Return of the [Running] Mack!

You know that I'd be back! Yes I just referenced a song by Mark Morrison and will amaze you with my skills of making it relate to running. Urban dictionary defines "mack" to mean the act of flirting or seducing. Well in my situation I guess I am trying to put the mack on running again. After getting my Spinning certification a couple of weeks ago, I've been spinning 3+ times a week and subsequently had to par down on my running to 2, maybe 3 times a week. I have an obsessive personality when it comes to certain things.

You're thinking..."what the heck are you trying to say?" Well just that I'm going to be bringing running back. I guess I should have titled this post...I'm Bringing Running Back! I seem to remember having a post with that title already for some reason. All this has been brought to you by the kick-in-the-pants I got at the Long Beach Marathon this past weekend. Maybe it was spending many hours in the hot sun or not hydrating properly but I am determined to redeem myself at my next race. De.ter.mined!

So what's next now that Long Beach is over? Well I am going to run a distance that I have not raced in since 2003 this coming weekend. A 5K in Chapman with Team Sparkle! I need a PR so that I can update my PR stat for that distance. That will surely make me feel better about my sub par performance at LB.

At the end of the month, I will be running the Rock/Roll Los Angeles Half and then the Santa Barbara Marathon early November. A couple of minor races after those and I will be done with my 2011 race schedule. This has been an unusually packed year of races for me. I intentionally planned it that way to see how much I could handle. Apparently I am quite resilient but I am tired and will be running less marathon distances next year. Maybe!
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So on my birthday last week, M sent me flowers and balloons!

He took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Villa Nova in Newport Beach. I've never been there before but it is situated right on the dock and we got an amazing table with a really cool view.

We had sparkling wine! Judging by the blurriness of this photo, seems like the waiter may had one or two himself. Just kidding. I forgot to turn the flash on before I handed the camera to him. Speaking of...have you ever seen Deuce Bigalow (Male Gigolo)? I ask because I swear our waiter looked just like Deuce's dad in that movie.

We started our meal with some Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms.

They were pretty good.

M ordered his usual steak. It was average tasting to me but he liked it. Sorry I am not more descriptive, I only had one bite and it was cooked medium the way he likes it but I like my steak medium rare.

Since it was race week, I order some pasta (Frutti Di Mare). It's one of my favorite Italian dishes.

This was good but I've had better and less expensive too. The pine nuts tasted strange. I don't know if it just didn't go with the dish or if the nuts had gone bad. They did nothing to enhance the dish in my opinion. Would have probably been better to just sprinkle more chopped parsley than these nuts. Gag! And I like pine nuts, just not in this dish.

I had about half the dish left over after I was finish eating so I got it doggy bagged for lunch the next day. Now I remember why I had not eaten here before, it was because I've read some lukewarm reviews about this place and now I know why. Can't beat the view though and that is what you will be paying for.