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2017 Year-end wrap-up

2017 Year-end wrap-up

I know that I haven’t posted anything in quite a long time.  Honestly I ran out of steam.  With the way that this year has gone (from everything in the world to everything in my little world), I just lost all motivation to post.  I drastically decreased my baking though still kept up with running (just not to the degree I had been doing it earlier this year).  I didn’t have any races after my Spring ones so didn’t feel the urge to run a ton and post about it.  I did work on increasing my running intensity (doing intervals on the treadmill and outside), which I think is good for my overall fitness.

There have been a lot of other big things going on such as re-doing our entire kitchen and taking up a new hobby.  Since I know this blog isn’t really read regularly or even much at all, I’m going to jot down some notes/thoughts from the past year mostly so I remember it.

Early 2017 involved some big changes at work with new co-workers that I worked with closely.  I enjoyed it as I got to put on a different work hat — that of being a mentor.  Also there were a ton of staffing changes and something I’ve started to be more comfortable with, which is change.  I’ve always been the type to like everything to stay fairly constant.  Change is/was always a scary word to me.  I need to take the advice of my father, who has the philosophy to “go with the flow” (of the river…or life).  I think that at least with regards to work, I’ve become better at adjusting to changes.

The highlight of the early part of 2017 was two-fold.  Japan (see posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) and the Big Sur Marathon.  While I was sick for the latter half of the Japan trip, it was still such an amazing place to visit and great experience.  The Big Sur Marathon was a bucket-list marathon and I’m still amazed I got in on the first go around with the lottery system.  Even though I bonked (and didn’t have the best taper leading up to the race due to Japan), I still enjoyed the experience overall.  Most likely I’ll never do it again so it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.  Plus you can’t beat visiting Monterey/Carmel.

The latter half of 2017 was focused mostly on the kitchen.  At some point I’ll probably put up some posts about it since it was a big part of the year.  I’m happy with the outcome and glad that it is done with.

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Sneak peek

A trip down to San Diego at the end of the year was a nice way to cap it off as well.  Again, I somehow was sick for this trip as well so even though I didn’t feel the greatest, I still enjoyed it because it is San Diego! Continue reading “2017 Year-end wrap-up” →

Marathon Training Week 2

My second week of training is complete.  I continue to fine-tune my training plan.  I had 3 miles on the schedule for after work on Tuesday.  However, I was feeling some soreness with my right lower leg (below the knee) on Monday and somewhat into Tuesday.  With my history of injuries, I don’t want to take any chances with hurting myself, especially this early into the training cycle.  So I decided to skip Tuesday’s run again.

( ) = # of miles on my plan

Tuesday – 0 (3)

Thursday – 5.01 (5)

Friday – 10.03 (10)

Saturday – 6.05 (6)

Sunday – 3.26 (3)

Weekly Total – 24.35 miles (26)

Overall I feel good at the end of the week.  Today’s run I did with my wife biking alongside me (she’s been doing this for some of my shorter runs and it is great having the company).  Compared to the run last Sunday, this one felt easier and my legs felt better – even though I did more miles this week than last.  Hopefully that is a sign my body is actually adapting to the miles.

I’m excited for this coming week as hopefully will be getting a fun delivery, we shall see and I’ll update as things unfold.

We had some crazy rains/winds here with more of the latter than the former.  These last few nights I’ve actually been awoken due to the high winds outside.  Somewhat scary as there have been multiple trees in the neighborhood that have either have large branches fall or even entire trees (as seen below).  Here are some shots from this past week’s training:

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Broken branch on the river trail
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River is slightly lower than previous but still fairly high
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More daylight under the bridge than last week

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Crazy crushed truck!

-StewsCat

Throwback weekends

I must be getting old because the last few events that we’ve attended have been “throwbacks” but that is referring to popular people (actors, musicians) from the 90s and that really wasn’t that long ago.  Maybe I’m dating myself a bit.

Two weekends ago the wife and I headed to downtown Sac to grab some dinner.  While looking for parking we passed the Memorial Auditorium and saw a number of tents set up in front of the venue.  The signs on the tents read: V101 FM, 107.9, and 102.5 FM.  These are local stations hip hop, R&B, and Today’s hits.  Our interests were piqued so after sitting at the restaurant, I looked up who was playing that evening.  Turns out it was a stand up show with Chris Tucker.  I’ve been a fan of him for many years – both film and stand-up shows.  I’ve never seen him live and so the wife convinced me that we should walk over and see if they had tickets still (even though the show was starting).  YOLO right?  Lo and behold the wife procured some tickets and we found our way to the seats.

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We were about 30 minutes past the start time but it was perfect timing.  As we sat, the opening act was signing off.  Within 5 minutes of sitting, Chris Tucker was on the stage.  I’ve been a fan of Chris Tucker in movies such as Friday, Rush Hour (series), The Fifth Element, etc.

Overall he performed for about 1.5 hours and was pretty funny.  There were a few jokes sprinkled in his performance that were recycled from previous stand ups that I’ve seen on Netflix and such.  He also gave props a few times to some recently deceased artists like Prince, Muhammad Ali, and the not so recently passed Michael Jackson.  It turned out to be a fun night and I’m glad for the spontaneity.

Then this past weekend my coworker kindly gifted us tickets to the V101 Summer Jam at Thunder Valley Resort & Casino (about an hour’s away from us).  We had gone to last year’s show and were excited for this year as well.

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The lineup this year included: Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, SWV, K-Ci & JoJo, and Keith Sweat.  These artists are people who I listened to a fair amount through the 90s and into the early 2000s as well.  Compared to last year’s lineup (Bel Biv Devoe, Blackstreet w/ Teddy Riley & David Hollister, and Naughty By Nature), this year’s group of performers were more R&B and less fast-paced.  I think that definitely affected the crowd as it seemed more mellow this year than last year.  However it was still a great show.  V101 is the local “throwback” radio station that plays a lot of hip hop and R&B from the 90s and is a mainstay in my car.  They also have an exciting Block Party concert coming up this fall that we’re thinking about attending.

Due to my phone not taking the greatest pictures I have attached some but they’re not the best.

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-StewsCat

Welcome

Welcome to StewsCat!  This blog is dedicated to my cat Stewie (Stewart, stews).  He was adopted during my time in Michigan and has lived/traveled with me the last 10 years, making numerous long car trips from my moves from MI to San Diego and now up in NorCal. He has been a wonderful companion and been through many ups and downs that life brings.

I’m just a 30 something guy who enjoys running (and racing – albeit slowly).  In my quest for a 4th marathon completion, I’ve elected to put finger to keyboard and document my journey towards that goal.

I also enjoy cooking and experimenting with recipes.  Creating dishes and foods from scratch is a passion.  Currently I am learning more and more about baking, especially the art of making bread.  Throughout my journey, I’ll also sprinkle in race recaps from my previous 6 years of running.

Enjoy!

StewsCat!