After Six Days of Not Running...

I returned to the track again today and I truly enjoyed running 8kms. I run with someone I work with and we run two laps around The Tan. Afterwards I did some sprinting and made me feel really good.

The first lap was done in about 20min and we maintained the pace for the second lap. So probably we run it in about 38-40mins.

I realised today that it is almost impossible for me to do the 'Run to the G'. I really wanted to do the half a marathon on this occassion. I have another commitments which cannot be easily exchanged. It is a disappointment but it is not the end of the world, I keep telling myself. I shall continue with the focus of the Melbourne Marathon.

I think that afer accomplishing the fabulous cooking experience (see yesterday's post) it it time to start progressively fine tuning goals. More to come on this matter soon. Feedback that has come suggests that people enjoyed it very much. It's a relief.

A Merrry Night at Squisito

There were 26 people who attended the Saturday night dinner. It was a great cooking experience for me and worked very well with my other partners in crime.
Ines was simply a sensation and we teamed very well.
Guillermo, as usual, a very good paella chef and one that is making a name for himself.
Dino worked very well in setting up everything and ensured everyone always had a drink. Glasses were never half empty.

The menu:
- Pimientos rojos horneados (roasted peppers)
- Albondigas (meatballs)
- Chorizos (spicy Spanish sausage)
- Gambas al ajillo (garlic prawns)
- Champinones al ajillo (garlic mushrooms)
- Paella
- Cream caramel
- Coached pears

The wines
- Vallformosa - extra seco (sparkling)
- Telmo Rodriguez Basa Verdejo 2005
- Telmo Rodriguez Dehesa Gago Tempranillo 2005.
I chose these wines because we had a Spanish theme. I choose the Vallformosa sparking because it felt good, right for the occassion and had some good balance. The Basa was selected because - unlike many Spanish whites - did not feel too dry. In fact when I first tasted I was very impressed with it. Balanced flavour - it did not linger for ever. As for the red, I just loved it when i first tried a few days earlier - this is a good wine and one that people simply say delicious. The red wine impressed all diners.
I originally had in mind that we will be drinking Rioja wines until I sampled the above wines at a function attended by the importers of these wines.

The hosts:
Ines and Dino, from Squisito Bar, QV, Melbourne.
Excellent hosts and awesome company. Great people to work with.

It was a very positive event for the 26 people who attended. Upon arrival, diners had a choice of sangria or Spanish sparkling wine.

We started the food extravaganza with albondigas (which was a combination of three types of meat: veal, pork and beef); these were simply sensational. Cooked very well and had lots of good flavour. The sauce was very tasty and went well with bread. Then we followed it with the chorizo, which we served in two different ways: some cooked plain and some cooked with garlic, capsicum and onion. The latter richer in flavour.

We paused for a few minutes to allow the flavours to settle and enjoy some wine. Then we had the 'gambas al ajillo' which tasted very nice and they had good flavour. Unfortunately the garlic mushrooms did not work as well as the prawns - they were somewhat dry - not enough olive oil and probably the wine needed to cook a bit longer.

The roasted capsicums were absolutely sensational. All credit due to Ines.

After these courses we paused and we allowed people to check on the progress of the paella. It was cooking on a huge paella dish which was the main attraction of the evening.
The paella contained chicken, pork and seafood. Plenty of capsicum and spices. All meats were carefully selected and cut. We cooked a paella that typically will serve 40 people but it went so well amongst 26 diners.
We finished the evening with a choice of cream caramel (flan) or poached pears. The pears were cooked on white wine, saffron, sugar, cinnamon and cardamon pods. Could have been richer (and as one diner told me needed cloves!!)

Now... I shall continue on the quest to cook for 40 people and for my first ever marathon.

That's all folks!

Preparations underway for Saturday

Forget about the running for the time being...

Now it's all about getting things organised for Saturday. Dinner for 26 people. A selection of 6 different tapas and a humangeous paella.

This evening I started preparing fish stock. Got kilos and kilos of fish bones and heads. Cooking litres and litres of stock and hopefully all this will be reduced to just a few cups of juicy stuff.

My legs are a bit sore from this morning's session. So obviously they worked hard. I am also tired from last night and from lack of sleep over previous few nights.

I still need to confirm wines (naturally Spanish wines). I am between a red from Rioja and a tempranillo from Ribera del Duero. The white wine will certainly be a verdejo from Rueda. The sparkling is a surprise...!

yadaa yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda

yo you want to go to ma mycvo. no. so what do you want to do? mmmmmmmm what time is this? dos not mater. its 12 pm at night.

Another 6AM Start

I run 6kms this morning. I combined sprinting and running on the sand. I also run backwards (x3 100m each) - dont why but this is something I enjoy. In total 45mins of sheer fun.

After last night's function and not having eating properly, I felt I was not quite there with the run, nonetheless I did it and combined sprinting and some hard work. I feel good now.

A good run and a good day!

I run today 8 kms in 40mins... not bad considering it was really cold at 6AM when I started. I almost stayed in bed but had to stick to my decision to run today.

I rung along North to the beach and then I headed to the Elwood canal at such a lovely pace that I forgot it was really cold. Then I returned to North Rd and I even had the leasure to run backwards for about 100mts (not once but twice). Felt superb afterwards.

Let's forget the run because the rest of the day was a good ripper. I met with the owner of the coffee/bar where we are cooking this Saturday. Menu and ingredient list confirmed and wine choices settled (but wait ... there is more to it in a second).

After work I attended a function and guess what... I ended up talking to the rep of one wine distributor who imports Spanish wines and tomorrow we shall make a deal so I am switching wines if the price is right. So we shall drink some nice tempranillo -a type of grape not often seen here in Australia. Tempranillo is the new pinot to put it bluntly.

Lets put it this way what's going on this Saturday... Spanish night of tapas and paella, plus Spanish wines. Ah! what a delight and excitment. Twenty six people attending. Hopefully everything will work fine. I shall start preparing things early Saturday afternoon for a fun night. One, two chefs and two or three kitchen helpers!

But the good luck of this evening does not finish there... I also ended up talking to the owners of two superb restaurants. One in St Kilda and the other in Middle Park. So this coming Monday we, the usual Monday night crowd, will change places from Fitzroy to this new venture. I will return to talk about these businesses in next week's postings.


When I was running this morning I thought that I have been luck not suffering any injuries so far. I feel blessed.

G'night.

Ps - The taxi driver that brought me home tonight was a nice chap from Uganda who spoke a few European languages. He played fabulous African style of salsa in his car.

Day After the Long Run

It's a miracle... I woke up this morning and my legs felt right. Probably the activities after the run helped me to feel good.

This week I will struggle to find time to run. I am short of time but somehow I will manage:
- Tuesday AM - beach
- Weds AM - beach
- Thursday PM - tan.

Saturday ... it is cooking all arvo in a commercial kitchen. Can wait for the thrill of the experience. Spanish cuisine! Ole!

Run for Twenty Kilometres

Today I achieved a good milestone… I run 20kms consecutively in 1h 44 mins (I think). I did five laps (plus the extra 650 metres) around The Tan, being the first time ever I run such a distance.

I run with Gabriel for four laps then he had to go. We did the first lap in 20mins –probably a bit too hard but we maintained the pace for the remaining. We started running near the intersection of Domain and Anderson streets (at the 1.5km mark) – clockwise. Around the 5-km mark we did some stretching at my request – I started to feel a bit of tension in my one legs. We stopped near the water fountain,opposite the Remembrance Shrine, that is where I usually stop to drink water. During the second lap we probably slowed down around the 5-6 km mark but sustained the pace going up the hill.

For the third lap we maintained the pace as for the first lap – probably we slowed down towards the top of the hill but picked up the pace heading down. For the fourth lap we slowed down near the river but kept going.

We started running at 7.45am. We noticed how the crowd changed; at the start there were not many runners or walkers – but by 9am The Tan was so busy that it started to get difficult to sustain our steady pace and we had to start to zigzag a bit.

After Gabriel left (at the 16km mark) I run faster and did the last lap in 17 mins – I was pleased I finished well; mind you I struggled at the top of the hill at the end. I achieved what I had intended to do at the beginning of the week.

When I was heading back to the car, I saw Rodrigo running on his second lap. We had a quick chat and wished him well for his third lap.

So after two weeks of feeling sick with the cold and a horrible cough, I returned this week to a total of 38kms – 6 kms on Monday, 12 kms on Thursday and 20 kms today Sunday.

I ended up having a good brekkie in Yarraville with Alexis and William. These folks were such a good company today. For lunch, it was a nice treat at the Carlisle Wine Bar with another friend – a two-course meal. Then I ended up going to the Pint on Punt - 'The Large Number 12s' were playing and it was the first time I saw them performing and they were awesome. (I must say I had a glass of beer and a glass of red with lunch plus two beers at the pub).

So now I feel I can do the half a marathon this coming June. So I will continue working on my thrice a week training program:
one easy run (6 kms),
one medium (12 kms) and
a long run every second Sunday – where I increase distance.
So for my next long run (June 5) the target is 6 laps around The Tan. My aim is to do some weights other days, if time permits. I will also aim to do one skipping session per week. Let’s see how I go.

I would like to thank the members of the Ausrun forums who are very good encouraging others. These folks are a good source of tips:
http://www.ausrun.com.au

I better go away to read papers in front of the TV – Eurovision is on… what a trash but a delight ‘cos it’s not American.

What a feeling...!

Yesterday I run 12kms and today I felt really good. I have not done exercises today but I am mentally preparing myself for a good run this Sunday. Hopefully it will go well.


I usually listen to music during the day but when I am running I don't... Should I listen to some music?

What a run

This evening I run exactly 12 kms in 58 minutes. After work I went to the Botanical for my first long run in more than 2 weeks. I am pleased with my performance.

Previously, on Monday, I run 7 kms, from North Rd, Brighton to the Elwood Canal and back again to North Rd. I felt good.

I am still coughing and my chest hurts a bit.

I run the 12kms today at a relatively solid and stable pace. I thought I would better but I can say I am pleased with my performance considering I have not feeling well for the past two weeks.

There is a fellow who runs around The Tan at a such pace that is very commendable. This fellow is short and has a punk hair style. He goes fast. He runs anticlockwise... do you know who he is...?

I am hopeful that this Sunday I will go back to The Tan and do a longer distance. I am thinking that in order to run the HM Run to the G I need to make sure I do enough kms to last the distance. This is going to be my first ever event so I feel excited but also a bit of apprehension. I would not like to fail.

More to Life than Running

Running is not my passion - but probably it is developing into one.

Things I enjoy are

- Cooking; trying new dishes. I am enjoying cooking Spanish dishes at the moment. I also have a passion and interest in modern Asian and seafood.

- Visiting wineries. I love going to the wineries around Red Hill. Progressively i have gone to the wineries around the Yarra Valley and Heathcote.

- Reading a good book... mind you time is limited so often I have to be happy reading book reviews.

- Gardening; although I dont have much of a garden at the moment.

- Listening to good music. I just love music: jazz, blues, pop, electro, dance, opera, classical (particularly violin).

- Art - I would love to paint. I am planning to start having a good very soon.

Cold - miserable cold

This is the time of the year when the colds are common place around here. My training got disrupted when i fell victim to the cold. Went to work on Thursday and returned home mid-day to go to bed. Stayed in bed rest of the day and did not go to work on Friday.
Sunday i run 4kms with Gabriel and Rodrigo around The Tan. They did 12 kms. I stopped when the rain got so heavy and I almost had a cough attack. At least I enjoyed a nice breakfast whilst raining outside.
Today is Tuesday and I am still recovering. Drinking lots of lemon tea with ginger and honey.