Author: stewscat

Barkley Marathons Movie

Global Running Day was on June 1st.  I really wanted to get in at least a mile that day but after a 12 hour work day and the temperature still being over 85 at 8 pm, I elected to not run.  I went out the next day and managed 5 in the heat.  This hot weather business is already annoying me and we’re not even in real summer yet.

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I watched the documentary movie of the Barkley Marathon on Netflix yesterday.  While I have no intentions of becoming an ultrarunner let alone an adventure racer (as the participants of this race I would consider more adventure racers than ultrarunners), I can appreciate the perseverance, dedication, and pure grit that these athletes require to attempt a course such as this.  I don’t know if anyone else actually enjoys watching ultra-sports, but I have a strange fascination with watching athletes push their bodies to the limit, so I enjoy watching (living vicariously?) events such as Kona Ironman, Spartan races, and the ilk.

I had briefly heard of this race though didn’t know much about it except it was renowned as one of the toughest races on the planet.  So this documentary was very intriguing to me.   The founder (Lazarus) is such a great character and seems like a fun person to be friends with.  He has a great philosophy when it comes to the race, it is a way for people to be able to challenge themselves both mentally and physically and see what their limit is.  I mean, a race where the first finisher didn’t occur until 10 years into the race is something special indeed.  I could never attempt something so crazy due to my weird GI issues. I  wouldn’t last for many hours out in the middle of no where.  I am so amazed by what the human body can be put through.  So much of the race seemed so mental.  I do enjoy watching and learning about what people can do though.  It was an entertaining movie and I recommend it to anyone that is an endurance athlete.  It did make me wonder about doing some shorter trail races such as half marathons and such.

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One thing I’ve found difficult to balance with my newfound hobby of baking is the timing of baking and running.  Most of the times, the plan is to baking in the morning (usually after creating a poolish overnight).  However, this then interferes with running, which is also normally a morning activity especially here in hot Sacramento.   I’ve had to get a little creative in terms of when I do my runs as well as the distance that I plan on doing.  The nice thing with baking is that there is a fair amount of down time while you wait for the dough to ferment or proof.  This can last anywhere from 1-2 hours and that usually is enough to get most runs in (I could probably do up to 10 miles and still be able to fit it in there).  I think part of what I need to do is get some more concrete time tables down for the bread making process (I play it by ear a lot and that doesn’t always work well with baking).  But I don’t think I’ll stop either so I’ll just have to work it out.  I will have to see what happens when I need to start doing longer runs (that last up to 3-4 hours), guess I could plan to bake on the days of shorter runs.

I attempted a sourdough starter last week and it seemed alive the first 48-72 hours, but somewhere after that it just smelled funky and no longer was doubling in size, so it must have died.  I am starting anew and will see if I can get something going that will live.

-StewsCat

2014 Davis Moo-nlight Run Race Recap

Race summary: Night race which is a change of pace, mostly flat course through neighborhoods except for crossing a long bridge going over the freeway, decent course support and spectators.  Free beer at the end!

My friend KP over in Davis asked me if I wanted to do this race with her and her friend.  I had never done a night race before and thought it might be fun.  Since the summers are so incredibly hot in Sacramento in the summers, a nice race seemed like maybe a good idea.  While the days are hot in Sacramento, it usually does cool off overnight (though sometimes it doesn’t start feeling cool until well past midnight).  The race’s name would make you think you’re running late at night, but in reality the race started around 7 pm (still daylight at race start).

I liked that they had a same day race packet/t-shirt pickup.  This was at the start of the race.  The race is held on the eastern side of Davis – most commonly known for its university (University of California, Davis).  The race start/finish and other fun things were on the DMG Mori Campus (I guess it is some manufacturing company).  I arrived about 90 minutes before the race start.  I picked up my shirt and bib and returned to my car to put away the shirt.  I met up with KP and her friend and we just hung out until the race.  The people estimated to take longer than 2.5 hours actually started the race 30 minutes before we did.  So we watched them start.  At race start, the temperature was still in the mid-upper 70s.  This is way too hot than I like but I figured since the sun would be setting within the next hour, it should cool off considerably.  This race was unique because we ran over a freeway bridge to get to the south side of highway 80 and run around south Davis.  The course mostly took us through various neighborhoods (with one section of a paved path through heavily wooded areas).  We ran the first half of the race south of the 80 and then re-crossed the 80 back to the north side.  By this time it was almost dark and there were volunteers handing out some glow necklaces.  This was a nice touch since many of us didn’t actually carry flashlights or headlights and at least made us somewhat visible.

Because I’m not used to doing a race at night, or running for distance in the evening, my body was a bit confused as to what I was doing.  Luckily I was running with KP (we had left her friend behind as she was struggling to maintain a good pace and told us to just go on without her) and its always easier to run when you have a friend to run with.  Around mile 10, there was a random person on the course handing out orange slices and this definitely helped as the temperatures still hovered in the low 70s and it was hot.

The last half mile took us through a field near the DMG building and this is where it was a bit treacherous as there was no street lighting and we couldn’t really see where we were placing our feet.  I was a bit concerned I may land in a pot hole incorrectly and sprain my ankle.  I was relying a bit on nearby runners who actually did have flash lights.  I luckily made it through with no injuries and powered to the end.

Final chip time: 2:13:16

At the finish, I had my free beer (why else do you do races, right?) and also half of KP’s beer since she wasn’t feeling it after the race.  The race medal was cool because it’s the largest one I’ve had.  It also glows in the dark.

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-StewsCat

Sonoma Eats

Last weekend we attended my cousin’s wedding at a private estate just north of Sonoma in Glen Ellen.  Prior to our arrival at the wedding venue, we stopped in Sonoma for a late lunch.  After doing some quick research I thought The Girl and the Fig sounded like en excellent choice.  We arrived at 12:30 and luckily found street parking less than a block from the restaurant.  Its nice in sonoma in that they have free 3 hour street parking around their Square/Plaza where all the restaurants are situated.  I like that the restaurant has a system that takes your name and cell phone number so you can go wander the square.  It was a windy day but we walked down checking out some shops – stopping in the small kitchen supply store because, well, I love kitchen things!  We were sat just after 1:30, around when they said our table would be ready.  I was fairly excited about the menu.

They have a Salon du Fromage (yay cheese!) as well as their own house-made charcuterie (Mano Formate).  The Girl and the Fig is owned by Sondra Bernstein and delivers rustic French food in a nice casual atmosphere.  The original The Fig Cafe is located in nearby Glen Ellen.  We started with some craft cocktails – and while I don’t remember the exact name or what was in the drinks, they were delightful.  Also we agreed upon getting 3 cheeses and 3 meats to start.  The cheese were a Roquefort, Chevre, and a semi-firm cow cheese (can’t remember the name) along with 3 different cuts of charcuterie.  Delicious!  My wife also tried the soup but it was too earthy flavored for her.  For her main she went with the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, with tomato confit.  It was creamy and yummy.  For my main I went with the Duck Confit, served with fava beans, roasted potatoes, and onions.  I went with the 1 leg option.  Probably the best duck confit that I’ve had, and I’ve tried it at various places.

We have been watching The Great British Baking Show and one of the recent episodes featured trifles.  Since The Girl and The Fig had a chocolate & salted fig caramel trifle, I had to try it.  It was sweet and a nice way to end the meal.  If you’re ever in the Sonoma region, I definitely recommend it.

On our way back from the wedding weekend, we again stopped in Sonoma for some brunch before driving back to Sac.  The wife suggested we try Community Cafe.  It’s a small counter service restaurant that has various brunch and lunch options.  They have self serve coffee as well.  My wife ordered the Truffled Eggs & Toast and I had the Cuban Pork Breakfast Burrito (served with black beans).  I needed something hearty after a bit too much imbibing at the wedding.   Both dishes were extremely good and filling.  The truffled eggs certainly had enough truffle essence.  My burrito came as a wet burrito that I had to eat with knife and fork but I didn’t mind since it was so tasty.  The atmosphere of the cafe was certainly one of locals and a place to read the paper and have a lazy breakfast/brunch.  A nice small non-touristy spot for some good food.

Both places we visited in Sonoma on this visit were spot on.

While we were in the area, we visited Santa Rosa and the Charles Schultz museum (Peanuts!!).  It’s a nice little museum  to visit if you’re in the area.

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Peanuts!

-StewsCat

100% Whole wheat bread

Since I’m starting to feel more comfortable with bread making, I decided I should try my hand at making something that is a little healthier.  We had switched from buying bread to me making tortillas for wraps for our lunches (less dense, less calories).  Somewhere along the way I started to get interested in making bread and I want to try to keep this new hobby as healthy as possible.  I most definitely will not stop making other white breads and such, just thought I should try to do some healthy breads.

Poolish

  • 100% Whole wheat bread – 240 g
  • Water – 240 g
  • Instant yeast – 2 g

Remaining formula

  • 100% Whole wheat bread – 480 g
  • Water – 480 g
  • Olive oil – 50 g
  • Honey – 75 g
  • Instant yeast – 3 g
  • Salt – 3 tsp

I must have done something wrong with my conversions because this created an almost 100% hydration dough.  And it all just went downhill from there.

After sitting overnight

The poolish came out fine as above.  However, I then mixed up the poolish and the above remaining ingredients.  As I was doing this, I was thinking to myself that this hydration was a bit high.  I let the dough do its normal rest and then did the stretch and fold method for 3 minutes, then let it rest.  I repeated the stretch and fold method at 25 minute intervals but the dough just did not seem to be coming together, it remained a very moist and weak structure.

I finally gave up on it developing any sort of strength and form.  I elected to throw it into my breadpan and see what would happen.  As expected, it didn’t turn out great.  There was no good proofing and oven spring and it came out as an inedible brick.

Moist mess in the bread pan
Brick bread
Dense and not good flavoring

The above happened on Saturday.  I worked Sunday and so to make myself feel better I whipped up a quick white bread boule (I did add a little whole wheat flour into it).

This bread had the following formula:

Poolish

  • 170 g bread flour
  • 170 g water
  • 1/4 tsp (2g) instant yeast

Remaining mixture

  • 100 g bread flour + 30 g whole wheat flour
  • 180 g water
  • 10 g salt
  • 3 g instant yeast

I mixed the poolish (overnight in fridge) with the remaining mixture and then let it sit for 30 minutes to allow some autlyse (let the flour absorb all the water).  I then followed the Richard Bertinet slap and fold.  I feel like I’m getting a better hold of this kneading method as the dough started to form up and come together after only about 10-12 minutes of kneading.  I formed it into a ball and then let it bulk ferment for about 1.5 hours.  It’s been warm here and the bread probably didn’t need to ferment that long but I also needed to fit my long run in so I let it go a little longer.  I did 2 stretch and folds with 10 minutes between them.  By now the dough had developed good gluten and structure.  I was able to form the dough into a nice boule and did the drag method on the counter to create a nicely tensioned top portion of dough.  I then placed it into a well floured cloth in a bowl to let it proof.  After about 1 hour of proofing, I tossed it into my pre-heated dutch oven (450 F) and covered it.  I let it cook for 20 minutes covered then removed the lid and turned the heat to 425 F and let it go another 20 minutes.  By then it had a nice brown crust and I checked its internal temp (~195F).

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Looks good!

Overall I’m happy that I seem to have the basics down.  Now I just need to work some more on the whole wheat stuff.  I think that tweaking the hydration level will probably allow me to create a better product next time.  I should have paid attention that I was creating an essentially 100% hydration dough.

For dinner I also did pizza and I’m getting better at developing pizza dough that isn’t too loose.  I think one problem I’ve been having in the past is that I let the dough go way past what it should (over-proofing).  Before I had just been blindly following someone’s recommendation on the Jim Lahey No-knead but now I actually am listening more to the dough.

-StewsCat

2010 City of Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon

Race summary: Well organized, good course spectators and support.  Very long slow downhill followed by uphill for the last 4-5 miles.  Decent race swag and medal.

In honor of Memorial Day I wanted to post about my first half marathon, which was the City of Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon.  I had been running consistently outside since January of 2010 and figured that I had done a handful of 5Ks and 1 10K and the next natural progression was to attempt the half marathon distance.  I was staying with my folks in the OC and this race worked out as perfect timing.

Packet pickup was at Road Runner Sports in Laguna Hills.  After I moved to San Diego, I discovered their lage facility in the SD area and it became a favorite spot to shop and find shoes.  The San Diego location also has their Clearance Store where at the time you could buy new shoes of the previous year’s edition for a lot cheaper (~1/3-1/2 of the original MSRP).  From what I recall the packet pickup was straightforward and smooth, no significantly long lines or anything of the sort.

Race morning turned out to be a beautiful one.  I had to drive about 30 minutes south of my folk’s place to get to the race and the sun was coming up as I drove down the freeway.  The start line was situated between the Saddleback Memorial Medical Center (the key sponsor of the race) and the Laguna Hills Mall, which provided plenty of racer parking for free.

race start
Race start

I was definitely nervous as this was my first race at this distance.  I felt confident that I would be able to finish as I had done a training run of 12.9 a few weeks before.  My biggest concern was still the shin splints.

The race starts out with a short 2 mile run through a small residential neighborhood (I think to ensure they reached the full 13.1) before coming out onto Alicia Parkway (a long stretch of road that was downhill for the first half of the race).  My right shin started to burn about 1 mile into the race while in the residential neighborhood and I thought “This is going to be a long day.”  I slowed down for a few miiles to see if that would ease some of the pain in my shins.

Miles 3-8 were down Alicia Parkway and this was all downhill.  I realized as I reached the turnaround point that I’d have to go uphill for the last half of the race.  The sun had come out a few miles into the race and was starting to warm up.  There was a good amount of spectators and people cheering, which was definitely helpful to keep pushing.  At the turnaround between 8 and 9, we moved onto a bike trail that was paved.  My right knee also started aching around this time and I just had to grit my teeth and keep moving forward.  The bike/run trail took us along the Aliso Creek and wove through parks and other areas.

Coming up to the finish line and finish area, there were a ton of people there cheering which really helped.  Since this was a race close to where my family lives, my parents and sister and her family were out at the finish line.  I was really glad seeing them.  I crossed the finish line and only really recall getting my medal and maybe a bottle of water (at the time I didn’t really check out the other post-race activities).  One neat thing about this race is that you received a 2nd tech shirt after finishing (I had received one at packet pickup as well).

Since my family was there, I didn’t have to take a shuttle back to the mall to get my car.

finish
First half done!

Final chip time: 2:25:16

-StewsCat