How To: Eat A Burrito

Mr. Lovely is from Back East. When he first came to California, he was a burrito virgin. Okay, sure, he may have had one of those things that are kind of wet and slimy and covered with red sauce and come with a side of rice and beans. Those are good, but in California, that is not the kind of burrito we are referring to when we talk about a burrito. There is a certain kind of burrito; it is bigger than your head.

And there is a certain way to eat this burrito. Don't be like Mr. Lovely and pull all the (2 layers!) of foil off, exposing the naked tortilla! Don't get pollo asada all over your hands!! Keep the re-fried beans from going all over your lap! Don't embarrass yourself!

I am here to keep that from happening to you. Hopefully we caught it in time.

How to eat a San Francisco Burrito like a local: 

(1) Start with the key players laid out. The burrito. The salt. The chips. The salsa. Napkins.

(2) Now, this is important. There are two layers of foil. Remove the outer layer only. Now, tear only the top portion of the inner foil layer off, leaving about half of the foil at the bottom to hold onto as you eat.

(3) As you eat the burrito, tear the foil down little by little, always leaving yourself a hand hold. Not only does this keep your hand from touching the burrito, but it keeps the juices from landing on your lap.

(4) More of the same. I also like to add salt and salsa little by little to each bite and scoop up that and any excess innards with chips as I move down the burrito.

(6) Even when you get to almost the very bottom, you still have clean hands!

(7) At the very bottom, once you have only a few bites left, remove the remaining foil. Quickly take the few bites, so as to not make a mess. OR eat all three bites as one bite, covering your mouth with aforementioned napkins. Or not. Nobody will judge.

And there you have it. Now you are ready for an experience of a lifetime! Now the only question is, what kind of burrito will you try first?

How do you eat YOUR burrito? Do you have a food that is specific to your area? What food eating rituals do you follow?

Weekly Doings

After an entire week of rain, last week it cleared up and was beautiful. And then it was in the 80s and I sweated my booty off. This week's highs are supposed to be in the 70s which is perfect! Spring has sprung for real, I think! I had a great week doing lots of things outdoors!

First, I did some of my favorite things: 

Coupon clipping, reading and coffee drinking in the sun.

You can't get much better than that. 

The book, Train Like a Mother*, was good. It's about running.

You can read my review here.

I went for a run on the trails near my house. 

One bad thing about Spring? 

Poison Oak. 

Leaves of three; don't touch me! 

 

Then I headed up to my parents house for the weekend. 

There is still snow on the mountain tops! 

I love it there! It's so beautiful!

 

I put my Dad to work, trail running with me. 

I even made him leap small buildings logs in a single bound.

Then he put me to work raking, gardening and towing things. 

Touche father, touche.

My parents made homemade cheese! 

I had to taste it to make sure it wasn't poisonous. 

I haven't died, but I still may need to do further testing to be sure.

 

The apple trees are just getting their flowers and the bees are getting busy! 

It only took me 2,361,384 attempted photos to get this one useable one. 

 

Yesterday, on my way back home, we went for a hike. 

The two hats are my Mom and Aunt, sitting mighty close to the edge of that cliff. 

 

No hike would be complete without an attempt at kite flying. 

Notice I said attempt. 

The wind was not cooperating. 

(I heard a man behind me say, "If you have to run, it's not windy enough". Lazy or smart? You decide)

 

I drove home, which takes about 4 hours, and listened to Ape House on the way, which totally makes the time go by fast (I have been doing it while running too. It's awesome).

*I received Train Like a Mother for free from the authors. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a review.

Have you ever read a running related book? Have you ever had poison oak (or ivy)? Have you ever listened to a book on CD?

I'm On Fire; I Need Water.

Remember the race that I was almost too sick to run? Here are a few of the highlights of the race and areas we thought could use improvement (supplemented by Dad). First good thing: the price. This race was only $40, which is a lot less than some of the Rock n Roll Half Marahons or other big races which can be over $100. When you are running 12 Half Marathons in a year, price comes into play, a lot. I often pick my next race based on price rather than other factors.

My Dad came with me and ran the 5k. It was good because he started at 8:30 and I started at 9, so finally I got to watch him start his race and cheer him on (and take photos of him) for a change! He did really well; he got about 26 minutes! Unfortunately, the start for the 5k and the start for the Half were in different places and since the half started at 9, so I did not get to watch him finish. However, he did finish in time to watch me run past him on the first mile of the course.

The fastest mouse in all Me-hi-co.

The race was the Bidwell Classic, which is a smaller race (about 1200 people in the 5k, Half and Half Marathon relay put together) put on by the local running club. It's one of the NorCal Half series, which includes about 20 in total. I would recommend this race to anyone in the area next year. It was a nice course through Bidwell park, the volunteers were very supportive and enthusiastic and the logistics of packet pickup was easy. The t-shirts were moisture-wicking short sleeved shirts in women's sizes (hurray! Unisex never fit right). There were plenty of water stops.

 

Okay, lets talk about the water stops for a minute. This was actually the best part of the race. As I was running along, I noticed a fire truck up ahead on the course. I figured someone must have been hurt or passed out or something and I was worried and sympathetic. Until I saw what was actually happening. The firefighters were handing out Gu and water! Isn't that fitting? Firefighters with water? They should have firefighters at every race. I am a big fan. I almost stopped running and had to drag myself away to finish the race. As it was I did take a Gu, even though I hate Gu.

Where was I? *drooling* Ah yes. There was a ton of food at the end: wraps, chips, bagels, peanut butter, rice cakes, drinks, bananas and oranges. There were tons of picnic tables, so you could sit down and eat in the sun or shade. There were free massages which I never, ever get, but Dad got one and said it was sweet. The only complaint I would have was that there were no napkins. Also, there were not enough port a potties, and they were kind of far from the start and finish line. Otherwise, it was well managed and fun! Would I do this race again? Yes!

I signed up for 12 in 2012 Race #4! April 7th in Tilden Park in Berkeley. Anyone going to be there?

Race recap coming tomorrow. 

Does anyone in your group of friends and family ever run races with you? How do you pick your next race -- location / price / swag / number of participants? Do you have a crush on firefighters like I do?

Hills for Lill

When R at Livin the Fit Life, who is a fellow runner and 12 in 2012 member, let us know of her plans to run a virtual half marathon in honor of her 95 year old grandmother, I was automatically in! I had my Bay Breeze Half last weekend that I had already run in her honor, but last weekend I thought maybe I would just run another 13.1 and use that one instead.

I am currently living in Oakland, and am finding new running routes each day. You may think that Oakland is like this all the time:

source

But it's not. There are a lot of nice places in Oakland. And by nice, I mean hilly. According to Garmin, the total elevation gain was about 4275 ft. See the hill right around the 40 minute mark? It went on forever. Well, 10 or 20 minutes, but they seemed like forever.

I went uphill for a really long time and finally found the park I was looking for. I asked some bikers if they knew of a path that was fairly flat and then directed me to the Sunset trail. Either I was not on the Sunset trail or those guys mislead me because the next mile or so was variable. It did "flatten" out after a little while and I had a nice couple of fast, easy miles before deciding that I had no idea where I was and so I turned back. I did not go the same way; I decided to take a different trail, which went pretty much straight down (see above around 1 hour and 15 minutes).

The good thing about all these hills was the view. I had a view of the entire bay and San Francisco, including the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate. It was priceless and well worth the effort.

I took a photo for Grandma Lill and kept going down the hill.

Since I turned around too early, this is how I ended up not running 13 miles. Instead, I ended up with about 10.5. I have this hangup about after I turn around, I don't want to just run around in circles to add miles. I don't know why. But once I turned around, I was like a horse to the stables. So I ended up finishing with about a 10 minute/mile average. But, since I didn't complete my distance, I will just use my Bay Breeze for Grandma Lill's 95th!

I leave you with this. Wessssiiide!

source

Do you prefer out and backs or loops? Do you like running or walking in new places or do you stick with the same route? Have you ever been to Oakland?

Then and Now: January

Well, January is over already! This year is already going very fast. I must be getting old or something! It's fun to look back a year at all the photos and see what I was up to last year vs whats going on this year. Last year I was traveling, so things are a bit different now! Not to say that any one is better than the other, but they are definitely different! Some things, such as my mileage, have changed drastically. Others, such as the weather, are similar. Here are the comparisons of 2011 vs 2012, the Who, the What and the Where of January.

WHO:

2011

2012

WHAT:

Miles Run: 

2011 = 0 / 2012 = 85

When you look at it this way, it seems like I ran a lot of miles in January, even though January mileage is so much lower than my last 6 months of running. This puts it in perspective though and makes me glad I am running more miles this year than last! 

Races: 

2011 = 0 / 2012 =  1

Coyote Hills Half Marathon - Fremont, CA 

(race recap HERE )

Books Read: 

2011 = 7 / 2012 = 5

The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton:  

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a fun, easy read about a woman who goes searching for her grandmother's ancestors and finds out more than she bargained for.

Still Missing – Chevy Stevens:

This book gets a 4 out of 5 as well. It was good, and it held my attention, but it didn't quite end the way I thought it should. I guess you could say there was a twist. I was kind of dissatisfied by the ending though. 

You can see the other books HERE. 

WHERE: 

2011

2012

How was your January? Did it differ much from last year? How are you doing on your resolutions so far?

Ice Cream in Winter

This week it finally snowed! So, instead of grabbing a beer (inspired by Kim), grab a hot cocoa before the sun comes out. Oh wait, it's too late? Well then, grab whatever you want then and let's see what's been happening around these parts!

The snow was beautiful!

(Monday morning)

But it melted away really fast!

(Monday afternoon)

So we made ice cream to make up for it. 3 kinds of ice cream. Vanilla ice cream, peach frozen yogurt and mandarin sorbet! See what happens when  you get an ice cream maker for Christmas. I bet by Feb 7, we will be tired of it. BUT. It's SOOOO good! 

Mandarins at the ready. 

I got a letter from the NORTH POLE! Thanks Santa!

I went for a run in the valley where it is warm. Then to celebrate my run, I had a HUGE burrito. Actually, had is a little tame. More like I INHALED a huge burrito! I heart roach coaches!

Then I headed to the Bay Area, where I stayed at a friend's house. Here is little A, trying to put on her shoes. 

They actually went out of town and I stayed to mooch lodging off them, eat their food and catch up on Top Chef house sit. 

On Saturday I ran the Coyote Hills Half Marathon. More on that later. 

How was your week? Did it snow? Did you run? Have you ever made your own ice cream?

The Thrill of the Race

I admit, I have not been "feeling it" as far as running goes lately. It has been snowing, raining and cold outside. The fire is going inside, and there is coffee and things to do and to talk about! The cat and I have been enjoying our cozy indoor retreat.

However, like always, I go out and run anyway. Once I am out and about, it feels great. Even though it's cold or wet, I get a rush of adrenaline from running. But even then, it still can be a little boring. That is why I like to change it up, so to speak. I try different routes, run trails or hills if I can, do intervals if I can't. This makes it a little more exciting.

This week, with the snow, I am banned from the trails (they are obviously not plowed and are situated on a steep hill which could make running in snow deadly). So I have had to find other places to go.This week I went back to my normal road, which I have been avoiding since the trails are so much more fun. It was a little snowy, but passable.

The other thing I can do is go down to the valley, where there is no snow. So yesterday, I took a little field trip and had a great run in 50 degree weather!

Last but not least, another way to get pepped up when I am feeling low (on the running front) is to sign up for a race. There is something about the hype and anticipation leading up to the race, as well as the race itself, that just keeps me going and makes me feel great. Today I got an email from the race director about the race on Saturday, and it made me remember how excited I am! I had forgotten but now I am raring to go! And I just re-checked the elevation profile...I am going to kick this race's butt.

This is what the race looks like:

This is the trail that I have been training on:

I am ready. Bring it on.

How do you get motivated on off days? Have you ever run a trail race?

A Hiking We Will Go

Mr. Lovely hails from the Northeast and has never been to Yosemite! So we decided that although it is winter, we would go and see what adventures awaited us. I was expecting snowshoeing and hot chocolate by the fire to be honest, but it couldn't have worked out better. Since we haven't had a lot of snow this season, the high passes were still open and we made good use of the late arrival of winter!

I know that you have seen enough cliched photos of Yosemite and I know that I will never be able to compete with Ansel, so I will give you a few alternatives. We decided to hike up the Four Mile Trail  to Glacier Point, which was a 4.8 mile one way hike, with a 3200 foot elevation gain. It was a nice path actually; it wasn't too steep and it was smooth and even paved for part of it. I know...paved! The views were fantastic! I am not really sure why it's called the Four Mile Trail.

View from four mile trail

Once we got to the top, we had a snack and decided to brave a longer hike around, instead of going back down the way we came. We took the Panorama trail, which ends up going over near Half Dome and then back down near Vernal Falls. From Glacier Point around and back down was about 8.5 miles.

View from Glacier Point

Illilouette Fall

So, total mileage was about 13.3 miles. Afterwards, we went and each had a hamburger, an order of chicken wings AND a bowl of chili! We were starving!

We also went to the Tunnel View for the sunset view of the valley. It was gorgeous! Except why is it that when you ask a person to take a photo for you, you either get a blurry one, or one with your feet (or head) chopped off, or something of the sort?

First, I took a photo of Mr. L. Isn't the view nice?

Then he took one of me. El Capitan! Half Dome! Oh My!

Then we asked a Random to take one of both of us. 

Seriously? 

We actually asked ANOTHER Random to take a photo and he took one of us standing (RIGHT) in front of (ie BLOCKING) Half Dome. AND he had a huge Canon, so I thought he knew what he was doing!  Sheesh!

PS. Our calves were SO SORE the next day! 

What is the longest hike you have ever done? Have you been to Yosemite?

Winter Break

I've kind of been absent this week. Not only have I been busy, but I have also been in "no internet land". This makes for good stories, but nowhere to put them! So next week you will hear everything! Until then however, Grab a Beer (inspired by Kim) and check out a quick version of WIDLW!

Last weekend was spent with my friends from the East Bay. We stayed in, made dinner and celebrated the New Year by watching the ball drop in New York. At 9 o'clock. Just kidding! We actually made it to midnight this time! But I did go to bed at 12:01.

 

The next day we went to The City and had a snackapalooza! One of the items on the menu: Dungeness Crab! Yummy!

Then it was Road Trip time! First stop: Yosemite!

Next up: Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur!

Monterey, CA

Monterey, CA

17 Mile Drive

Carmel, CA

Hwy 1

After that, we drove north on Highway 1 and went to Santa Cruz, where the waves were HUGE! 

 

Then we took a nice hike in the Marin Headlands at Point Reyes. 

Last but not least, but with no photo, we had our extended family "Christmas" last night, where we ate, drank and were merry until late into the night! It was so good to see family and eat turkey again (I can never get enough! Hello turkey pie!) 

Were you busy this week? Are you back to work yet? To school? Did you take any time to relax after the hectic holidays!?