JDRF

Bringing 2013 To A Close (Oh, and Becks Are Now Employed).

It is amazing that 2013 is almost done. Fortunately for Marc and I, it was mostly a pretty phenomenal year and we are incredibly grateful for that.

 We had the Australian Walkabout for 3+ months, which was an awesome experience and way more worthwhile than we ever could have hoped for.

 We watched our parents get healthier and defy their respective ages. We also made our brother-in-law a CrossFit convert after he resisted for so long. :-)

 We hosted another successful "Open That Bottle Night" (after we did one in Australia!!!) and JDRF dinner, and we had "Beck The Halls" storm back into our lives with a vengeance! Our families and our friends continue to make us chuckle and to be supportive of our endeavors.

 We had visitors from all over, including 4 of our nephews and nieces. We got to spend Thanksgiving in NY and Christmas in SoCal, both of which were so much fun.

 We mostly remained injury-free to pursue our fitness activities around swimming, running and CrossFit.

 The decision to close Purple Teeth Cellars. Yes, this is a positive thing because we were able to close the business down on our terms so we can focus on other projects going forward.

 We both found jobs that we are excited about (more below). It was worth taking the time off and then taking our time to find opportunities that we are passionate about.

 And most importantly, we are both healthy and very thankful for that.

 Some of the "not so great" things in 2013 include:

 The broken hand and recovery with the "purple claw".

 3 of our close friends being diagnosed with some form of breast cancer. Fortunately they all seem on the road to recovery. But HUGE dislike here.

 The Yankees and the New York Giants 2013 campaigns (ok, this only negatively impacts one of us for this one and truthfully - not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things).

 So in reality, it was a very good year for the Becks.

 I'll let Marc decide if he wants to talk about his role, but he is happy and excited which is all that matters to me.

About 3+ months ago, I asked a close friend if she wanted to move forward on an idea that we had only talked about in passing. She said yes pretty quickly, which was pretty exciting but a little scary.

 Reason it was a little scary was that this is a completely new space for me. We have created a non-profit called "uPower" that will focus on getting underprivileged kids in Seattle to after-school fitness activities. My role is "Executive Director" - aka the "GSD" person. The initial emphasis will be working with local CrossFits here in Seattle and pairing up with local schools.

 It's been a busy few months trying to get this off of the ground, but we have made a ton of progress. You won't find a website yet as that is still in development, but behind-the-scenes... trust me, I have been busy working with my co-founder on building the best infrastructure we can so we are hopefully in a position to scale this concept properly. 

 I am fortunate to have an awesome Board of Directors to help me out so we can move this concept forward. We are lucky to have a network of people who can connect us with experts as we get more educated on a myriad of topics. And yes, it's a whole new subject matter for me but I am embracing the challenges ahead.

So with that, onward to next year. Hoping for all of you to have a wonderful 2014!

Purple Teeth Cellars Update.

[NOTE: This post was entitled "All Good Things Must Come To An End" on the Purple Teeth Cellars website.]

When you have something special to you, it seems as though the most important thing is knowing when to move on to the next chapter. And with mixed emotions, we're announcing that we have completed the process of closing down Purple Teeth Cellars.

Words cannot express how much this venture has taught us. When we started this in late 2006, we wanted to make wine that we would want to drink. And we succeeded. We also went into this project knowing this WAS NOT going to be our exit strategy from our "day jobs" because we wanted to have fun. We achieved that.

When we started promoting our wine to our family and friends in different channels, we quickly realized that we were becoming a resource for many who were just learning about wine.

We resolved to stay true to the advice we would have given if we weren't making and selling wine. We did that and strongly encouraged folks to "drink what YOU like", not what the experts TELL you to like. Hopefully we accomplished that in your eyes.

We had the opportunity to understand what being an entrepreneur really means with our names essentially being "on the letterhead". We also learned how incredibly hard it is to make high quality wine in meaningful quantities year-in and year-out. We were able to donate some of our revenues to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), which is a non-profit that we strongly support. And we had the "pleasure" of selling wine during a recession where plenty of supply was available. Fortunately we were able to sell all of the wine that we wanted to sell. Obviously we held some back for ourselves.

We would like to thank folks like "Z", Kian and Gifford for their tireless efforts in getting Purple Teeth Cellars off of the ground. You always answered our "dumb questions" and really understood the meaning of customer service whether or not the problem was in your job description. In what is no surprise to us, "Z" went to university with some of the best winemakers in Australia and thanks to him, we were able to meet many of them on our recent trip there.

We would like to thank our family and friends who provided feedback to us as we were starting off, particularly as we were struggling with our logo. Special thanks to Jill's former manager, Chris, who gave us the most value-added and direct piece of feedback on the logo. This then led to Jill's sister coming up with an idea that we were then able to pass off to cousin Andrea to play with.

We would like to thank the countless industry professionals who were very supportive of our venture, but still provided very constructive feedback on our offering and how we could improve what we were doing. The time, energy and passion that they spent on Purple Teeth Cellars was incredibly instrumental in some of the decisions we made.

And most of all, we would like to thank our customers who bought from us time and time again. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to learn as much as we did. Your business, your feedback and your support really is what made this experience worthwhile.

Closing this chapter enables us to focus on new adventures, one of which was a wonderful 3+ month trip around Australia. No need to fret or be sad for us. 

And please don't forget to flaunt your PURPLE TEETH!

Thanks again and happy holidays.

-- Marc and Jill Beck

Interesting Reads, Cooking Adventures, Etc.

It's been a busy month, thus far. Running, cooking, CrossFit, friends, quick trip to Whistler, getting ready for the JDRF dinner and helping Harvalicious with his "Barbells for Boobs" fundraiser. 

 I never get around to reading as much as I would like, but found a few articles over the past 3-4 weeks that have been interesting:

 I had NO IDEA that if you declare bankruptcy that pretty much every debt will be forgiven, except for student loan debt. I am not sure which "genius" decided on that, but it has the potential to stifle innovation and risk taking in America. I am all for paying your debts but this is absurd. You try and get a new start, and your student loans will always be with you (but not your credit card debt). Not good.

 Fascinating read on the sequence of events that took place after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Good job, Esquire.

 What a cool story about a "sommelier on wheels". Shows that you can always pursue your dream if you really are passionate about it. It would be interesting to understand what was involved in the service portion of the Master Sommelier exam. 

I am convinced that Gianni Agnelli was "The Most Interesting Man In The World" before Dos Equis came up with the moniker for their very hilarious ad campaign.

 It's not looking good for the Yanks to make the playoffs. I am pretty much "anyone but Boston" at this stage, but I think it would be pretty cool if the Indians and Pirates made it to the Fall Classic. The Giants are off to a horrific start. No O-Line and a leaky defense. Not sure how Kevin Gilbride still has a job and how much more of a pounding Eli Manning can take.

 Running is going well mostly. Some aches and pains, but getting through the workouts and improving efficiency.... hopefully.

Spent the long Labor Day weekend in Whistler, BC. Hung out with a good friend, golfed for the 1st time since getting the broken hand fixed and cooked some lasagne. Good times.

 On the home cooking front, Marc picked up for me "Modernist Cuisine At Home" as a gift and I have been busy trying things out like "Sous Vide Pork Belly" for an upcoming dinner party challenge, omelettes, pressure cooked vegetable soup, amongst other things. It's definitely educational and I look forward to seeing how I can "up my game". Other recipes I have worked on include an heirloom tomato salad from "Down Home: Downtown", which was great, and Chocolate Pudding Souffles with Almond Butter Ganache, which was adapted from "Michael Mina: The Cookbook". Yes, you read that right - Jill baked.

 We are still fundraising for JDRF (will be through mid-November) and have our big dinner on Saturday. The dinner is sold out, which is awesome. Hovering around $18,000. Thanks to all who have donated to date! Harvalicious (aka Dad) is also fundraising to provide mammograms for those who can't afford them. You can donate here! Harv is going to do a special CrossFit workout with his "box" on October 5th for the cause! More to come on this.

Title IX, Microsoft, Yahoo! and JDRF...

It's that time of the year where we shamelessly plug our annual JDRF dinner being held at Chez Beck. It's on Saturday, September 28th. Feel free to drop me an email if you are interested in attending. It's a multi-course dinner paired with wines with ALL proceeds going straight to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. If you cannot attend and are interested in donating, feel free to donate using this link. BTW, we are already halfway full so snag your spot(s)!

 For those of you who are interested in Title IX or the advancement of women in the sports field in general, I have been catching up on ESPN's series called "Nine for IX". People like Pat Summitt, Lesley Visser, Mary Decker Slaney, Katarina Witt and Venus Williams are profiled. It's well worth the $10 to download the series off of iTunes and watch the episodes. The different shows have been educational, cringe-worthy (in terms of how much some women put up with) and humorous. Note that one or two of the episodes may be a bit graphic for younger viewers.

 It's brought back some great memories, particularly watching the '99ers (1999 US Women's World Cup Soccer Team) due to catching those games with Lisa, my sister, and a good friend, Keri back at Giants Stadium. The final was absolutely riveting and I remember watching with Lisa, and by the time overtime came around, the very packed sports bar switched from watching baseball to the women's final. Absolutely awesome.

 As I was catching up on some reading, I stumbled upon this profile of Marissa Mayer in Business Insider. It's a long read, but I found it engaging and well written. It doesn't say Mayer is a savior, but I also find that it doesn't go the typical "well the woman is a b***h because she is forceful with what she wants". That said, the title of the article is more salacious and infers it is some kind of big expose. No, I haven't seen the Vogue spread yet. She's rich, relatively young and very successful. Mayer will be well presented in the magazine.

 I found I was more intrigued by Mayer's style and her career outlined in the article than by Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" circles advocated in her book. Sandberg's statements did not resonate with me at all as she seemed to say you had to either be a mother of children or completely dedicated to your career to be 100% fulfilled. Plus what did she actually do in her highly influential positions at Google and at Facebook to make those companies more equal in terms of pay for men and women? Or being promoted to higher positions? I don't begrudge her success but she could have led by example which would have been way more powerful. Don't tell me. Show me.

 As for the latest with Microsoft and SteveB leaving, I have no idea who will replace him. The recent re-org does present an interesting question for the CEO candidates. Are they going to have to commit to the strategy that he spent over a year working on, or will they be able to create their own strategy? SteveB's departure was long overdue, and clamoring for other unpopular execs (but popular with Steve) to leave has started in earnest. Guess who? :-)

 But I do wonder how employees feel given that they were still trying to figure out how things were going to shake out for them in the recently announced re-org, and now will wonder what a new CEO will want to implement? I am sure Kara Swisher of AllThingsD will have her sources working overtime to find out the skinny.

 SteveB: Since you made around $800 MILLION yesterday just because MSFT soared due to your retirement news, how about you save the taxpayers of Seattle some money and just pay for the arena for the Sonics yourself? Thanks!

Thoughts on Sandy and NYC Marathon.

I'll just start out by saying that I was horrified to see the impacts of Hurricane Sandy to the east coast.  My hometown of Massapequa sustained a great deal of damage, particularly my neighborhood.  The town of Long Beach had even more damage, which was very sad to me because I spent so much time there with my family visiting our beloved Grandma Mollie.  I'll spare putting pictures of the damage on the blog.  Just Google it.  But Sandy's wrath was personal for me even though I am on the west coast.

 Fortunately my family was lucky in terms of the lack of damage compared to many others. Some of our friends were not so lucky, and I'll just continue to think positive thoughts as they try to rebuild their lives and create some normalcy for their families.

 As many of you know, I am an avid runner and I had the pleasure of running the NYC Marathon last year.  With the anniversary coming up, I was starting to reminisce about the day I had and as luck had it, we were going to be spending time with one of our great friends, CP, who also ran it last year and managed to qualify for Boston.

 Hurricane Sandy left devastation in the 5 boroughs of New York City.  Staten Island, where the marathon starts, received the lion's share of damage along with the south shore of Queens (Breezy Point actually looked like a bomb was dropped on it).  The course itself wasn't too impacted but the marathon requires a good amount of NYC resources, such as NYPD, NYFD and EMTs.  And we know this because the entry fee for the NYC Marathon is amongst the most expensive and we were told it was because of paying for the security and other support for a point-to-point 26.2 mile course.

 For whatever reason, the New York Road Runners (who holds the race) and the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, decided that the race should continue on because, you know, New Yorkers are resilient and the world needs to know that they are going to bounce back. Seriously?  With how many people now homeless, without power, without running water, food shortages, gas shortages, and who knows what else? You really think that a family who lost a loved one from this storm is going to say, "Oh, I am so glad they are running the marathon in spite of this"?

 My position on this was that they had no business holding the marathon this weekend.  The pictures that I saw of people realizing that family treasures and their homes were either gone or going to need major renovation were shocking.  I am friends with first responders and they have been working tirelessly to rescue people, even while having to worry about their own families and property.  They put their lives to protect us and would work until they collapsed to ensure everyone that could be rescued was.  If they had any "downtime" on Marathon Sunday, they could have spent that time with their families or sleeping. For the Mayor to tell people that none of the first responders currently working on rescue and recovery missions would be needed to work on Sunday was detestable. Sandy was an "all hands on deck" situation so where would the resources come from to support the marathon?

 But I will say that I would have supported any runner who decided to run. Reason being that they earned the right to be at the starting line. They should not have been demonized, and yes, they were. They trained and put in countless hours to run/suffer through 26.2 miles.  Many of them raised a ton of money for many note-worthy charities to secure their slot in the race, which is what I did last year for JDRF.

 Well finally Mary Wittenberg, CEO of the NYRR, and Bloomberg decided that the race had to be cancelled. I have no doubt that it was because of the massive social media campaign that was launched via Facebook and Twitter to either postpone or cancel the event. What is unfortunate about their VERY LATE about-face was that people taking refuge in NYC hotels were kicked out because of marathoners flying in from out-of-town. If people had known the race wasn't going to be on, maybe they wouldn't have flown in and those hotel rooms could have been kept for people who didn't have power, running water, heat, etc.?

 Anyway I am relieved that it was cancelled but it's not as though I am happy about the circumstances. Hurricane Sandy left a path of destruction that has impacted many and that is where the focus should be. Hopefully all of the runners and volunteers for Sunday will figure out a way to help in the relief efforts that are much needed.

Recovering from A Near Miss on the PR Front.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible year on the running front. 

 I did need some time to separate myself from the result in PDX a week or so ago. I actually was so mad right after the race that I signed up for another race at the end of the month that I was "confident" I could crush with a new PR. Especially with the Whistler PR invalidated because the court measured short. Don't get me started on that one.

 Then reality set in. And lethargy too, to be honest.

 I ran a lot this year. I had success at Ragnar by running 25+ miles over a short period with 3 legs, including the anchor leg. I ran it almost exactly to plan by going z1 in the 1st and 2nd legs and going for broke in the 3rd leg. Too bad that steep uphill in the heat got in the way for 1/4 of a mile!

 I broke a new PR about 6 weeks ago in the 5K and actually placed 2nd in my age group (not a typo). I paced Marc to a new PR in the 5K, which I was really proud of - meaning proud of him because he hates running and I had the privilege of helping him for a change. 

 Oh - and I did PR in NYC earlier in the year, in spite of my own ineptitude. So that's something.   :-)

 We also had our JDRF Dinner and are inching close to raising almost $20,000! You can still donate here. Thanks to all who have donated to date.

So yep, we have been busy. And now we have the NFL in full swing along with the MLB playoffs. I wish I could say that the Mariners have gotten a clue about how to run a baseball team, but they haven't. The Yankees overachieved to get past Baltimore and were summarily swept by Detroit.

The Giants have started off in an uneven way, as per usual. They continue to have to come from behind in order to make wins happen, or make it close at the end and lose. The Broncos have also gotten off to an uneven start with Peyton Manning now the starting QB and recovering from his neck surgery. So who knows? 

We are testing out a new blogging tool for an upcoming project we are working on, so we will see how it works with respect to hyperlinking, inserting pictures and what not that we can typically do from a regular laptop as opposed to a tablet. If things look wacky, please bear with us as we figure it all out!

JDRF, Golf and Catching Up with Friends/Cousins

Cousin Claire, who is very active in the Bay Area JDRF chapter, has been inviting Marc and I to the annual JDRF golf tournament at Wente Vineyards for a number of years now. Given our schedules, we were finally able to take her up on her offer and fly down for a weekend of sun, laughs and excellent food. BTW if you're interested in donating, please click here.

Marc and I were in a foursome with Cousin Bobby, who visited just a few weeks earlier on his own, and close family friend, Jim D. Jim knows Bandon, OR well as he used to own property there, so we were able to talk about how much the place has evolved over the years. Plus we had fun golfing even though we had no chance of winning the tournament. 

JDRF and Active Charity sponsored a tremendous auction and dinner after the round, which was a lot of fun, and allowed us to connect with Cousins Rebecca Anne and Annie. Some hijinks ensued, which involved another close family friend climbing up on a chair to claim an auction item because she was concerned about being too vertically challenged, or "short" as we say in our family!

 After our time in the East Bay, Marc and I made our way into San Francisco. We were fortunate to be able to connect with friends from my days in the Bay Area, Anne-Cecile and Dan. Many laughs were had in the time we were able to have a cocktail or two before we headed off to dinner. We ate at SPQR and at Michael Mina (of course, lobster pot pie) over the next couple of nights and enjoyed both of those.

 In between the dinners, we decided to rent a couple of bikes to go from the Ferry Building in SF over the Golden Gate Bridge through Sausalito, Mill Valley and Tiburon. Marc has never done the ride before so we thought it would be nice to do while getting some exercise. It started out pretty foggy and then cleared up nicely, as per usual summer weather in the area. 

 The only thing I didn't think about was wearing jeans while cycling 21+ of miles. Trust me when I tell you that this wasn't one of my brighter fashion choices. Still it was nice to get to Tiburon, have a quick lunch and catch the ferry back to the city while the sun was shining. A great weekend!

Geeky Race Report from NYC.

OK – Here we are with the “Running Geek” version of the NYC Marathon report. This is for my running buddies, coach or any other insane folks contemplating a marathon.

I’ll admit that the past 10 days have been a bit more of an emotional roller coaster than I was expecting. Most of the questioning has been around “how do you feel” and “when is your next full”. And I have been pretty much all over the map on both, which is generally unfamiliar territory for me.

BTW: Pics here and here. Additional race thoughts here.

So here we go:

Wake-up call at 4:45am. I had to leave the hotel by 5:30am to walk to Central Park South to catch the JDRF bus. I know of at least one friend who was very jealous of my cush transporation situation, but it was still early. Even with the clocks going back. While it was pitch black outside and you wouldn’t expect to see too many people walking around midtown at that time, I saw endless amounts of charter busses and people with clear bags (the only bags allowed in marathon village).

The drive to the start was a pretty one catching the sunrise. It was going to be a clear day out on the course. Maybe a bit warm for this PNW’er, but at least it wasn’t snowing like it did the week before in NYC! All of the charities have tents in marathon village in Staten Island, and we got to chill for a bit. When all was said and done, I probably had about 3 hours from when we got to SI to when I started. And believe it or not, it went really fast and before I knew it, I was walking to the start with another JDRF teammate who also lives in the Seattle area!
I knew I wasn’t going to start exactly at 1010am, so I texted Marc as I crossed so he would know how to gauge progress.

Mile 1 – All uphill and very crowded on the V-N bridge. Already wrote the mile off before the race and told myself not to expend energy worrying about pace here. Stayed relaxed, waved at the police officers along the bridge cheering us on and took it all in. It was crazy but the views were not to be missed. My stomach was a bit unsettled, but I thought that would work itself out.

Miles 2 – 5 – Still stayed relaxed. Kept reminding myself not to push. When we got off of that bridge, the crowds in Bay Ridge were ready. They were awesome! Brooklyn probably had the rowdiest crowds and cheers, and I loved it. That said I was starting to get concerned if Marc was going to be on the left side of the road as is our usual plan because of the amount of runners, and NO ability for spectators to cross. Stomach still a bit tight though. And my right foot (injured one) started to ache a little.

Miles 6 – 9 – Saw Marc, Tisa & Dan (all of Team Elway). They had great signs but given the crowds, I didn’t see them until the last minute. About 3 miles later, I saw Lisa, Jarrett, Mary & JoAnna (all of Team Tebow). Again, I didn’t see them until the last minute. Both groups were great and I kept trying to stay focused on being conservative by not weaving in/out too much, as I tend to do. By the end of mile 9, the foot wasn’t an issue anymore. Good. And the crowds continued to be amazing. It was complete sensory overload.

Miles 10 – 14 – One of the miles really bottlenecked, but I kept around a 9 minute pace overall and I was just where I wanted to be. I kept telling myself that you can’t “win the race” at this stage but I could “lose it” at this point, which meant my time goal. Cousins Dan & Scott appeared out of nowhere to give me gels, which was awesome. I didn’t see Marc with them, which I attributed to subway problems. I wasn’t too concerned.

Miles 15 – 17 – I saw Team Tebow on the other side of the road, which was a lucky break since I told everyone that I would be looking on the left. I didn’t plan for the fact that depending on subway exits that crossing streets would be near impossible. They had their signs and enthusiasm, plus my beverage, so that was good. But I really started to get slowed down at this stage by the crowds. The bottlenecks were more and more frequent, and the water stops were absolute clusters. Normally I carry all of my own liquid, but every expert said you didn’t need to because of all of the water stops. Mistake. I probably lost about 5-10 seconds per mile ducking and diving.

The Queensboro Bridge back into Manhattan really hurt. I was warned that you come to a very slow pace, and then my watch stopped tracking my location, so I was really messed up. I just decided to walk uphill since my pace was slow anyway and save my energy. It helped mentally, but the leg cramps start up once you start walking. Whatever. I kept going. I still had a chance at my goal. Coming into Manhattan off of the bridge was pretty surreal. This is where I watched the marathon many years ago for a long time. I had to keep things in check as I still had 8+ miles to go. But I definitely slowed down in this stretch.

Miles 18 – 21 – Marc and Tisa made their way to 103rd Street, and informed me that Team Tebow were not going to make it to the Bronx. I needed to take whatever I needed. I didn’t know if anyone was going to be at mile 24 at this stage, but I was feeling less than stellar and I just said, “I’m fine” and continued on. At mile 19, the foot cramps struck hard. I had been taking salt tabs every hour and gels every 30 minutes, so this was pretty disappointing. I was drinking fluids at a good pace as well.

Decision time. My goal time could happen, but chances were dwindling and I had to decide if putting it all on the line for a goal time was more important than finishing in a really positive state of mind. Given the shirt that I was wearing for JDRF, this was a quick discussion with myself and I went with the latter. The Bronx had more spectators than I was expecting, with lots of firemen lining the route cheering us on. So I walked/ran it in for most of the homestretch.

Miles 22 – 24 – I think it was safe to say that I was feeling less than awesome at this stage, but I knew I was going to finish. I recalibrated with some new goals (i.e., run 5 minutes, walk a minute), and I was so pumped to see the merger of Team Tebow and Team Elway! Lisa, Jarrett, Tisa, Dan, Scott, JoAnna and Mary were loud, proud and saved my bacon because while I wasn’t in a real negative place, I needed something motivating. The crowds were great, but seeing my team really lifted my spirits. I might have shed a tear if I wasn’t so freaking tired. Ha! Tisa and Lisa ran with me for a bit, asking me if I needed anything. I couldn’t really muster any words. I soldiered on and saw another friend on the sidelines, which was a great boost!

Miles 25 – 26.2 – In Central Park and doing everything I can to finish strong. I actually couldn’t believe that even though I didn’t hit my goal that the 4+ hours went by so fast. The crowds and neighborhood diversity are both so overwhelming to take in when you are inside of the ropes that it all becomes a blur. But I was proud that I was in a good place and kept my promise to Marc (and myself, for that matter). That said, I was so ready to be done when I came into Central Park by Columbus Circle. The last “.2” really hurt. Marc saw me with 300 yards to go, but I didn’t see him unfortunately. My parents were at the finish line, but missed me crossing (a slight communication breakdown).

Final time: 4:14:04

I also reminded myself that when I crossed the finish line that I was not to touch my Garmin until I was past the official photographers so I actually had a good photo op. Mission accomplished. After being herded like cattle out of the park, I finally found my gang and was so elated to see them. I say this over and over, but running is not a solo sport. It takes a team, and my team absolutely made my experience so much better than it could have been with me just doing this on my own. All of the hard work and decisions made paid off in being able to share a “bucket list” item with some very important people to me. The cheers that came in from near and far meant so much to me, in addition to all of the donations for JDRF.

Bottom line, I am so glad I waited until I was ready to do a full on my own timeline, not someone else’s. No, I didn’t hit my time goal but November 6th was truly one of the best days of my life for the reasons mentioned above, and for that, I am forever humbled and grateful for the opportunity.

Until I decide on what’s next, stay tuned…..

Say What You’re Gonna Do. Go Do What You Said.

Well it’s been over a week since I did something that I thought would be impossible one day, and that was to run a full marathon – 26.2 miles. Well it probably ended up being 26.5 miles with some weaving in and out of the crowds, but yeah – it’s a long way to run.
To say that I was fortunate to be on a team to run for something other than myself is an understatement. It was absolutely the best decision I could have made for NYC. We do a fair amount of fundraising for JDRF (you can still donate HERE if you haven't already) and I was pretty excited when they allocated me one of their spots back in April. But the thing is when you run with a charity team is that when the going gets tough, you know that you’re running because someone else has it tougher than you. So really, it’s not that tough for you as the runner. You know you are lucky to be healthy enough to even consider, let alone finishing, a marathon.

When I realized that I wasn’t going to hit my goal time, I’ll admit that there was some disappointment but it didn’t deteriorate into anger or frustration. I’m proud of myself for that as that realization occurred at mile 19 or 20. I had been out there for 3 hours at that stage and was working pretty hard, but I am thankful that I wasn’t delirious enough to forget why I was out on the course. I never got to that “dark place” that sometimes happens when you have a crappy outing in an event that lasts a long time (long is a relative term here).

The day was so special because I had the chance to have my family and friends out on the course cheering me on. They definitely wore out their Metrocards chasing me down from place to place, and while they didn’t hit every planned stop to see me at, they did a phenomenal job. Cousins were thrown into duty at the last minute and did a more than admirable job. Friends got thrown into the mix with crazy signs authored by Marc, my sister, my brother-in-law and my nephew. And of course, we had team t-shirts.

My parents, who have lived in the NYC metro area all of their lives, got to see a true NYC event for the 1st time ever and the spirit that goes with everything that is the NYC Marathon. It was a treat listening to them tell stories of their fellow comrades in the finish line cheering section. You can tell they were impressed with it all and trying to take it all in. The fact they missed me going across the finish was kind of ironic and a bummer, but I know they were anxious for me and cheering no matter what the outcome was.

And obviously Marc did his thing with ensuring that I had absolutely everything I needed from him – from taping me up the night before to making sure I had everything before I left to catch the bus to the start to having cheers and gels on the course to having clothes for me to jump into after it was over. I have no idea how I would have been able to pull this off without him there by my side.

The cheers came in from all over the place via phone,e-mail, cards (via USPS!), texts, Facebook and Twitter. It was a big deal having that kind of support. While I wanted to deliver an awesome performance with respect to my final time, I know that they were all proud of me for just keeping it simple.

“Say What You’re Gonna Do. Go Do What You Said.” That I did. I ran a marathon.

Final time: 4 hours,14 minutes and 4 seconds. A new PR.

And we'll have a geeky post on the run itself in a few days. Stay tuned.

Jill = "Co-Co Crazy"

I used a different term with some folks over the weekend to describe my quest, but since we may have a youngster or two reading the blog, I am keeping it family-friendly.

For the past few months, I have been documenting my quest to run a full marathon and now we are in the homestretch of training. The marathon I have been referring to is going to be very personally meaningful for me, and as I was starting to think about planning, strategy, goal times, etc., it was clear that much of the fun was going to be lost. Back in mid-2010, I actually had what some would call a really crazy thought. Some may say a “Co-Co Crazy” (CCC) thought.

When I started running races, a difference definitely existed between my 1st race at a distance and a 2nd race at the same distance. So I started thinking maybe I should target a “practice” race at the marathon distance leading up to my “real” race. I broached this topic with my former coach over a dinner in June, 2010 when she paced me to a new PR. Her face is definitely not one that should be used to play poker, unless you wanted to win some money off of her, so her reaction was along the lines of “uh, not sure about that.” Now it’s not as though she was off-base in her response as I had not ever run more than 14 miles in my life at that point. But still – it wasn’t the response I was looking for. After all, we would have had plenty of time to execute this plan and I had come a pretty long way as a runner to this point. I then mentioned it to a few other people over the course of the summer – runners, non-runners and a couple of medical professionals I was working with. The response was not positive.

I put the idea on the shelf for awhile and focused on the Disney ½ and a few other things going on in the 2nd half of 2010. I rested up and wanted to come back into 2011 with a vengeance. I took an exercise class that I really didn’t find enjoyable at all in November, 2010, which highlighted some physical weaknesses. So it was a good use of my time because I had some lingering injuries from running and clearly a lack of strength in certain areas was going to be problematic if I decided to run a full marathon, whether it was one race or two. Off to Crossfit I went in December, 2010, and that has been nothing short of a great move for me – the people, the workouts, etc. have really complimented my running and given me some much needed variety in my training.

I also switched running coaches, which meant that I decided to dust off the “CCC” idea again and share it with Kim at TNM at our 1st meeting just to see how she would react. She was definitely more enthusiastic about it, and little did I know that she would actually be crazier than me… more on that later. I went on a trail run in late January and definitely did something Achilles/Plantar related, so that knocked me out of my 1st targeted race of the year. I was disappointed, but I knew that “the prize” was in the 2nd half of the year and I needed to be focused on staying healthy for that. It was in Spring, 2011 when I told literally a handful of people that the “CCC” plan was back on the radar for 2011 but with a twist (CCC+).

The “CCC+” plan is “racing” the 1st race because of the course profile and “enjoying” the 2nd race because of the location and personal significance to JDRF. Yep. I have to thank Marc for really battling with me to stay focused, express his concerns in a constructive and positive way, and just being super awesome. This decision was one that I didn’t fully commit to until late July right after I had the awesome Ragnar experience. But still I didn’t want everyone knowing -- in the event I got cold feet. All in all, less than 10 people knew about either “CCC” or “CCC+” being a reality until Saturday evening when I told our guests at our annual JDRF dinner. The only reason why I even told that many folks prior to the dinner was because we were invited to TWO weddings during the weekend of the 1st race – both very good friends, and I felt they deserved more than a “NO” response card to the wedding invitation. Both couples couldn’t have been more gracious and understanding of what I was trying to do.

So yep, my 1st full marathon is coming up soon…. it's local so that helps. I’m now officially in taper mode, although it doesn’t feel like it since I had to ratchet down some of my training earlier this month when a peroneal tendon issue came up. I’m doing some pretty aggressive massage and anti-inflammatory treatments, which are starting to work. I still managed to do elliptical cross-training, hit Crossfit and get in one solid run per week once the injury happened, and I gleaned some good data points from those runs, particularly last week's run.

I have done the training (running and Crossfit). Kim has helped me get there. So has Marc. So have Tricia and PNak. So have countless others. I’m nervous but I also know that this experience of having one full marathon under my belt will serve me well in my 2nd one later in the year. Kim has a plan to help me “recover” in the month between. That must be an eternity for her since she WON an Ironman triathlon one week and then raced in the World Championships the next week and placed in the Top 10 in her age group – yes, one week apart! LOL. But yeah, she might be crazier than me.

I have no idea how this will all pan out, but I intend to honor a promise I made to Marc when I conjured up the original CCC thought. And as long as I give both races my best effort that I can summon on those days, then I’m good. That said, I think the ½ marathon is a way more civilized running distance to train for. J

9/11: What It Means To Me.

Some of you know this. Some of you don't. I was there.

There = across the street from the World Trade Center on 9/11 and seeing the 2nd plane come in sideways to crash into the tower.

I don't particularly like talking about it, and I go out of my way to avoid news coverage. I don't need to see what happened in 9/11. I know it and feel it every day. Yes, every day. It is now a part of me, whether I want it there or not. I know families were torn apart by this.

When that plane hit, I went into shock and had to literally be told by a colleague to evacuate because I was so stunned by what I just witnessed. Someone said we were under attack. I honestly didn't believe it.

I evacuated to someone's apartment close by and then we watched people starting to run like it was a movie, except it wasn't. That was the 1st tower going down. So we evacuated again. Cell phones not working. Trying to track down my folks. Walking up the West Side Highway to my place in the West Village.

You have to understand that for the folks in NYC -- we had no clue about Shanksville, the Pentagon, etc. Nothing. So it was a very confusing time in trying to piece things together. It wasn't until a couple of hours later when a bunch of my colleagues and I were back at my apartment, and we saw on TV what was taking place. Then it was literally going through my Palm Pilot and seeing who would possibly be down in that area that morning.

A few hours later, I heard some really loud engines which sounded similar to the sound I heard before the 2nd plane hit. I thought we were getting attacked again. Turns out it was the military doing flyovers over NYC. It took years for me to get used to the Blue Angels doing their shows out here without freaking out because the sounds were similar.

I was so thankful to get called back to work because I didn't know what to do. I was watching endless news coverage, which probably wasn't very helpful. I couldn't sleep. I had nightmares. In this rare situation, work saved me for the time being.

In the weeks and months following 9/11, I saw the makeshift memorials, missing person ads, etc., and they made me feel worse to put it mildly.

About 2-3 months after, Merrill Lynch restored our e-mails from that day before the server went down. I was at work when these e-mails started coming in and I literally got physically sick. I had sent out my annual JDRF e-mail the day before and people started using it as a way to track me down because people didn't know the difference between the World Trade Center and the World Financial Center. There were about 50 e-mails flying back and forth that re-lived that very morning as news unfolded. No one knew where I was.

I am so thankful Marc didn't have to go through that. Not that I take any relief from the people in my life who did. We met about 10 months after 9/11.

I knew people who were killed and lost someone who was a good friend. When I think of Vinnie, who lost his life at the age of 25 because of same cowardly bastards, it hurts. It doesn't go away. Ever. It doesn't just appear once a year. And people died after 9/11 who were victims of that attack. You just don't hear about them as much. But they are there.

9/11 is a very conflicting day for me because it changed my life.... for the worse and for the better. It made me truly re-evaluate. I would never wish it to happen again, but it did and fortunately I had some sense to do something with that experience.

My life is so much better than it was 10 years ago. I am thankful for that. I can't imagine my life being better than it is right now. Marc is a huge part of that. But while I avoid news coverage, I live life on my terms and don't settle. I did that before and probably do it even more now, particularly with certain people who used to be friends. Why bother?

But telling folks to remember what happened on that day is really lost on me because I live with it everyday, just like so many others who were there with me. Just like the teachers who had to keep their students calm because their parents might have been victims. Just like the police, fire and EMT teams that went in. So many scenarios of people who were truly personally impacted. The random events that enabled people to be late to work and survive the attack.

Everyone has their own story. This is mine. Thanks for reading.

RIP Vinnie Bag O' Doughnuts.

If I can do it, you can too -- 20 mile milestone....

So in the midst of this training for the fall marathon I am doing to raise money for Type 1 diabetes (click here to donate), we have "birthMONTH+". Well, it was only supposed to be birthMONTH because it is one of those milestone birthdays, but then I decided to make a summer corn chowder (from Eric Ripert's 'Avec Eric' cookbook) and inadvertently caused some "issues". Marc had purchased me for a little tool that allows me to get the corn off the cob in a more efficient way as one of my birthday gifts, and even though we were a couple of weeks away from birthMONTH, he decided that I should have the instrument. Oops! But it did help a lot and the soup was darned good.

Anyway the onslaught of restaurants has commenced for the month, and Marc is concerned about surviving what is planned for the next 4 weeks. I told him not to worry and that he should hit Crossfit more. Meanwhile I am thankful that I am training for the marathon so the increased calorie consumption can be offset by mid-week speedwork/tempo runs and long weekend runs. That said, we do have a pretty good line-up of restaurants on tap so I am very excited. Plus I have a feeling that the arsenal of cookbooks will be getting some use with the upcoming social activities at the house.

Last night, we were finally able to celebrate the summer fun and achievements of "Team Surf and Turf Squared" at one of the best restaurants in Seattle - Crush. Tricia, Don (T's husband) and PNak joined Marc and I, and we had some laughs, including finding out some new facts about Tricia that will eventually come up on one of our future runs. Don is a huge baseball fan, particularly in the history of the game so I always enjoy learning from him.
Tricia and PNak have been a huge part of the running chapter of my life, and they have moved from "running buddies that I am friendly with" to "friends that I run with". They both are not training for anything for the time being, yet they both continue to show their support for my 1st full marathon by taking time out of their free time to provide support to me. I was telling my Dad about them this morning and his response was "it says a lot about those people." I told him that I couldn't agree more.

Last week, Tricia rode her Vespa alongside of me for 2 1/2 hours (plus travel time). This week, PNak ran and then provided roadside assistance for 3 hours (plus travel time, etc.). Last week, I didn't set a goal for my 17 mile run in terms of time. I just wanted to finish it. But after seeing that I finished the 17 miles in at 2 hours and 30 minutes, I decided that I wanted to get 20 miles in under 3 hours. I know - given my typical pace, it doesn't seem like it would be a problem but you never know how fatigue is going to set in the later stages of such a long run.
I caught a break in that the morning was supposed to be much cooler than it has been on my previous couple of long runs. When we met in Redmond at 7am, it was 49 degrees. You're talking a 15 degree temperature swing from the past couple of weeks and it felt great. I also changed my pre-long run fueling strategy. Those two things made a huge difference in yesterday's run.

The 1st 9 miles of the run had some hills, and PNak said it was to keep me honest. I felt good and maintained a decent pace. PNak wasn't going to run 20 with me, but she said she would run the 1st half and then periodically check on me in the 2nd half. I left a cooler in her car at the halfway point and that also worked out well for me to swap out empty liquid bottles for full ones.

The 2nd half was pretty flat and on a trail. I didn't reverse split as she predicted as I was trying to stay within zone 2 of my heart rates, but I did feel pretty strong in the last quarter of the run. My heart rate did creep into zone 3 in that last quarter but I felt steady and relaxed, so I didn't really care. Sometimes the numbers don't correlate with how you feel and you need to just go with it, which I did.

In mile 16, I started to ache a bit on my right side. I just decided to push through it and ensure that my form stayed solid. This is where injuries can get you, so it's important to be smart. My right foot is a bit sore today so I may get it checked out on Tuesday just as a precaution since we're now in crunch time. The other bonus was that I had a pretty tough workout at Crossfit the day before, and I didn't feel it during my run.

In last week's run, I was counting down 1/10th's of a mile because I was so tired and, most likely, dehydrated. Yesterday was just completely different. If PNak told me that I had to run another mile to see her, I could have. Granted I was happy to be done, but my litmus test on these long runs is when I feel like I can run another mile or two without much difficulty. Last week, I didn't pass the test.
When I first announced I was doing a full marathon for JDRF in mid-April, I made a mention about PNak and 20-milers (see 3rd paragraph). It's funny that she was an integral part of my 1st 20-miler given that mention almost 5 months ago. I definitely hit my goal for the run and came in at 2 hours and 55 minutes. The run went as good as I could have hoped and for that, I am grateful.

OK, It Is Now Official

In early 2008, I decided to plot something long-term with the hopes of reaching a goal that started way back when I lived in NYC. In this instance, long-term refers to a 4-year plan which would roughly coincide with a birthday "mile marker" (as Kristin Armstrong likes to call them). Two main reasons for the 4-year time horizon:

  • Feasibility of achieving the goal. I knew it would take time to be in a position to properly execute what I wanted. To me, the time commitment involved in this effort made it that I didn't want to do it just so I could say that I did it.
  • This goal has a huge amount of people that also want to complete this achievement, which meant many people are denied the opportunity to participate in this event each year. After being rejected 3 times, you automatically get selected to participate in the event in the 4th consecutive year you apply.

So this goal is to run a full marathon. I knew that I would get in this year because of it being my 4th year of applying. But I found out from a friend a few months ago that JDRF is also a partner of this event, and they get allocated a certain amount of spots each year. A couple of months ago, I decided to apply for one of the spots knowing that there would be a minimum fundraising amount to keep the spot. This afternoon I found out that I received one of those spots for JDRF. To say that I am excited about this is a pretty big understatement.

But let us take a step back.

In terms of the 1st bullet, many of you know that I already run half-marathons and have done so since early 2008. My 1st milestone was obviously to finish a race. Then I knew that by the end of year 2 of this odyssey (that's kind of what it has felt like…. I know PNak is saying "wait until you do a 20-miler, Jill), I wanted to run a ½ marathon in under 2 hours. And by the skin of my teeth and with the help of two good friends, I did it. Fortunately 2010 went even better and I was able to shave another 7 ½ minutes off of my ½ marathon time over the course of the year. I felt good about sticking with the long-term plan that I laid out and while many people kept telling me that I "HAD to do a full" and I was ready, I needed to wait before I committed to anyone.

Why? Yes, I have been physically capable of running a full marathon (26.2 miles) for some time. But I wanted to be in a position where I could run it strong and have confidence in the later stages of the course. The other thing is that most people do not realize that my training DOES impact Marc on our weekends. For example, most long runs take place on Saturday mornings so that means things are fairly low-key on Friday and post-run, I may be spending time in the tub taking ice baths (uh-huh). Bottom-line I really strive to do what I say what I am going to do, and that means making goals that stretch you but are achievable if you work at it.

If I was going to undertake training for a 4-5 month period, keeping in mind mid-week running workouts, I needed to be "all in" before I asked Marc to come along. I am lucky that Marc has been so supportive of my fitness goals, but I didn't want to take advantage of that so I waited although he knew the plan from the early stages.

The fact that I am going to run 26.2 miles also means that my work at Crossfit is going to be even more important. On my 10-miler on Saturday, my arms started to get tired in the last ½ mile. You go as fast as your arms take you, and no, that isn't a typo. And this morning's workout really took its toll on my upper body. This morning's workout included some lunges with dumbbells, some push presses (basically pushing dumbbells straight over your head) and my "favorite" – renegade rows. What is a 'renegade row'? Well I'll link to a video that demonstrates the movement. No exercise at Crossfit will make me sweat like a 'renegade row' PLUS today I was told to "up my weight" on the dumbbells. Oy vei!

Well I got through the workout and I think my weight training gloves will take days to dry out because my hands sweat so much (ok, TMI), but I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't hurting after it was over. My hands have some issues from rheumatoid arthritis and holding on to dumbbells for what ended up being almost 30 minutes was really painful. I could have quit and had a legitimate excuse given the issue with my hands (known by my Crossfit coaches), but I wanted to see what I could do. I finished a good 5 minutes AFTER everyone else in my class, but the encouragement I got was great and really helped as I struggled through those renegade rows. My arms were hurting and my hands were in pain, but I got it done and was pretty proud of myself for not bailing, in addition to getting the form right on an increased weight.

When the e-mail came through this afternoon about getting the JDRF spot, I thought back to this morning's workout and smiled. Pushing through when you don't think you have anything left is part of training and helps build confidence. Getting my body strong to be able to handle the mileage will be critical. And this doesn't count the speedwork and zone training runs that I will be doing with Kim at TN Multisports! I know every training day won't be awesome, but I am looking forward to the journey with Marc, my running and Crossfit mates, and all of the people supporting me along the way.

I can promise to give the training and the prep my best, and hope that it translates well on race day. J

Yanks and Non-Running Musings

As a Yankees fan, it would be easy to talk about how disappointed I was that they didn't win the World Series. But the team that won had absolutely dominant pitching and deserved to win. The Yanks weren't the best team in baseball and the flaws that they were able to work around during the regular season… well, they couldn't be overcome in the playoffs. We'll get back to the Yanks in a bit, but I wanted to call out something very baseball related but not related to the Pinstripes.

I was very sad about the passing of Dave Niehaus – the longtime voice for the Seattle Mariners. The thing with Mr. Niehaus was that he brought the same enthusiasm and positive attitude to his job day-in and day-out, even when the Mariners completely sucked, which was often especially in 2008 and 2010. I am sad for the game of baseball that he is no longer calling games, but more sad for Mariners fans who feel as though they lost another grandparent who educated them about a great game.

In other news, Marc and I also survived Cousinpalooza and Harvest 2010 for Purple Teeth Cellars. We managed to squeeze in a trip to Portland and Willamette Valley for some wine tasting. Paley's Place, Joel Palmer House and the Allison Inn & Spa were all fabulous. We were fortunate enough to host our 4th annual JDRF Wine Dinner, and raised over $20,000 for finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes. We have also been doing a fair share of cooking and have no doubt that this will pick up some steam as we roll into the holidays. At Paley's Place, I was educated by the chef about his vision for one of my favorite recipes – Duck Wellington with Mole Sauce, so I am completely inspired to try it again.

But let's get back to the Yankees and switch the sub-topic from the 2010 playoffs to the new national nightmare known as "will Derek Jeter sign with someone other than the only organization he has ever known?"

I seriously doubt he is going to sign with another team, but if he does, I'll offer my thanks for his many years of great service to my team. Yes, he deserves our thanks and gratitude for being an excellent ballplayer who never flinched at being in the spotlight of New York. I'm all for someone to test out the market to see what their services are worth. Right now, multiple sources are saying that the Yankees have offered Jeter, who is 36 years old and had one of his worst seasons ever, a 3-year contract for $15 million/year (note: unlike football, baseball money is guaranteed unless you retire). So a message to Derek:

Captain Jetes, if you can find a better offer than that given your declining skills at shortstop and at the plate, go ahead and take it. Seriously. I'll be sorry to see you go, but if it is just about the money with you, then just say so as opposed to talking about your legacy of winning championships and being a Yankee.

My take on this is that Jeter is annoyed that his BFF/enemy, Alex Rodriguez, received more money from the Yankees when he has had less tenure with the club and doesn't have as many World Series rings. This is dumb. Let's face it. Both are going to the Baseball Hall of Fame. But Jeter is more well-liked and more respected in athlete and non-athlete circles. I would bet that Jeter makes more money in endorsements than A-Rod because of him spending his entire baseball career in New York. Seriously though, we're talking about Monopoly money – ok, so Jeter has made $200 million over the course of his career thus far ON THE FIELD, and A-Rod is probably around $300 million. Spending $200 million vs. $300 million – whatever. It's like a bad scene from Brewster's Millions, which starred the late Richard Pryor. And again, we're not talking about OFF THE FIELD earnings at all.

Furthermore, Jeter has always maintained that he is about winning championships. How many teams can legitimately say that they can compete year-in and year-out for a World Series title? And how many of those teams would be willing to commit more than 3 years and more than $45 million to an aging shortstop, a position that requires lots of physical agility?!?! I have a feeling that a number of teams may revisit the A-Rod experiment in Texas where Tom Hicks paid him an insane amount of money, but it ended up crippling the club financially. They had trouble signing other big market players (until of course A-Rod was traded to the Yankees) and eventually Hicks put himself in an untenable position financially.

So is someone going to tell me that some mid-market team is going to bring on Derek Jeter at more than 3 years/$45 million to instill a winning culture while the team labors through the summer because the suck and can't afford to sign anyone else (READ: Mariners, Seattle)? Unlikely. Let's not visit the small-market teams because that would be a waste of time. And don't forget that Jeter is a big city guy who dates a woman who is an actress so that pretty much puts it to LA and NYC. He always talks about always being in a position to compete and play in October. That is going to remove many teams from the equation,

The big-market teams consist of the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and maybe the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Dodgers' are literally in divorce court and will most likely be forced to sell the team but this wouldn't happen until it's too late for the 2011 season. I do not see Jeter fitting into the models that have been built for Anaheim and Boston, but you never know. That leaves the Mets. New GM, new manager and new "who knows what else". Yes, same city, but really – the Mets always play second fiddle to the Yanks, right or wrong but they do. I don't think Jeter is going to want to be a part of that, but ok – I could be wrong.

Bottom-line – this is all dumb posturing by Jeter's agent and the Yankees. It's gotten ugly even though my money is on everyone making up at the end and getting the deal done. I don't think Jeter is worth the initial offer the Yankees made, but if that is what they want to start with as their initial bargaining point, fine. It is not my bank account. I would rather them put their money towards more reliable starting pitching (READ: Lee, Cliff).

Eh – Maybe That Race Schedule Wasn’t Such A Good Idea?

I am signed up for the Seattle Rock 'n Roll ½ Marathon at the end of this month. It's been on my calendar since June 28, 2009 when we received the early-bird discount e-mail for the 2010 race. The reality is that I wanted to run the race again after last year's performance when I bonked in the 2nd half of the race. The truth is that I had been sick leading up to that race, but I really thought I had it in me to rally on race day. Yeah, not so much.

As mentioned in an earlier entry, the week following the LI ½ marathon was rough on me physically. Obviously I was really pleased with the outcome but I didn't plan on the flight back home kicking the crap out of me. And I didn't plan on not feeling like working out at all for almost the entire week following the race. When I looked at the calendar and saw that RnR was less than 60 days away, I knew I cut it a bit too close on scheduling the two ½ marathons so close together. Ideally I probably would have liked a couple of weeks to have some easy workouts before throwing on the higher intensity stuff but the situation was laid out. Skipping the RnR was not an option as I wanted revenge after last year's debacle.

The other wrench that was thrown in was that Marc and I were going to be away for a week at the end of May, which would also be a key time to get some of the longer mileage in. This presented Coach Lesley with a ton of constraints when figuring out my workouts for the months of May and June. I started to feel a little less stressed when I got out for 8 miles on the Saturday after the race. I was initially scheduled for 6 miles, but felt good enough to do 8 so I was pleased.

I still was a bit tired and opted not to do "Beat the Bridge" the following week because I just didn't feel that great the morning of the race. It's for a cause that is near and dear to my heart (JDRF), but at the end of the day, I felt that not racing that day was actually better for me mentally. I didn't confer with Coach when I was making the call, but when I told her after the fact, she agreed with the decision and more importantly, the thought process. It is good that my instincts are mostly leading me in the right direction as I try to improve, and it does a ton for my confidence.

Before I left, I managed to squeeze in a 12-mile run with Tricia and Lesley. The weather was pretty good – rain was expected for much of the run, but it only stuck around for the 1st mile or so. I got to run on some trails that I had never run on before, including in the Arboretum and some of the trails by UW near the Montlake Cut. The run had a bit of everything – nice scenery, pavement, trail, banter, swearing, rolling hills, etc. – but I was able to get in half of the miles at race pace, which was the goal. It was a good way to head into my vacation as Lesley and I worked that out to be an "easy" week, which it was.

Came back from vacation and hit Ladies Night at the track later in the week. I found a similar workout from almost 3 months earlier and it was nice to see some improvement. And given that the same people hit the track workouts, that means we have all gotten a bit quicker in our track workouts since we all pace each other. Go Team! Track workouts are hard because they are so intense. A typical track workout may not take more than 45 minutes but you are going extremely hard for chunks of it.

Two days later, I found myself preparing to run 14 miles for only the 2nd time ever. I'll admit that the initial run of 14 miles a couple of months earlier really did help on race day given that a ½ marathon is 13.1 miles, so I was keen on doing it again. Saturday was warmer and more humid than I expected. I figured it would be cooler because of the location of the run and because the path was completely shaded. Fortunately I wasn't too over-dressed and put in a solid effort on a course that was a gradual, yet steady uphill for the 1st 11 miles. I ran with Jen, one of my teammates from the Mt. Si relay, for the 1st 8 miles and then I was on my own. I was hoping to meet up with Tricia, PNak and Sjohn later in the run, but unfortunately that didn't work out so I was on my own for the last 6 miles.

Other than the 1st mile having part of the trail washed out and me having to jump in the water to get through (yes, that meant running in wet socks for 13 ½ miles – lovely), I really enjoyed it. The sounds from the local gun club were a little disturbing, but I remembered we had a similar warning when we did the Mt. Si relay. We were told that the club sounds a lot closer than it is – uh, ok. I felt pretty good about my splits after the run and other then getting pulled over by a police officer, who also happened to be a first-class jerk, the morning was a success – wet socks and all.

I still have a little ache on my left side and while I wish I could have had a bit more cushion between the races, it is what it is. I'm getting close to where I would like to be on race day, but work still remains. I have one more long run left and then the taper starts. Given that there are more hills on the RnR course than the LI course, I do not expect to PR, but I am hoping to put in a solid effort to make up for what happened in 2009.

Good Karma Anyone?

Before the post on "What Bad Karma?", I had last blogged on September 23rd when the Yankees made the playoffs, but had not clinched home field advantage. Based on my recent experience during the New York Giants 2007/8 Super Bowl run, I felt it was the right thing to do once the Yanks were one of the last 8 teams competing for the World Series. Now we're going to get to what happened on September 25th. On the 26th, Marc and I were going to host our annual JDRF (Type 1 diabetes fundraiser) at the house. A close friend and excellent chef, Wendy Johnson, was in charge of the evening with respect to the menu, cooking, pairings with the wines and general culinary genius.

The 25th also kicked off a 3-game series with the Yankees playing the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. If the Yankees swept, they would clinch the AL East and most likely home field advantage throughout the playoffs. How does this dinner and the Yankees/Red Sox series tie together? Well, Chef Wendy is a Red Sox fan.

Now I know Wendy is a professional and would do everything in her power to make things go really well for her. As in the Part 1 post, I have a number of friends who are Red Sox fans and we share a passion for baseball despite our respective allegiances. But still. I asked Wendy if she was going to wear her Sox cap during her food prep on Friday, the 25th and on the day of the dinner on Saturday, the 26th. She sighs and said that her cap was stolen. WHAT?!?!

Wendy had been so busy with clients (a good thing in this economy) that she had not had time to get a new one. I felt terrible. This was not one of those dumb pink caps, but a broken in one that Wendy has had for years. I had to think what I could do to help. We have that shared love of baseball, but I was conflicted on what I should do.

So in the spirit of kindness and generosity, I stopped off at a store near Safeco Field that day and picked up a hat for her. She was completely surprised and while I could have put something very minor in the brim of the cap indicating that the Yanks rule (a minor take on the David Ortiz jersey almost being buried in Yankee Stadium), I chose not to. Thought that would negate what will hopefully be good karma for the Yanks.

That being said, I did hope that my good intentions would translate into positive karma for the Yankees! Again, more absurdity in thinking my actions can impact the team but I don't claim to be sane when it comes to cheering for the Yanks or Big Blue.

Before your ask:

Oh – I guess I need to blog about what we served at the dinner. That got caught in the non-jinxing efforts. Oops!

Stay tuned. Yes, there is still more to come.

Latest from “Beck land” in Summer, 2009

I know, I know – we continue to be lame on the blogging front. We can talk about how busy we have been, but everyone is busy…. We get it.

What's been going on (outside of working at our day jobs)?

  • We had a fun visit with our nephew, Mason, along with Marc's parents, Dee and Bruce. Checked out things like the Grossology exhibit at the Pacific Science Center and saw some cool looking sailboats at the pier. Plus Marc went into baking instructor mode by showing Mason how to bake some cookies, make M&M pancakes and create a personalized pizza!
  • We've made some updates to the Purple Teeth Cellars blog. We had a great time coming up with some vegetarian food pairings for our wines, and will continue to post those recipes throughout the next few weeks.
  • We've been having some fun experimenting in the kitchen, drinking wine and entertaining friends. Pictures of some of our creations have been posted here.
  • Hitting Safeco Field when the Yankees were in town. We caught 2 of the 4 games, and the Yanks won both of them. Woo woo! We took 3 of 4 in the series.
  • Kicking off JDRF fundraising. As you know, raising $$$ for finding the cure for Type 1 diabetes is very important to us, so we're doing the normal e-mail campaign plus hosting the wine dinner at the end of September. If you're interested in donating, please click here.
  • Hanging out with friends and trying restaurants we haven't been to yet.

With respect to that last bullet, we've hit a number of Italian restaurants in the area recently and here are some thoughts:

  • Osteria La Spiga – everything was great until they told us that the wine steward was too busy to come out when they didn't have EITHER of the dessert wines that Marc and I picked out. It's too bad. The other thing that happened was that they pulled a "sneak the bread cost" at the end when we didn't even request the bread. Not cool. You know, if you just told us that it went really well with the proscuitto, we would have ordered it and not minded paying for it. The food was great (we had an awesome dessert) and there were a number of reasonably priced wines. The space was pretty large if you're looking to go out in a group larger than 4 people. It's in a great section of Capitol Hill, with the Plum Bistro (just opened) in the same building and Barrio across the street.
  • Barolo – service was very good, the fresh pastas were excellent and the wine list was solid. The secondi courses were an afterthought because there were so many awesome pasta dishes to choose from.
  • Bricco della Regina Anna – you can have dinner here and go to Chocolopolis next door for dessert. It's more of a wine bar with some small plates, but they had a lamb carpaccio from Salumi (Mario Batali's father owns it) that was so tasty that we had to have a 2nd order sent out.
  • Spinasse – best of the bunch. Service was great, porcinis were in season (I was in love), menu was simple but excellent, and solid wine list. The menu is not as expansive as the others, but they make up for it in quality. I wouldn't recommend going with more than 4 people and reservations are a bit tough to come by on a Friday or Saturday (at least by Seattle standards).

Haven't been to Café Juanita in awhile, but it is still my favorite Italian place in Seattle.

Slacking in the Blogging Department

We have definitely been a bit remiss on the blogging front. Lots of things going on in the household that have precluded us from updating things, but we hope that is going to change a bit. Today's very LOOOONG entry is going to be about some of the more recent exploits in the kitchen (non-baking edition because that is Marc's department). You can see some pics of these creations here.

But a friend of mine, Marlene - whom I had the pleasure of going to school with from 1st grade through undergrad, told me that she wanted some of the recipes after I posted some pics on Facebook. While this isn't an all-inclusive list, it is a start. Where I couldn't find the actual recipe, I'll post a link to the cookbook I found it in.

Grilled Flank Steak with Cilantro, Lentils, Feta Cheese and Green Grapes - this can be found in Tyler Florence's book, Tyler's Ultimate. This is one of many recipes I have made from that book and have enjoyed. And Marc really enjoyed the Lentil Salad, but I'll add that you want to mix and serve the ingredients in the salad the same day. For some reason, the flavors just don't mesh well when they sit together overnight.

From the same book, there is a recipe for 'The Ultimate Spinach Salad', which really does rock the house. I can tell you that I have made this countless times without anyone complaining and people asking for another serving. For those of you who don't eat pork (the recipe calls for bacon), you can substitute mushrooms and it still works great.

With the spinach salad, we decided to go for some hard core protein and made Rosemary Balsamic Vinegar Glazed Ribeyes. I think we opted to do this after I ran Beat the Bridge to raise money for JDRF.

Shifting over to poultry, we did one duck dish as well as a few chicken dishes. There was Martha Stewart's Grilled Chicken with Red Pepper and Basil that was served with Carmelized Shallots with Barley. The original recipe from her cookbook, Martha's Healthy Quick Cook, calls for corn instead of barley, but we decided to make it a little healthier with the barley. It takes a bit longer to cook with barley, so you need to either cook it the night before or just allow an extra hour as opposed to corn, which cooks pretty quickly.

Next up from Jacques Pepin's Simple and Healthy Cooking cookbook - Chicken African-Style. It was pretty easy to make and it's a recipe that you can make on a night where you may have more time (i.e., Sunday night) and doesn't take a lot of time to cook if you wanted to serve it during the week when you have less time (i.e., Monday or Tuesday night). We opted to do the marinating on Sunday and served it on Monday, and it was very flavorful.

Wrapping up the poultry section of this blog entry, we went for something in Jerry Traunfeld's Herbal Kitchen cookbook - Tarragon Chicken Breasts with Buttered Leeks and Ramps. OK, I added the ramps because they happened to be in season when I made this recipe. Another easy recipe to make during the week due to the fact you do not need a ton of ingredients, which means less chopping and prep work.

Finally, we're going to end this entry with a seafood entry. Yes, I said seafood. Given Marc's dislike of seafood, we don't cook it much around here but we were hosting a dinner party in honor of Cousins Claire and Arnie being in town, and salmon is in season. We made special adjustments for Marc because this dish not only had seafood, but something else that Marc has a strong dislike for - mushrooms.

So I made one of my favorite dishes - Seared Salmon with Roasted Sweet Corn, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Balsamic Vinegar Butter Sauce from Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe cookbook. While this recipe is not hard, it is a decent amount of work because of the amount of ingredients and chopping involved - particularly if you go with fresh corn as opposed to frozen corn. But even with the amount of work involved in putting together the dish, I never regret it because it always tastes so darned good.

As a matter of fact, I recommend you make extra of the sweet corn and mushroom mixture, as well as the butter sauce, because you can also serve it with chicken as a leftover, which is what we did for Marc. We also made a separate corn and carrot mixture for Marc, given how much he does not like mushrooms. It worked.

Mama said there`d be days like this

It's been a crazy few months so I am catching up on some overdue blog entries. This blog entry is about October 19, 2008 and what turned out to be a really, really good day.

We were in San Francisco for a couple of reasons - I was running in the Nike 1/2 Marathon to raise money for JDRF and we had to take care of some very important business for Purple Teeth Cellars. Fun stuff.

The day started out with a pretty early wake-up call, particularly because the race started where we were staying - Union Square. So both Marc and I were up at 5:30am - what a guy. Marc and I drove the course the day before to get a sense of where we would be meeting up during the race, so after a delayed breakfast, we were ready to go.

The race weather was actually pretty favorable and I was pleased with my time of 2 hours, 13 minutes given how steep the hills were. My PR ('personal record' for the non-runners) was 2 hours and 9 minutes, so I was ecstatic particularly because I managed the race well and finished very strong.

After finding Marc, we high-tailed it back to the hotel because Big Blue was on TV because they were playing the San Francisco 49'ers. Watch our post-race celebration here. This is a good thing because I rarely get to see my Giants on TV living in Seattle so the fact we were in SF while their team was playing Big Blue... this was good. The Giants ended up winning and the Cowboys ended up losing, so the day is going well.

Marc and I spent the afternoon over at our winemaking facility pressing some grapes from our 2008 vintages, which was educational for the both of us. Then it was time to gear up for dinner at Michael Mina for lobster pot pie. For those of you who like lobster, Mina's lobster pot pie is just pure goodness and decadence. You can check out the presentation here. The sommelier paired it with a '04 Domaine de L'Arlot Nuit Saint Georges 1er Cru. Great stuff.

And the unexpected bonus came at the end of the evening when we found out that the Boston Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs by the upstart Tampa Bay Rays. Unfortunately they ended up losing to the Philadelphia Phillies, but as a Yanks fan - it's always "anyone but the Red Sox".

Other restaurants we visited during our stay included Quince (with Cousin Claire and Arnie, who had some of our barrel samples from our '07 Purple Teeth Cellars vintages) and A16 (with Anne-Cecile and Dan). A16 - stick to the pizzas and pastas. Quince - try everything.

All in all, it ended up being a great day - but the important thing is to give a special shout-out to Marc, for being awesome, per usual, in supporting me for the race and just for being him.