Modesto Half-Marathon
I've really been looking forward to this, my second, half-marathon. I wanted an "official" sub-2 hour half. That was my primary goal, but I was hoping for a sub 1 hour 55 minutes, since that was what I had been training for, and would allow me to move on to my next "Hanson's Marathon Method" time in the book.
We arrived in Modesto around 4-ish. I checked-in at registration and got my Bib. A quick tour of the expo turned up nothing interesting - as in "I have to have that now!"
Our reservation at Skewers was at 6:30 pm, so we went for a wine supply run at BevMo.
We made it back just in time for our evening reservation at skewers.
We ordered Jeremy's Barbera. It was excellent - I love Barbera.
We ordered an appetizer of Dolma.
Then we shared a Greek salad.
My wife got some mixed Kabab dish with Chicken and a Ground Meat
I went with the house specialty - Rack of Lamb.
Perhaps not the best pre-run dinner, but I was having a good time and nothing was all that spicy. We got in an early bed time at the Doubletree with a wake-up call at 5am.
I had forgotten to bring any Gu for my run, but I was going to try to do without it anyways. My strategy was to walk each aid station to drink water, and electrolytes - alternating at each station. Trying to run through the stations at the Monterey Half hadn't worked out so well, with more spilling than drinking. My training route requires me to stop at water faucets, and obviously walking is faster than stopping. Since I had GPS subbed a 2 hour half, I figured the walking strategy could only improve my time.
The electrolyte drink was Nuun. Unfortunately I have no idea which kind they gave us in terms of calories. We made a breakfast stop at the hotel restaurant where I had a blue berry bagel with cream cheese, and a banana. I washed it down with a cup of coffee, instead of my usual tea, visited the restroom, and then we were off to the starting line.
Fighting the crowd for the first mile kept be at a 9:21 pace, but after that it was all sub 9s.
One hour, 54 minutes and 36 seconds. The official time added 2 seconds and took away about 0.15 miles. I don't care, I hit my goal. My next goal is to hold a sub-8'30" pace for this distance and beyond. This is big improvement considering where I started, but I feel that I have more potential to develop as a runner. I'm starting to think a sub-8 may be possible. My best paces keep slipping into the 6's. I doubt I could ever hold that, but 7's? Maybe, maybe...
Here I am, on the left, coming into the finish.
The last quarter mile was at a 7'40"
Wild-Dough
I've stopped calling my yeast culture "Sourdough." It really isn't that sour. On Saturday I bring my culture down to a manageable size, to start the week fresh, by making blueberry pancakes. This is where my incubator (top device in photo), comes in handy.
I mix 720 grams of starter with a couple of eggs, some sugar, salt, melted butter, a little flour for body, and incubate at 84 degrees Fahrenheit for 60-90 minutes. I set my griddle for 375 F, and...
I haven't eaten pancakes for along time because the baking soda and/or powder upsets my stomach (at least I think this is the cause). This recipe needs neither. The wild yeast provide all of the leavening power.
What do I do with the rest of my starter during the week?
Calzones:
And lately, I've been trying to perfect a higher hydration bread. These were at 75%. Can you tell which one I forgot to score?
On other culinary fronts, I 've managed to finally perfect my cold smoker apparatus.
I drilled a hole in the side of a stainless steel cup, put in a soldering iron, and just add wood chips.
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