I'm Still Buzzing.....
I took a 4 day break from training but had a great reason since Deb was in town! :-)
Rather then do the typical running around Portland, we loaded up the car and took a quick hit and run tour of Seattle. We were only there for a day and a half but were able to pack alot in walking all over downtown and Queen Anne. Seattle is definitely a cool town with a cool vibe. We stayed in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle and that's where it all started....
My quest to try EVERY good coffeeshop in Seattle.....yeaah!
You can rationalize anything and my excuse to take the brakes off the whole moderation thing was the "vacation" excuse....come'on who hasn't used that one right? Another triple shot, non-fat mocha? Why not, I'm on vacation!
While I didn't end up having the time to try every coffee shop in Seattle, I can give a thumbs up to the following Seattle bean shops:
Uptown Espresso
Caffe Ladro
Caffe Zingaro
Espresso Vivace
We also found some good food up there as well. Phuket for cheap & GREAT Thai food (try the Pineapple Curry Fried Rice- YUM) right in Queen Anne, breakfast at the Portage Bay Cafe in the University District, sushi at Blue C Sushi in the republic of Fremont.
I also got to check out a couple tri shops...Jessi's shop (Triumph Multisport) is the bomb! I did the mystery shopper thing and didn't mention Jessi (in case I said / did anything embarrassing - ha) and all the guys there were still great. It would definitely rate as one of the top 2-3 tri shops I've been to for the great no-attitude vibe. They even offered Deb a beer since it was Friday and they were getting ready to close..nice! A ton of stuff IN STOCK too...don't think I've had the opportunity to check out such a large selection of toys in one location...zipp, blackwell, etc etc..very cool. I checked out another tri-shop in town but it paled in comparison..nuff said.
We headed back to PDX Saturday and had dinner with Steven and Karen at the Rock Creek Tavern. Nothing like some good beers and burgers with good friends! We were feeling crazy and even had the cajun tots (Steven's idea..had to point that out!)...but pretty darn tasty! Trust me, if you go there..try the tots and get them "cajunized".
Deb and I also got to try some good eats in Portland..Ken's Artisan Pizza, Sushi Land, and a nice wine bar...Vino Paradiso.
Of course I had to hit Stumptown Coffee too...a bit partial to the good stuff right here in Portland...
Sheez, I'm still buzzing with all the caffeine in the last 4 days! ;-)
Deb had to head back to Cali too soon but glad we got to spend some time together! Now it's time to detox and get back on the wagon! ;-)
I can't leave you without a small training update...I'm finally getting in some more swimming / cycling and the blood lactate running test went pretty well last week. I had to do intervals on a treadmill set at a 1.5% incline with a .5mph increase in treadmill speed every 5 minutes. A blood sample was taken between each 5 minute interval. I started at 7.5mph on the treadmill and worked up to 10.5mph. Nothing like getting poked every 5 minutes and then having to hop back on the treadmill! I don't have the HR results yet but was able to push it a bit higher on the upper end. I lasted for 4 minutes at a 5:40 pace after ramping it up thru 5 minutes intervals starting at 8:00 pace. Things got real interesting once I hit 6:40 and had to work thru 6:19 / 6:00 pace. After feeling pretty good at 6 min pace, the 5:40 pace was SERIOUS work. At that point, the seconds were just dragging and I was pretty surprised I made it for 4 minutes although, like usual, I ended up second guessing whether I could have gone a bit harder...a bit longer...oh well. Back in December, I only lasted around a minute at the 5:40 pace but not sure that really means anything. I know I was carrying more run fitness a couple months ago.
Ok..enough of this loooooooooooong post.
Hope all is well out there!
*Peace*
Rather then do the typical running around Portland, we loaded up the car and took a quick hit and run tour of Seattle. We were only there for a day and a half but were able to pack alot in walking all over downtown and Queen Anne. Seattle is definitely a cool town with a cool vibe. We stayed in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle and that's where it all started....
My quest to try EVERY good coffeeshop in Seattle.....yeaah!
You can rationalize anything and my excuse to take the brakes off the whole moderation thing was the "vacation" excuse....come'on who hasn't used that one right? Another triple shot, non-fat mocha? Why not, I'm on vacation!
While I didn't end up having the time to try every coffee shop in Seattle, I can give a thumbs up to the following Seattle bean shops:
Uptown Espresso
Caffe Ladro
Caffe Zingaro
Espresso Vivace
We also found some good food up there as well. Phuket for cheap & GREAT Thai food (try the Pineapple Curry Fried Rice- YUM) right in Queen Anne, breakfast at the Portage Bay Cafe in the University District, sushi at Blue C Sushi in the republic of Fremont.
I also got to check out a couple tri shops...Jessi's shop (Triumph Multisport) is the bomb! I did the mystery shopper thing and didn't mention Jessi (in case I said / did anything embarrassing - ha) and all the guys there were still great. It would definitely rate as one of the top 2-3 tri shops I've been to for the great no-attitude vibe. They even offered Deb a beer since it was Friday and they were getting ready to close..nice! A ton of stuff IN STOCK too...don't think I've had the opportunity to check out such a large selection of toys in one location...zipp, blackwell, etc etc..very cool. I checked out another tri-shop in town but it paled in comparison..nuff said.
We headed back to PDX Saturday and had dinner with Steven and Karen at the Rock Creek Tavern. Nothing like some good beers and burgers with good friends! We were feeling crazy and even had the cajun tots (Steven's idea..had to point that out!)...but pretty darn tasty! Trust me, if you go there..try the tots and get them "cajunized".
Deb and I also got to try some good eats in Portland..Ken's Artisan Pizza, Sushi Land, and a nice wine bar...Vino Paradiso.
Of course I had to hit Stumptown Coffee too...a bit partial to the good stuff right here in Portland...
Sheez, I'm still buzzing with all the caffeine in the last 4 days! ;-)
Deb had to head back to Cali too soon but glad we got to spend some time together! Now it's time to detox and get back on the wagon! ;-)
I can't leave you without a small training update...I'm finally getting in some more swimming / cycling and the blood lactate running test went pretty well last week. I had to do intervals on a treadmill set at a 1.5% incline with a .5mph increase in treadmill speed every 5 minutes. A blood sample was taken between each 5 minute interval. I started at 7.5mph on the treadmill and worked up to 10.5mph. Nothing like getting poked every 5 minutes and then having to hop back on the treadmill! I don't have the HR results yet but was able to push it a bit higher on the upper end. I lasted for 4 minutes at a 5:40 pace after ramping it up thru 5 minutes intervals starting at 8:00 pace. Things got real interesting once I hit 6:40 and had to work thru 6:19 / 6:00 pace. After feeling pretty good at 6 min pace, the 5:40 pace was SERIOUS work. At that point, the seconds were just dragging and I was pretty surprised I made it for 4 minutes although, like usual, I ended up second guessing whether I could have gone a bit harder...a bit longer...oh well. Back in December, I only lasted around a minute at the 5:40 pace but not sure that really means anything. I know I was carrying more run fitness a couple months ago.
Ok..enough of this loooooooooooong post.
Hope all is well out there!
*Peace*
posted by Mike at 9:12 PM
6 Comments:
you stopped at 5 coffee places in a day and a half? i'd still be buzzing!!
thanks for all the info on seattle, i've never been there but it sounds wonderful and i hope to go sometime soon!
I grew up in Seattle. I used to go to Starbucks #1 @ Pike Place when they only sold cups and beans, now brews. Imagine that a Starbucks that didn't actually sell a drink. Well they were that way for a while.
My favorite became Tullys. I spent hours. HOURs in Tullys reading three papers and talking to people.
Now they have them in Phx. YES
Sweet, I'm glad you liked Triumph and that they treated you right! (I'd expect nothing else :)
Lots of coffee, lots of food, and even some training discussions. Sounds like the perfect post to me!
Looks like I'll have to get myself back up to Seattle now that I know where to go.
I'll have to check out Portland as well. We're flyin in and out of there for the Eugene Marathon.
I've had that lactate test on my mind for a while. I'd like to be in okay shape first.
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