Our first stop of the cruise was in Cannes where we had to tender from boat to the port. D and I had signed up for an afternoon shore excursion that left us a little short on time exploring Cannes. Luckily there wasn’t too much to see in this beachside town. Known mostly for Cannes Film festival and being a destination for the rich and famous to hang out on yachts, we were there during the Cannes Lion festival and there was a big Amazon House there. We walked along the water briefly and then ventured into the small streets of the town. Initially we wanted to check out the local farmer’s market but it was closed that day.
With time running out we elected to get some lunch. We settled on Astoux et Brun where D had the Sole Meunière and I had the Marmite du Pêcheur (essentially a fish soup with various sea food in it in the style of bouillabaiise). Very delicious.
Earlier this summer, we took a 3 week trip to Europe. This was our first big trip since COVID. The trip started with a 10 day cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines, which was a re-do from our trip originally scheduled for last year. The starting point was to be Barcelona and originally we were scheduled to arrive about 1.5 days early. Having been to Barcelona before, we didn’t feel the need/rush to try to see all the big things (La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Batlló) since we had seen it before. There were a few places that we missed out on previously.
Our trip didn’t start off quite as planned. I woke up the morning of our flight only to see an email from the airline (LEVEL) that our flight had been cancelled. As soon as I saw this, I contacted customer services only to be told that the next flight they could get me on was for 2 days (meaning we would arrive AFTER our cruise departed). I had even checked their web site which indicated they had a few seats available for a flight the next day but the service representative said that wasn’t available. My only recourse was to have them refund me and then scramble to find a last minute flight with any airline. Luckily Aer Lingus had a flight that same evening (also an overnight flight but with a stop in Dublin). Having never flow on Aer Lingus, I have to say that it was a comfortable flight although a pig of a trip with the overnight. We arrived late on Friday evening and took the bus to Plaça de Catalunya, which is kind of a central meeting point in Barcelona but also very close to our hotel. We checked in and passed out for 10 hours and then had about 24 hours of sightseeing before needing to board the boat.
The next morning we walked over to a popular brunch spot, Picnic, after passing the Arc de Triomf in Passeig de Lluís Companys.
With brunch complete, we walked over to the Picasso museum and checked out the art. It ended up being a lot smaller than I thought so we managed to get through it relatively quickly.
Since we were near the Ramblas and the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, we walked through the market and took in all the various goods that were sale from fresh fruit, juices to the vegetables and meat and seafood.
Prior to the start of lockdowns and the world changing in 2020, I had signed up for my 5th full marathon (California International Marathon) along with one of my good friends. However due to circumstances surrounding the pandemic, that year’s marathon was cancelled. The race organizers were extremely gracious and provided all registrants with a voucher for entry into a subsequent year’s race for 3 additional years. This was the last year to use the voucher so my friend and I agreed to sign up early in the year. I have only done one in-person race since 2019 (my first 30K – here).
I’ve never truly followed a training plan fully in any of my previous marathons – either due to injury, travel, or just lack of focus. This time I wanted to create a plan and try sticking to it in an attempt to break 5 hours (my previous best time was 5:00:03). I created (more like cobbled and frankensteined) a 16 week training plan from a few different plans I reviewed online. I created monthly calendars with goal miles and some idea of how to run them (tempo, race pace, intervals, easy, etc). I tailored it off my work schedule.
Prior to starting my training cycle, I had been running consistently the last few years of COVID. A few years back I had set a goal of running at least 1000 miles a year, which I hit in 2021 and 2022 as well as this year. Before I embarked on this training cycle, I had been heavily relying on treadmill runs. Once I started marathon training I forced myself to do more runs outside (to get my body used to the pounding of outdoor running). I did want to incorporate more strength training into my marathon training plan but failed to do so at a level that I think benefited me. I had been doing some body weight exercises in the first maybe 4-5 weeks but then somewhere along the way that fell off.
I originally signed up for this race in early 2020 before COVID and then when it was cancelled that year the race organizers provided us registrants with a free voucher to run in one of the next 3 years (2021-2023). This was the last year of the voucher so I signed up. I then followed a 16 week training plan (see here for my training).
Expo
The race expo was held at the Sacramento convention center on Friday and Saturday before the race. My friend and I arrived shortly after they opened on Friday (after I picked him up from the airport). Overall it was well organized. Instead of assigning race numbers prior to the expo, they would scan your barcode (on your phone) and then a barcode on the race bib to match you with your number. I thought this was smart as they could just pick up numbers as they went instead of having to have them alphabetized and such. I gearchecked my stuff for after the race (just a light jacket with a breakfast bar in case I needed it) as there was no gear check on race morning. We checked out some of the merchandise and I picked up a few CIM branded t shirts. Something I hadn’t seen before was they had multiple “picture stations” that you could take pictures in front of for the ‘gram.
500 grams of flour (can you various ratios of bread flour to whole wheat to etc)
15-20 grams oil (can use neutral oil (Avocado, vegetable) or could use olive oil)
15-20 grams of honey
10 grams fine sea salt
I’ve been making a weekly loaf for the past year or so. With this recipe, you definitely have some leeway on adjusting the types of flours along with some of the enrichments (oil and honey). It is also a fairly forgiving recipe I feel (or maybe I just do it regularly enough that I’ve grown accustomed to it). The above recipe makes 1 loaf (in a 8.5 inch x 4.5 inch loaf pan). This is also a no-knead recipe. The loaf can be made ahead of time and then stored to continue to ferment and develop in the fridge for 24-48 hours. Typically I will bake it ~24-36 hours after forming the loaf.
Combine the water, well-fed starter, 500 grams of flour (my current combination is 350 grams bread flour, 50 grams of semolina flour and 100 grams of whole wheat flour), oil and honey in a mixing bowl. I use a spatula and stir and make sure everything is well incorporated together (about 2-4 minutes of mixing usually).
Let sit (auto-lyse) for anywhere from 30-90 minutes covered.
Slowly incorporate the salt – I usually add a little bit at a time and using a wet hand knead the salt until well incorporated.
Cover and let rest 45-60 minutes
Perform a stretch and fold (using a moist hand, grab dough at 12 o’clock position and pull upwards toward ceiling. Without allowing the dough to rip, pull it down towards 6 o’clock. Turn bowl 1/4 counter-clockwise and repeat above and continue until back to original position. Can continue to do this to tighten dough (another full rotation). Optional would to flip dough over at end (should have smooth ball). Cover
Wait another 45-60 minutes (dependent on room temp)
Repeat stretch and fold an additional 3 times (total of 4). Sometimes the dough will look mature and ready after 3 stretch and folds and that is fine as well.
Dump dough out on well floured surface. Using bench scraper, gather the dough (bringing each corner to center) and then flip dough to have a nice ball. Cover with tea towel and let sit for 20 minutes.
Stretch and flatten dough out into a large rectangle. Bring the left side of the dough and fold to the center line along the vertical axis. Then fold from the right edge to the center overlapping – envelope fold. Then grasp dough closest to you and roll it away from you creating a cylinder. Tuck the ends of the dough underneath to create a smooth surface for each end.
Using a bench scrapper lift the dough into a well oiled loaf pan (in my case a 8.5 inch x 4.5 inch loaf pan)
Place this in a bag (can also add some oil to top of dough and cover with saran wrap) and let rise for ~1.5 hours (depending on temperature in kitchen).
Place in refrigerator (~12-48 hours).
Turn oven on to 400 F. Place pan with water in lower rack of oven
Remove dough from fridge. Sprinkle flour on top of bread and smooth. Using sharp knife, score the bread.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400F
Remove the water container (be careful not to splash hot water onto glass of oven door as it may crack – I use a tea towel to cover the glass while removing the water container).
Bake additional 30-35 minutes until golden brown (bread temp ~200 F). I usually just bake an additional 33 or 34 minutes as it seems to work for my oven.
Turn bread out on cooling rack and let cool fully before slicing.
StewsCat 