2011 SF Marathon Eve

Another long and fun filled day here in San Francisco! I have to go to bed in five minutes...running 26 miles tomorrow morning requires a lot of sleep. Here is a quick snap shot of my day. I will elaborate more on some future postings. Bottom-line is that I probably should have eaten better and not walked around as much as I did but you only live once and I choose to live it to the fullest!

I started my day bright and early at the Ferry Building Farmers Market...

...and I went into the Ferry Building *again*. I will likely go once more before I leave. Love.it.so.much! **(that's not my cheese plate!)

I did some yoga at the fountain across from the Ferry Building. ;)

I also zip-lined over it as well! So scared!

I had tea at the Palace Hotel! Carbo loading!

I went to Chinatown for the first time.

I ate this for dinner!

My five minutes is up! Must hop into bed. Tomorrow is a busy day. Blogging will commence on Monday morning likely. I will have lots of on-course photos to share! Good night and happy marathon dreams!

2011 SF Marathon Expo

Yesterday was a really long day. I was running on four hours of sleep due to a late night and an early morning flight. But I managed to get myself out of bed, through security lines with all the lotions and potions still in tow and even managed to grab a coffee for good measure.

Sister K is handling this early morning stuff a lot better then me. I just want to crawl back into my bed and sleep for another four hours.

This was the first photo I took when I got into the city. It is one of many which I will share in the coming days. It was nice and cool and overcast when we arrived. I got to the hotel early and check in wasn't until 3pm, so I stowed my bags and decided to explore!

A few hours later, I decided that I should probably head over to the expo located at the SF Design Center. So I had to learn to use the BART real quick since I didn't have a car. Luckily this was very similar to the public transit system in Chicago so I wasn't completely clueless.

A few stops later and a mile walk through an unsavory part of town and I was there. I really hate that walk to the expo by the way. Don't know why it is located in such a strange part of town.

I was greeted by this long line of people outside the expo. They were suppose to open at noon but it was already 1pm and the line was moving at a crawl.

Luckily the Nesquik truck was there to hand out samples. I must have stood in line for 20 minutes before the line started moving.

Many satisfied people! Milk it does a body good! Other people's body...not mine.

Then they high "tailed" it out of there...

...and I was almost at the front of the line!

Inside at last!

Best.race.shirt.EVER! It is understated and gender specific sized. I love it! I packed two other outfits but might wear this with come capris instead.

Gear check bag!

The quilt made with all the previous SF Marathon race shirts.

I took this photo because I thought about buying a hat (made by Headsweats) but decided against the idea for some reason. Nike Frees were also on sale for $80 but not the color that I had wanted.

Can't wait to add this to my collection.

Contender!

Clif bar!

True that!

SF Marathon ambassador hang out spot.

After walking around the expo for about an hour, I was pretty tired so I decided to head out in search of some lunch. That's it for now, I have to head out for the day but come back for more SF fun!

LA to SF

San Francisco...here I come!!! By the time you read this post, I will likely either be on a flight, already landed or in transit around town. Next time I post it will be from SF!

Source

The Eve of Another Adventure

I said it before and I'll say it again...work is really cramping my carefree blogging lifestyle. ;)

Luckily tomorrow will be the start of what I'm sure will be another fun weekend. Hey, life is what you make of it, right? So make it great!

Sister K is coming into town tomorrow evening and M planned something fun for the evening...I can't wait! Then an early morning flight up to San Francisco on Friday. Which means that I need to pack first thing I get home tonight...must.pack.bags! As long as I make sure that I get it done before I go to sleep. Oy, fitting everything I will need for the weekend in one carry-on is going to be interesting.

So SF Marathon training is coming to an end. Don't be sad because SF is not my final destination this training cycle, the Long Beach Marathon is actually the race that I am really training for. SF is just a means to an end. I am getting in my final last couple of runs before the big day. My spin instructor came back from vacation this past Tuesday so I am also spinning this week. He was right, I *am* addicted to spin now. I feel ready and excited and there is no better feeling than that before race day.

I've been trying to keep things healthy for the most part...you know because of last weekend and because of the race. I've been sticking with the 3Ss (salads, sandwiches and soups). I'm currently loving the pre-packaged salads from Trader Joe's. I am already a fan of the Citrus Chicken Salad. This week I tried the Shrimp & Surimi (fake crab meat) salad and it was really tasty. Madison approved!

Also, a while back Julie of (A Case of the Runs) hosted a giveaway for a pair of Skechers Resistance Runners and I was the "runner" up winner...some pun intended. Thanks Julie! Anyhow, I got them in the mail today and am really excited to try them out. In fact, I am thinking of taking them to San Francisco and testing them out since I am not renting a car and will be "foot-mobiling" it everywhere. That's going to be a lot of walking! I will do a proper review on a later post. They are really cute...pink, white and black...and the best part...they promote mid-foot strike, which I am working really hard to master.

That's all I have for now. It's going to be a busy couple of days but I hope to find some time to blog during my travels to share my San Francisco Marathon weekend experience. Speaking of which, I unfortunately/luckily discovered this week that there was a snafu with my registration. I say luckily because it would have been a lot worse had I found out at the expo. I panicked at first and after a couple of unanswered emails and phone calls, I reached out to Aron of (Runner's Rambles) and long story short, she is my hero! Hopefully I will make it to the Ferry Building come Saturday morning to thank her in person.

Susie Cakes - Newport Beach, CA

I think I mentioned this in a post a couple of days ago but last week, I had *the* worst cupcake craving ever! Okay, not *ever* but it was pretty intense. So this past weekend I was on the hunt for cupcakes. I ate one from the Morsel Bakery Truck at the SoCo Farmers Market but that was not enough. So I finally made it to Susie Cakes in Newport Beach. Glenn had mentioned about this place in my comment field a while back, plus I've read countless reviews on Yelp about this place but for some reason have never set out to find it. Consequently, Susie Cakes is very close to Haute Cakes Caffe where I went to brunch one morning with Sister K. I wish I would have known at the time, although they are not open on Sundays which was when I was in the area last.

Susie Cakes will be celebrating their 5th birthday on August 13th! They are throwing a party of course!

So I have to say that I am in love with these! The one on the left is Red Velvet and on the right is Peanut Butter Chocolate. These cupcakes are now my favorite! Especially the Red Velvet one. The selection is not large but they cover their bases. The cake is moist and the frosting is not too sweet. It is everything a cupcake should be. I wish I had some now. I got a Red Velvet for M, he doesn't normally care where cupcakes come from. But as soon as he bit into these cupcakes, he turned to me and asked where these were from. I said, "why do you ask...you don't normally ask?" He said, "I ask because these are *SO* good!" I know exactly what he was talking about. I guess I know where to go buy someone's birthday cake coming up very soon. ;)

Susie Cakes
2043 Westcliff Drive #104
Newport Beach, CA 92660

(949) 646-6881