Moving yet again...running tally ending Sept 6

I have been searching on Craigslist for about 3 weeks now for a new place to live since I won't be able to stay in my current place on Balboa Island. I finally found a place. Click here to see my previous post about the trials and tribulations of roommate searching on Craigslist. I ended up finding a place in Costa Mesa that is right on the Newport Beach line about 1.7 miles from the coast. I will share a 3BD/2BA condo townhouse with 2 other girls in their 20s. I really wanted to be within 2-3 miles from the beach so at least I got that wish.  It was only $50 more than my current apt so I was relatively satisfied. This will be my 8th apt I have rented since 1999. The photo on the left is one I took on the Balboa Peninsula last weekend.

This Oct 1 move means my time on Balboa Island is coming to a close. It has been a nice 4+ months living on this cute little coastal island community of Newport Beach. I will miss it a lot but it's still a 10 min drive away. Actually my new place is so much more convenient to stores, restaurants, my 24 Hour Fitness gym, etc. Trader Joe's will only be a half mile away. It's in this area called Triangle Square, which has many cool shops, cafes and restaurants. Despite the negative reviews of this area on Yelp, I actually like the area.

J** and I are having a good time so far while he visits. The night he arrived we took the Balboa Island Ferry out to the peninsula to get $1 tacos at Great Mex. Then on Friday night we went down to San Diego to visit and stay with my friend Ryan. We went to Babycakes in Hillcrest to eat some of their very scrumptious and MOIST cupcakes. Since we wanted to prevent the sugar-induced comas I so frequently get after having sweets in the evening, J** and I split a pistachio one. They also have other flavors called "White Bottom" and "Black Bottom". Hmm, why would a place owned by gays name those cupcakes as such? I wonder... Anyway, the cupcakes are really, really good and they truly are moist, I'm not joking. Most have some kind of a filling inside. Ryan had a blueberry one with a blueberry jam inside. They also have other flavors like Blood Orange, Mango and Pomegranate. I'm so glad they have stayed in business for over a year. I haven't tried the actual cakes yet, but I am sure they are just as good. Babycakes also has plenty of brownies and cookies, along with a wide selection of beer and wine. This space used to be the former location of David's Coffeehouse.

On Saturday we went down to Coronado for a few hours. I always enjoy that beach with its very fine white sand. It feels so good under my feet. I didn't bring my boogie board but still managed to body surf in the 2-3 foot waves. The waves weren't too intimidating, but I did get sand and water in my ears/nose since it's hard to stay above water without a board while surfing. The beach we went to was about a half mile south of the Hotel del Coronado.

After a few hours at the beach we walked along Orange Avenue (the main drag) and stopped at Panera Bread for something to eat. Then we went to Stretch's Cafe for some soft serve vanilla yogurt. It was so good and very inexpensive. A medium cup is only $2.65 and they give you a lot. J** and I split a cup. If we had known that they also have sandwiches there we would have just gone there to eat. The last time I was at Stretch's was a few years ago. I only noticed the yogurt, but maybe I wasn't paying attention in my frozen yogurt craze.

Yesterday we went back over to the Balboa Peninsula to lay out at the beach and this time I brought my boogie board only to find out that the waves were SO SMALL. I couldn't believe that this was the same beach that featured the 20-foot waves back in July. There were a few 3 foot high waves that I did surf, but it was nothing.

Running

This week I tried running on consecutive days. I pushed the pace a few times as well. The calf still feels the same, not better, not worse. I had PT once on Tuesday before J** came into town later that night. Normally I would do it twice. I will go next week one time. I may not need it anymore.

Below is what I did last week.

Date	Time	Mileage	Min/ Mile	Notes	HR Max	HR Ave
Aug 31, 2009	37:03	5.32	6:57	I did the Back Bay again. It was twilight and I ended this run in the dark. It was kind of cool to run at this time of day. The dunes and marshes glowed.	---	153 (82%)
Sept 2, 2009	41.03	6.04	6:47	I ran with J** at Back Bay again. This time I was really able to push it. My calf felt ok. It's always the first mile that feels weird. My hamstring was a little sore but I think I will always have to deal with that.	171 (91%)	157 (84%)
Sept 5, 2009	17:12	2.5	6:52	I was in San Diego and was going to do 6-7 miles today but cut it short due to running too late in the AM (11am). I decided to do a short run due to the heat and see how my calf feels running on consecutive days. No HR monitor since I forgot it in Newport.	---	---
Sept 6, 2009	41:30	6.16	6:44	I ran Back Bay again but in the direction of UC Irvine. It was mostly flat and the breeze was nice. It was very sunny though, so by the end I was getting hot. Temps were in the upper 70s, we started around 11am. It would have been better to start at 9am, but my tired ass was just getting out of bed.	174 (93%)	156 (83%)
week ending Sept 6, 2009	---	20.02	---	I'm glad I reached 20 miles for once. I think this week I really tried to push the pace on a few runs. Perhaps I should have ran slower, but I need to stay in good condition if I am going to do a half marathon in 5-6 weeks time in Long Beach.The plan next week is to run 4 days and also do 9 miles. I am traveling to DC for a conference on Saturday so maybe on Friday I will do the longer run.	172 (92%)	155 (83%)