tasted like they were microwaved from a frozen bag from Costco.. correction.. I’ve had meatballs from the frozen section at Costco that were better than these. At least they didn’t charge us the extra $5 to share the plate.

New, clean decor

A couple good things about this “new” place.. the service is good and the decor is nice. Although, I think it’s the same owners as the place before, just a new name and new decor (not confirmed though). I could say more about this place, but I think I’ve said enough. Bottom line.. I wouldn’t eat here again, and wouldn’t recommend it. As with so many restaurants that have opened and closed at this location.. I don’t think it’ll last.

Event: HITCHED!

At some point in the near (or distant) future, I plan on getting married. Actually.. it’s more likely to happen in the near future (within the next year or so) than in the distant future.. we’ll see. Anyway, I’ve been keeping up with the usual wedding blogs (Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes, 100 Layer Cake, Martha Stewart: Weddings, Ruffled, snippet & ink etc etc.. there are a ton on my Google Reader list) since it became evident that this major event in my life will be happening. Starting to file away inspirations and ideas (there are so many out there) and piecing together what I’d like the day to be like. Since this has been on my mind, how could I pass up a chance to attend Hitched??

Hitched is the wedding event brainchild of Paige Appel (of Bash Events), Kelly Harris (of Yes, Please) (or collectively of Bash, Please), and Audrey Woollen (of Urbanic Paper Boutique). The idea came up when these three ambitious and fabulous friends decided to put all their favorite wedding vendors (and inspirations) in ONE PLACE. Like a vintage/modern, fun, wedding EXPLOSION of all the best ideas. You can read more about their story here.

The event sold out a few days before, so I was lucky to have purchased my tickets over a month ago when I first heard about it (when they first went onsale??). So many of the vendors that I have already tagged in other SoCal weddings (bookmarked for inspiration) were at the event, along with some of my favorite wedding inspiration blogs. There are probably (or will be, within the next few days) pictures and recaps all over the SoCal wedding blogosphere, but here’s the event from my camera…

Pictures from the Event:

Welcome to the Smog Shoppe!

Arrangements by Succulent Love

Enjoy! Cupcakes trailer.. they take this EVERYWHERE!

I love this Succulent Wall!!

Schwag Bags!

Cubby of Schwag!

Seven cupcake flavors from Enjoy! Cupcakes

Creme Brulee Cupcake.. looks like he’s going to kiss it..

DIY Wedding Ideas from Snippet & Ink

Grab your color!

I LOVE Paint-by-Numbers!!!

Catering by Heirloom LA

Great wedding suites from Urbanic Paper Boutique

the BAR

DIY paper flowers from Green Wedding Shoes

Free Cocktails and DRY sodas

Cucumber soda, Blackberry Margarita, Rhubarb Soda, Sunday Punch

KISS MY ASS(istant) Booth by The FlashDance DJ

Cute, inexpensive way to display pictures

Love this loveseat from Found Vintage Rentals

“MUAH!!”

This would be a great table design for Anni’s birthday

Good space, but a little small

The chair was covered in HOT PINK yarn, draped with a garland of animal figurines

Whole Baked Salmon – it was delicious!

Fun tablescapes for your wedding INSPIRATION!

Runway for the fashion show

“I’ve got my eye on you…”

 

 

The Vendors
Bash, Please – Event Coordinators – and put together 1 of 4 tablescapes
Urbanic Paper Boutique – Event Coordinator – also had tons of awesome samples of wedding stationery sweets
Smog Shoppe – Venue
The Flash Dance DJ – AMAZING DJ
Shark Pig – Aired some odd wedding videos – not really my or Minh’s style
Beauty by Sole – got some nice lipgloss courtesy of..
Heirloom Catering – Catered the hors d’oeuvres for the event – along with a whole baked salmon
Confetti System
Enjoy Cupcakes – brought out their trailer and 7 different cupcake flavors
Green Wedding Shoes
100 Layer Cake
Untamed Petals
Sitting in a Tree – put together 1 of 4 tablescapes (with Brown Paper Design)
Bonnie Tsang
Annie McElwain
Charley Star
The Bluegrass Hoppers – played some great bluegrass during the event
Grey Likes Weddings
The Floral Lab - put together 1 of 4 tablescapes (with Sweet Emilia Jane)
SmileBooth – set up a fun Smile Booth
succulent LOVE
Sweet Emilia Jane - put together 1 of 4 tablescapes (with The Floral Lab)
Brown Paper Design – put together1 of 4 tablescapes (with Sitting in a Tree)
Plurabelle
Found Vintage Rentals – supplied a lot of furniture vignetts for the wedding
Jesi Haack Designs - put together 1 of 4 tablescapes (with Dandelion Ranch)
Dandelion Ranch - put together 1 of 4 tablescapes (with Jesi Haack Designs)
Sarah Yates Photography
Feather Love Photography
snippet & ink
Amy Atlas Events – love the homemade marshmallows they had in the schwag cubby
Your Wedding Day Magazine

I’ve tagged this post under “Wishlist” because ALL this stuff is amazing.. and although it’s not something that you can actually give, it’s still wishlist-worthy.

Movie: The Cove

All I can say is that you really need to watch this documentary. It’s an AMAZING documentary. You’ll laught. You might cry. And you’ll definitely be glad you watched it. Especially if you love dolphins (and who doesn’t?)

To help with the cause, visit The Oceanic Preservation Society or Take Part.

Race Report: San Diego Triathlon Classic

I went into the race with a goal finish time of 3 hours and 30 minutes. Here’s how that was supposed to break down: 45 minutes for the swim. 1 hour 30 minutes for the bike. 1 hour for the run. 15 minutes for transition and allowing for any technical/mechanical difficulties (potty breaks, flats, dropped chains, bonking,etc.. ). I thought that was a pretty good goal to hit – easily attainable with effort but not to far-fetched that I would get disheartened.

Race Morning – Setting Up

We got up at the not-so-early hour of 5AM. Since the hotel was right next to the race venue, we figured we didn’t need to get up TOO early. Transition was about half full by the time I got there. I headed in to get my area set up (sans bike), and found a good spot in the middle of the rack. Transition was awesome. The racks were super tall (taller than usual) which made it a bit hard to rack the bike, but made it super easy to duck under the rack (which is something that I’ve done in pretty much every race). The racks were also super spread apart, so there was plenty of room between racks to run through and not bump into anyone else.

Race Venue

Minh had just put new brakes on my bike and did some adjustments before the race. I didn’t have a chance to ride it before heading out on Friday, so I had to take it out for a quick ride before the race started. Everything worked beautifully, so I took it into transition to rack. To my surprise, someone racked her bike right on top of my transition area (where I had set up the rest of my stuff). Luckily, there was barely enough room to squeeze my bike in (facing the opposite direction and sandwiched between two other bikes). It wasn’t a huge problem, but a little annoying.

Ratio of Port-o-Potties to Racers was good.. even had some specific for #1 or #2 ONLY!

They cleared out transition at 6:15AM, so everyone was out near the water to watch the pro men start. Water temperature was supposedly 68°, but felt cooler than that. Water visibility was low (very murky, but also very shallow). They had given us a warning flyer at the expo that there are chemicals and PCBs in the water, but that the levels are low enough to be not harmful, or something like that. It was hard to understand because the notice used lots of double negatives. Maybe it said “not unharmful.”

The Swim

Nice shot of the swim course

The swim was ok. I just told myself to keep a good, steady pace and not get psyched out. I got passed by a bunch of girls (but mostly because I started near the front.. don’t want to add extra distance by starting inthe back), but I also passed a bunch of girls later on who must’ve started fast, but slowed down later. I got passed by a bunch of people starting in the wave behind. That as both exhilerating (because I could catch a draft for a few seconds as they were passing) and terrifying (because I got kicked in the face a couple of times). The swim seemed to go on FOREVER (seemed much longer than the IM 70.3), but maybe because I had difficulty sighting (ended up sighting mostly off of other swimmers in front of me) and kept zigzagging. I had some good energy out of the water though, and was able to jog to transition.

Coming in from the Swim.. I actually had the energy to jog!

T1

T1 always takes FOREVER for me. I have the hardest time getting my wetsuit off. And then takes forever to get my socks on with wet feet. Yes.. I wear socks on the bike. I can’t bike without socks. I can’t run without socks. I like my feet to be blister free and snug in my socks.

The Ride

The bike ride was.. unexpected. Since most of the bike course was on the Point Loma Naval Base, we weren’t able to pre-ride and do course recon. I had heard that there was a big hill, but didn’t know really what to expect. I also was hoping that there would be port-o-potties on the course, because I really needed to go. Unfortunately for me, the hill was LONG and STEEP (at least at the beginning) and there were no port-o-potties, so I had to hold it. Actually, the hill was not as bad as I had thought it would be. It looked intimidating, but I just found a good gear (i.e. granny) and kept cranking till I got to the top. My quads were burning, but I made it unscathed, and passed a bunch of people on the way up. The rest of the lap (we had to do two laps) was pretty “easy” with a super fast downhill back to the beginning of the lap. I maxed out at 33.4 mph!!! (in contrast to the 6.2 mph I was cranking going uphill).

Lightning FAST!!!

T2

T2 was much faster than T1, as expected. I just swapped shoes and headed out. Almost forgot to take off my helmet (that would have been embarassing).. but totally forgot to take off my cycling gloves (yes, I wear those too). Ended up having to take them off and stuff them in my pocket for the rest of the run.

The Run

The run was good. My legs felt a little off after the bike leg, but my main focus was finding a port-o-pottie. I still had to go, and now I REALLY had to go. I knew there were port-o-potties outside transition, but they weren’t on the run course (and I wasn’t about to add extra distance to my run). So I ended up holding it… for about a mile. Then the course FINALLY meets up with a bathroom.. took longer than expected because I actually had to WAIT for a stall. But, I was happy to be relieved, and continued on my run.

Heading out on the run.. this is after I FINALLY got to use a bathroom..

My right shin was acting up (shin splints??? I hope not), but eventually it went away. I was able to find a good groove for the run, stopping to walk for a few seconds here and there when I would get a side stitch or hunger pang (I didn’t take any gels in transition like I was supposed to, and ended up only taking 2 GUs during the entire race). The run was a nice flat course through NTC Park, with half of it on dirt/grass, and the other half on asphalt/sidewalks. It consisted of two 5k loops, which felt like forever, but ended up going by pretty quickly. I finished just under and hour, and when I look back I think I could have pushed myself a little harder on the run and gotten an even better time (break 3 hours maybe??). Overall, though, I was really happy with my run leg.

RESULTS

I pretty much smashed my goal time of 3 hours and 30 minutes. Even though I finished in the middle of my age group (19 out of 41), I finished 25 minutes ahead of my planned goal… 3 hours and 5 minutes!!! Here are the stats:

Swim Leg – 1500m – 0:39:47
T1 – 0:04:18
Bike Leg – 40k – 1:20:58
T2 – 0:01:43
Run Leg – 10k – 0:58:45
Total Time: 3:05:31

F25-29 AG Rank: 19 out of 41
Gender Rank: 129 out of 255
Overall Rank: 504 out of 771

Post-Race

The folks organizing the San Diego Triathlon Classic really know how to take care of their racers. They had pizza and drinks and fruit and snacks… but most importantly.. they had BEER AND WINE!!! They also had a really cool “home-made” trophy for top 5 finishers in each age group, and a sweet raffle for some Zipp wheels. Overall, it was a great experience. .. and I got to see Chris McCormack (not during the race, but after). I should have tried to get my picture taken with him, but I didn’t think about it till after the fact. He won, of course.

Chris McCormack saying a few words about the race..

GALLERY:

Let’s GO!!!

Race Venue

Ratio of Port-o-Potties to Racers was good.. even had some specific for #1 or #2 ONLY!

Swim Start and Finish was up/down these stairs

Pretty view of the water… was pretty dark that morning..

We ended up taking one of these signs home with us.

Shot of Transition before the race..

Floating around waiting for my wave start..

Swim Start.. I think i’m either right next to or behind the buoy..

This is my wave.. of on the 1500 m swim…

Nice shot of the swim course

Coming in from the Swim.. I actually had the energy to jog!

Heading out of T1.. Trying to adjust the aerobottle.. it was rubbing on the wheel..

Heading out on the Bike Leg.. still needing to go to the bathroom..

See you later, MINH!

Chris McCormack coming in off the bike.. with his puffy cheeks!!

Back for the last few miles after two laps on the bike..

Lightning FAST!!!

Check out this guys CRAZY “aero” helmet that he paper mache’d together!!!

Heading back to T2.. looks like I’m illegally drafting.. but we weren’t going fast enough for it to matter..

The run course ran along side the water that we swam in earlier..

Heading out on the run.. this is after I FINALLY got to use a bathroom..

Grabbing some water at the aid station.. Minh told me later that they ran out of cups..

Need to learn how to drink and run without spilling all over myself..

Home stretch on the run.. trying to give it all I had left..

Stuffing my face with bananas after the race..

Puffy cheeks full of banana-y goodness..

I’m thinking I don’t want to go use any of these.. haha..

Cool “home-made” trophies

Pro Mens Podium.. Of course IM World Champ Chris McCormack would win…

Chris McCormack saying a few words about the race..

One of the race organizers, trying to be “inconspicuously” out of the way..

Zipp Wheels (404 front, 808 rear) being raffled off

Pre-Race Report: San Diego Triathlon Classic (EXPO)

I’ve been doing triathlons for about a year now.. and here’s the funny thing… I’ve never actually completed an olympic distance event. My first triathlon ever was the Los Angeles Triathlon last year. I had originally signed up for the olympic distance, but switched to the sprint the day before. And even then, I didn’t do the swim. The second triathlon I had signed up for the Big Rock Triathlon at Lake Perris. I had signed up for the olympic distance, but ended up doing only one lap on the swim (because I thought I was going to DIE) and then did the rest of the race. Since then, it’s been a bunch of sprint distance races and the Ironman 70.3 California in Oceanside. Until this weekend…. heading south for the San Diego Triathlon Classic.

Pre-Race:

I took off work early on Friday so that we could beat the traffic heading down to San Diego. We had packed everything in the car in the morning so that we could leave straight from work, rather than having to run home first (which is a little out of the way). We were on the road to San Diego by 3:15, and the drive was relatively smooth – took about 2 hours with light traffic around Oceanside/Camp Pendleton.

We went to the Expo first, to make sure that I got all checked-in before they closed at 7pm. I was already hungry, but figured I’d stick it out to get some schwag. Good thing too, becuase they had a wine/beer garden set up (compliments of the sponsors – Barefoot Bubbly and Stone Brewery). They also had cheese and crackers and fruits available to snack on.

Barefoot Bubbly at the Wine/Beer Garden

Free Food/Snacks provided during the Expo

Cheese, Crackers, and Fruit to go with our FREE wine and beer

After the expo, Minh and I were satiated for a little while, so we decided to walk down to the new Moment Cycle Sport store at Liberty Station to enter the raffle. They were going to raffle off a set of Zipp Wheels (404 for the front and 808 for the back) after the awards ceremony on race day. We got a little lost on the way to the store… actually.. we walked right past it and then couldn’t find it for a while. Instead, we took fun pictures in the abandoned/deserted halls. We did eventually find the store (which was closed) and signed up for the raffle.

WEEEE!!!

YAY!!!

Liberty Station used to be the Navel Training Center

After the expo and scavenger hunt, we headed to the hotel to check-in. It’s a little bit deceiving to say “we headed to the hotel” since the hotel was right next to the park where the expo and race was going to be. (Note to self: If possible, try to get a hotel RIGHT NEXT TO the race venue. It saves SO MUCH time and energy in the morning and afterwards getting your stuff there and back and getting cleaned up and such). It was a pretty nice place. They only had dbl/dbl rooms left when I booked, so we ended up with a huge bed to throw our junk on. We settled in a little bit and found a place to park the bike before heading out for dinner.

Getting settled in.. this place is more than 2x bigger than the last place we stayed (i.e. cruise)

Parking spot for the bike.. for the night..

I have been craving Five Guys since they opened their FIRST OC LOCATION a couple months ago. Unfortunately, it’s all the way in Anaheim Hills (nowhere close to Fountain Valley) and the one time we were in the area, the line was out the door (and Minh was not about to stand in it). Luckily for me, there was a Five Guys at Liberty Station. I didn’t want to be completely unhealthy, since the race was the next day, so I only ate half of my baby burger and a handful of fries. We also stopped by Trader Joe’s and Vons for pre-race breakfast and water. Then it was back to the hotel for bed.

These potatoes will soon become delicious fries.. Five Guys Fries blows In-n-Out Fries OUT OF THE WATER!!!

Baby Burger with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayo, and grilled mushrooms

Race Day Report – coming soon…