I went into the salon today looking for a change not expecting such a drastic one. I told the stylist I wanted to keep my hair length but wanted a change. She had just returned from Fashion Week in NY and told me about a European style that the Prada male models were wearing. I couldn’t quite envision what she was describing but I said, “OK” trusting her judgment. Honestly if I saw photos of the hairstyle before, I wouldn’t have gone through with it. But now that it’s done, I’m liking it.

Prada runway show spring/summer 2010

Ben Stiller in Zoolander

I set my 1st 10k PR today with an easy training run around Cloverfield park. I had intended to run 10 miles in preparation for the 16 mile group run on Saturday but my schedule didn’t allow it. Initially I thought I was going to have problems with my Achilles tendon in my right foot since it’s been bothering me, but I laced up my shoes pretty tight and just relaxed into my run and didn’t have any problems at all. Today was also the first time I’ve used the iPhone app MotionX to track my run. I usually use the Nike+ Sportband which I like for the community features of the Nike+ website, but I had forgotten to take my Sportband with me. Overall I felt like it was a good relaxing training run that tracked even faster than the 11.45 group pace.

Only 37 days left till marathon day.

It was pouring rain when I woke up this morning so I wasn’t really looking forward to the 14 mile group run. Luckily the rain stopped and then only drizzled for brief periods during the rest of the run. When we started our 14 mile trek, around mile 3 I could tell this wasn’t going to be a good run. Fortunately my knee and my ankle wasn’t bothering me, but I felt tired. I know it’s partly because I haven’t been keeping up with the training runs during the week. For the past two weeks I haven’t done any running except for the long group runs on the weekends. Since I was experience pain in my ankle and knee I figured I should cut back on my miles so I could recover. I figured that at an 11.45 group pace I should still be able to keep up with the group even though I wasn’t training during the week. Obviously I was wrong. This morning I was able to keep pace with the group up to mile 10, but then my legs felt too tired to keep up and my feet started to hurt. So I basically walked the last 4 miles from Marina del Rey back to Venice beach. This doesn’t give me a lot of confidence for marathon day. I’m definitely going to have to up my training and mileage over the next few weeks to have any hope of finishing the marathon at a decent pace.

There are now 41 days left to the marathon. My focus will be nutrition, recovery and training. Nutrition can help speed recovery so I will eat clean for the next 41 days but will allow myself 1 cheat meal during the week. My diet will consist of 5 meals a day with the largest meal being breakfast. I’ll limit myself to whole-grain carbs mainly at breakfast, lots of fruits and veggies and good lean protein such as eggs, fish and chicken. For training, other than increasing mileage I’ll have to do more stretching and cross-training during the week.

Next weekend is a 17 mile group run. Hopefully I can recover and get in enough training to complete it. Right now though my knee hurts, my feet hurt and I have huge blisters on both feet.

Every Saturday morning since last September LA Roadrunners has been meeting down in Venice beach running along the ocean coast between Venice Beach and Santa Monica. This morning though, we all met up at Dodgers Stadium to run 5 miles along the hills surrounding the stadium. This year the LA Marathon will actually start at Dodgers Stadium and end at the Santa Monica pier so it was a good preview as to how the marathon trail will start. Since we’ve been training on a flat course this was a good training session. The run felt pretty comfortable and I didn’t experience any pain until after the run. About an hour later I felt pain in my left achilles and right knee. I’m hoping that I can recover quickly since we will be picking up more miles in the weeks to come.

I recently watched “The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Salty Goodness” where they mentioned Tsar Nicoulai caviar and decided I needed to get some. My wife had never tried caviar before, but she loves salt and likes sushi so I thought that she would probably like caviar. A quick search on Google revealed that my new favorite local cafe/restaurant supply store Surfas carried caviar so I headed over there and picked up an ounce of the Tsar Nicoulai California Estate and an ounce of Hackleback which was almost 1/4 of the price of the Tsar Nicoulai – just to compare. I also picked up pre-made blinis and crème fraîche to assemble the caviar on. For dessert, I grabbed a pack of Surfas’ frozen chocolate chip toffee cookies (our favorite).

The Tsar Nicoulai caviar was delicious. Rich, creamy and delicate with hint of salt. My wife LOVED it. The hackleback caviar – not so much. She said it tasted too fishy and only wanted the Tsar Nicoulai (figures). I on the other hand didn’t mind the hackleback. The Tsar Nicoulai was much more refined, but I’d eat the hackleback. The great thing about the Tsar Nicoulai caviar is that not only has it won many awards, but it’s local California fish and the company engages in sustainable practices.

The other great thing about caviar is that it’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids which is beneficial for optimal health. Delicious, luxurious and nutritious! What more could you ask for?

Pharrell Keynote at MIDEM 2010 Vimeo.

Who is Pharrell? Well in the early 90s he and Chad Hugo (The Neptunes) were signed by Teddy Riley after being discovered at a high-school talent show. Since then he’s produced music (and performed with) many well-known artists (Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Britney Spears, Snoop Dog, The Neptunes, NERD, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Shakira, etc, etc, etc), started his own clothing line BBC/Ice Cream (Billionaire Boys Club), collaborated on several entrepreneurial ventures and has had a big impact on style and youth culture. In this interview at MIDEM 2010 he espouses interesting ideas and inspiration about music, business, entrepreneurship, branding and creativity.

Runyon Canyon is an off-leash dog park in the Hollywood Hills. The main trail loop (starting at the entrance off Vista) is an easy 3 mile hike that gently ascends up into the canyon. But there is a smaller trail on the left as you enter the park that ascends up the hill and leads you to the highest part of the canyon. That’s the trail me, my wife and our two corgis hiked up. On this ascent there are two wide sections of the trail which are probably an 80 degree incline. I ended up sprinting up these sections of the trail with the corgis and my wife trailing behind. Overall it was a really good leg workout on a beautiful day that I got to share with my wife and our dogs.

I woke up with back pain from cross-training I did a few days ago so I skipped training this morning. As a result I didn’t run a single mile this week. Next week I’ll have to make up for the missed training. Only 55 days till Marathon day…

Pre-cooked frozen shrimp and lemon pappardelle from Trade Joe’s along with some fresh organic baby spinach made this a fast, easy, tasty, healthy dinner.

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zested
1 package of Trader Joe’s Lemon Pappardelle
2 shallots, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
16 ounces frozen shrimp
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 lemon, zested
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces baby spinach (about 3 packed cups)

For the pasta:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked linguine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Turn off the heat and add the baby spinach. Sprinkle with shaved parmesan. Serve immediately.

I’m not a vegetarian but we didn’t feel like going out and had limited ingredients. What we did have is buttercup squash from our JR Organics CSA box and a can of black beans from Trade Joe’s. Since I recently cooked a sweet potato and black bean chili that turned out really good I decided to try switching the sweet potato for the buttercup squash. The buttercup squash provides a very good source of vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber and manganese. In addition, buttercup squash is a good source of folate, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B1, copper, vitamin B6, niacin-vitamin B3 and pantothenic acid. Black beans are full of fiber, protein, magnesium, folate and other antioxidants. Delicious and healthy!

Buttercup Squash & Black Bean Chili

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 buttercup squash, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 1/3 cups water
1 15-ounce can black beans
1 cup sliced grape tomatoes
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and squash and cook, stirring often, until the onion is slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add water, bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the squash is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes.