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It’s been just over 5 weeks since i started training for the Biltmore/Kiwanis 15K in mid-May.  I made it halfway through the training program - i’m now keeping track of my progress using Google Spreadsheets, if anyone is interested.  I have taken a lot more days of “Rest” than are scheduled, but hey, that’s OK. (-:  I’m proud of what i am doing, and i can tell i’m getting stronger.

The race is now closed with a waiting list, so i’m glad i signed up early.  It makes me feel special somehow.

For the last month i have been eating pretty well, and of course exercising.  And i’ve felt great!.  It amazing me how much my body is affected by what i eat.  For example, the last 3-4 days, i haven’t eaten much in the way of greens.  And i had one guilty pleasure fast food meal.  And i can tell - my body is dragging a bit and i have less energy.

This is the dangerous part.  First, it gets hard to keep up with going to the grocery store and preparing healthy meals.  Then, i get lazy and start getting fast food.  Next, i feel like shit and skip a few workouts.  Finally, before i realize it, i’m not training anymore.  I’m in a rut that’s hard to get out of.  And it all starts with what i put into my body.

That’s where i am, i can feel it happening.  It happens to me every time, around 4-5 weeks into at attempted change of lifestyle.  This is where everything falls apart.  I’m trying like hell to get back on top of things, to avoid the collapse.  I have a few things in place to help keep me on track.  For example, we’re getting fresh produce each week directly from local farms via The Produce Box.  Having fresh vegetables on hand certainly helps some.  And i have to think that recognizing what is happening is a big deal, too.  Ultimately though, it’s about motivation.  That’s what i’m trying to hang on to.

Friday night we went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  The setting was the Bloomsbury Bistro in the Five Points area downtown.  It is an oft-chosen site for birthday celebrations among this crowd.  My first few times i had a hard time finding something on the menu that i liked.  But when i learned you could order “off-menu” and get the bar steak, it quickly became a favorite location for me too.  That steak is absolutely delicious.

So we’re having a big time with a fairly large group of ten people.  It’s dessert time, and i order their Orange Muscat dessert wine.  Someone makes a comment about how sweet that type of wine is, and I ask Lance to try it, figuring he won’t like it.  I’m right; he doesn’t.  He makes a yick face and everyone laughs.

I also offer it to the birthday girl.  She’s a good friend, and she seems interested in trying it.  Quick note about me: i am not a germaphobe.  I don’t like to share with people who are sick, for the obvious reasons.  Or small children, b/c too often backwashed food bits somehow end up floating in your soda.  But other than that, if i know you just moderately well, you’re welcome to taste my wine or try food off my plate.

So anyway, the birthday girl, whom i know to be healthy and who is many many years away from her small child years, tries the wine.  She makes the same face Lance did, and everyone laughs again.  In the midst of this, another celebrant, we’ll call her Bronchia, takes the wine from birthday girl, glances at me and says “I love this stuff.  Do you mind if i take a sip?”

I automatically say yes, but a few moments later (after i have already ingested more of the wine), i recall that Bronchia had been telling us earlier about her bronchitis.  Which she saw the doctor for a mere two days ago and received medication.  Now, she’s not coughing, or hoarse, or really displaying any obvious symptoms, but still.  But she has freaking bronchitis.

What kind of person knowingly does this?  Seriously, you have bronchitis, and you’re going to subject me to your germs in a way that is completely unnecessary?  If i were sick and someone offered me a taste of something, i would say no thank you, i have been sick.  And i certainly wouldn’t proactively try to get my germs on someone else’s glass.

I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but it was certainly very thoughtless.  I should probably let it drop, but it’s made me kind of angry.  Possibly because Bronchia would be the type to be extremely appalled should someone else exhibit that same thoughtless behavior toward her.

If i get bronchitis, i will be seriously pissed.

An (with a squiggly above the a, but i can’t figure out how to make myspace do it), is a new restaurant on Harrison Avenue in Cary. They call it Asian fushion, Eastern food prepared in the French style. They also have an extensive sushi bar.

My small group at work had our holiday celebration at An last week. I had heard great things about the place, but wasn’t sure what to expect.

The architecture was interesting. Something about the decorating really drew attention to the crisp squareness of the place. All the tables were big and square. It was open and airy though. Crowded, but with enough room to navigate easily around the tables. I found my group way in the back corner.

There were 12 of us for lunch, and my manager ordered three sampler appetizers, which were huge and meant for large groups to share. The platters came with a tiny fishbowl in the middle, with an actual fish swimming around in there. Nice touch, but kind of weird.

The platters each had lots of weird sushi items on them. I am not a sushi person. I have tried it two other times, pressured by friends who insisted i would like it. Never much cared for it. Cooked, hot seafood i can handle. Not the cold and/or raw kind. But here i was, and it seemed sushi was once again being pushed. Well, why not. We had three vegetarians in the group, plus one other who refused to try it, so there was plenty to go around for the other 8 of us.

I first tried the spring roll and small crab cake, which are both inside my comfort zone. Both were good. I then went for something that looked like shrimp - it was pink like cooked shrimp. I tried it and it was amazing. Later i found out it was squid. Good thing i didn’t know that, or i would never have tried it. As it was, i went back for more. I also REALLY liked the two sashimi tuna samples. In fact, i think i liked everything i tried from that platter.

The lesson here is that it must be a truly excellent sushi restaurant, simply because i liked it, where i have never liked sushi before. I can’t critique it intelligently - that’s all i can say.

I ordered the Bento Box for my entree. The spicy crab soup that came before my box was delicious. The curry beef tenderloin was the feature of the Bento Box, and it was also very good. The rest was not remarkable - salas, rice, veggies, spring rolls.

Overall, i was very pleased with my experience. The service was excellent. A couple of us did have a weird experience where our water glasses began to smell like fish or rotten eggs after a few glasses. Not sure why that would happen, but we had to ask for new glasses.

Anyway, give it a try, especially if you like seafood and/or sushi.

Friday we slept in and then walked around downtown until we found a place to eat. We found a place called ‘Wich Craft which was pretty cute. They used the apostrophe as their logo. Very good lemonade.

We then went back to the tournament playing site and entered the Life Master Pairs event. It’s one of the “premier” events held at national tournaments, and winning this actually means something. Lots and lots of good players, many of whom are professional bridge players, entered this event. It’s four sessions long, spanning over two days, so you have to string four good games of bridge together. 360 pairs, total. Half are eliminated after the first day.

Well, we had a great start - our first two sessions placed us 25th going into the second day! A very respectable showing, and when we went to bed, we were hopeful that we would be able to finish strong, maybe again in the top 25.

Saturday morning we got up and found a traditional breakfast place called Mel’s Drive-In. It has a cute 50s theme with a jukebox that was playing fun old songs all the time. It was very crowded, so we accepted a place at the counter. The orange-juice i ordered was freshly squeezed - it was so good. I have had the freshly squeezed stuff before, but the oranges they squeezed this particular juice out of must have been super perfectly ripe, because i have never had orange juice that tasted more like a delicious orange.

Back at the playing site, we started sessions 3 & 4. Unfortunately, we didn’t do as well. We made a few mistakes, but most of it was just bad luck. In the wrong place at the wrong time, and the opponents were in the right place at the right times. So, the dream of doing well in a big premier event vanished. But we had fun. We played against several people who have written bridge books that we own - pretty neat.

I’m slowly adjusting to west coast time - still pretty tired at night as it gets past my biological bedtime. I hear that the adjustment back to east coast time is harder.

I’m trying to eat better.  Today i didn’t have time to go home so I went to Chic-Fil-A.  Nothing there is really healthy, but their grilled chicken sandwiches aren’t so bad.  When i got inside, though, i decided what i REALLY wanted was one of their original sandwiches, they’re so much tastier!  But so much worse for you.  So, to compensate, i ordered the value meal that comes with coleslaw.  That’s healthy, right?

Ha.  Coleslaw isn’t healthy.  Bits of lettuce doesn’t make it healthy.  And what kind of thinking is this anyway?  Chicken sandwich meal plus slaw is MORE calories than just the chicken sandwich meal.

But this is how i rationalize ordering what i actually want.