New Year's Race Half Marathon 2015

Saturday 1/3
In the morning I drove into Downtown LA and parked at the Pershing Square underground parking just across the street from the Biltmore Hotel, the location of the packet pick up. It was a flat $7 for the entire day. After picking up my bib and pullover long sleeve race shirt, it was time to go get an early lunch.

Lucky bib number!

For lunch, I walked over to Little Tokyo to eat some ramen at Orochon Ramen. The restaurant was located on E 2nd St in between S San Pedro St and S Los Angeles St. It was located on the second floor and was pretty easy to find. I got there about 10 minutes before they opened. There was a group of people there waiting by the time they opened up. After being seated, I ordered their shio ramen level 4, added an egg and extra meat. On the menu was a chart that showed you the amount of spiciness for each level. Level 4 was right in the middle of their scale and wasn't spicy to me. I also ordered a half order fried rice. The ramen wasn't bad at all even though most people come here to get super spicy ramen and the portions were pretty big. If you're used to the fatty tonkotsu style ramen, you might want to try elsewhere. Their soup base was pretty clear. Also their ramen here was more like the Chinese style ramen. The fried rice was decent, nothing spectacular. Chopsticks and napkins were self service by pulling out the little drawer on the side of the table.

Half order fried rice

Shio ramen level 4 add egg and extra meat

After lunch I thought I'd check out the Angel City Brewery which was nearby also in Little Tokyo. They would be supplying the post race beers. The brewery was located in a somewhat seedy looking area of Little Tokyo. The place looked like a converted warehouse. In the parking lot/entrance area there was a food truck. There's a guy checking ID's at the entrance. Besides the bar, the place was pretty spacious with plenty of space to hang out. On to the beers! I started off with a pint of their Vanilla Porter. I do love my porters and I particularly like the vanilla variety. This one was good. Then I got a beer flight to sample the rest of their beers. For the 5 beers I picked: 1. Eureka! Wit, 2. Angelino IPA, 3. West Coast Wheat, 4. Amber Ale, and 5. Marilyn. I was impressed with the West Coast Wheat and Marilyn. Those two were not what I thought they would be like. I liked them. In fact they were all good, but I liked the Amber Ale the best. I then finished it off with a Imperial Chai Stout. I love stouts as well and this tasted good while packing a good punch. After finishing that beer, I decided that I should probably head out to the expo and just hang out there before the start of the race. Didn't want to get too buzzed for the race. :)

When I went to the restroom before leaving, I got to see the rest of the place. There was a dart board, corn hole games, ping pong table, as well as various party games (Jenga, Connect Four, etc). There was even a slide in the middle of the place. I'm sure it's much safer to slide down versus taking the stairs if you had a few too many. :)

Vanilla porter

Beer flight

Imperial Chai Stout

I went back to the Biltmore and found a nice spot to sit down and wait for the start of the race. The hotel looked really nice with their Christmas decorations still up. The race started earlier this year at 6 pm and as it got closer, I used the restroom one last time before walking a few blocks down to the starting area. After the short walk down there, I made my way over to the gear check to drop off my bag before heading into my starting corral.

The race started at the intersection of W 7th St and Grand Ave with the usual Red Bull arch at the starting line. I started the race in between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace group, so I was running just slightly under 8 mins per mile. I liked the little out and back into the 2nd St tunnel, but the air was a little stale in there. Once we started heading towards Dodger Stadium, the climbs kept coming. Some were not easy climbs, but it leveled out a bit after mile 5 where we got to run on the warning track inside Dodger Stadium. After climbing the hill back up to mile 8, there was a short dirt section before we hopped back on the road at Stadium Way. For some reason my right ankle was getting sore. I think I didn't tie the shoelaces tight enough. Once we had reached about mile 11 and was leaving Dodger Stadium, it was mostly a 2 mile downhill run to the finish line at Grand Park. My legs were shot so I could not get them to turn over very quickly. I was content with my results given the difficulty of the course.

1-3: 23:53 (7:57)
4: 9:20
5: 9:00
6: 8:23
7: 8:53
8: 9:23
9: 7:25
10: 9:35
11: 9:40
12: 9:33
13: 9:07
13.1: 0:48
Finish: 1:54:58

2014 - 1:58:02
2013 - 1:59:41

Each year, I have been getting faster at this race. Perhaps it's due to the small tweaks to the race course. I bumped into my faster friend in the finisher chute. He had to wait for his girlfriend, so we agreed that we would meet up at the beer garden. I then went looking for the gear check. The line for picking up your gear bag was ridiculously long. Apparently they had arranged the bib numbers based on finishing time, so everybody was lined up for the same bib range. Nobody was at the other table since they were all still out on the course. They'll need to fix that next year. The line would continue to grow. After putting on my jacket, I went to look for the bonus legacy medal. I had to ask a few people, but eventually I found the booth that was passing out the medal. Then I made it over to the beer garden. They were pretty strict with letting in only people that had their ID. Luckily for me, I always carry my ID when I race. I chatted a bit with some random runners in the beer garden until my friends showed up.

We then walked to the nearby Casey's Irish Pub. I've walked past this place on numerous occasions, but usually in the daytime. So since it was nighttime, I suggested that we check this place out. To enter the place, you take a flight of stairs down to where a couple of bouncers greet you and check your ID. They were some of the friendliest bouncers I've met in a while. We tried to find a table or booth or any place inside to sit down, but the place was packed! So we finally found a table outside in the "smoking section". The smoke didn't bother me too much but then again I'm an ex-smoker. There were ping pong tables out there.

Now for food and drinks, I started with a Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA and I ordered their Bangers and mash. I would say that their selection of craft beers on tap wasn't too extensive which would make sense since most people going to an Irish pub would commonly drink a Guinness or a Kilkenny beer. The Bangers and mash was good, kind of hard to mess up and it came with a cup of peas. We had a few more beers before heading out. Our waitress was friendly, checked up on us, and was pretty quick for such a busy night. I definitely wouldn't mind coming back again.

Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA

Bangers and Mash

Operation Jack Marathon 2014

Friday 12/26
It has been a tradition for the past 4 years to run this marathon on the day after Christmas. This year made it 5 years in row. If you don't already know, Operation Jack was created by a guy named Sam for his son, Jack. 5 years ago, Sam ran 61 marathons in a year to raise awareness and money for autism research. The Operation Jack Marathon was created out of necessity to complete the the 2010 Operation Jack schedule and was intended to be a one-time event. Due to overwhelmingly positive feedback, it has become an annual race benefiting the Operation Jack Autism Foundation.

So early Friday morning, I made the drive out to Dockweiler State Beach. It was a very familiar drive for me as it was pretty much driving to LAX. I got there at about 6 am to pick up my race bib and shirt. The price to park in the beach lot was $6 again this year. I took a little nap in the car and got back out to cheer on those taking the early start at 6:45 am.

Race shirt

The race started at 7:30 am after some last minute instructions. The race course started with us heading up North on the bike path to Ballona Creek. My first mile was a little bit faster than I had planned to run, so I dialed it back a bit. We then ran up the Ballona Creek Bike Path. From the starting line, it was about 4 miles to the turnaround point. After getting to mile 6, I had to slow down quite a bit. I normally run hard on the first 10k, but boy I felt spent. At around mile 8 we run past the starting/finish area. It would be about another 2.5 miles going South on the bike path to the second turnaround point. My entire right leg did not feel right at all coming back up to the halfway point. The IT band was getting tight and I was getting discomfort in the knee.

Rest, set, go! (Photo from Jake Rome)

1: 7:34
2: 8:06
3: 8:23
4-5: 16:41 (8:21)
6: 8:20
7: 9:23
8: 9:19
9: 9:09
10: 9:35
11: 9:22
12: 10:02
13.1: 10:38 (9:39)
Halfway: 1:56:31

It was quite a struggle plodding along on the bike path as the day got warmer and warmer. The miles of concrete was wearing me out! While going back North on the Ballona Creek Bike Path, I saw Nadia heading back to the finish. I tried to stay on the dirt during this section, anything to get away from the hard concrete or asphalt. It was good to see one of my friends on a bike. Him and a couple others had placed the mile markers earlier in the morning. After the turnaround, I bumped into a friend that lives nearby. She was just out putting in a few easy miles as she was running a 100 miler at Across The Years at the end of the month. She ran with me back to the starting area. Those 3 miles went by a lot easier. The last 5 miles were a bit painful as the right knee was hurting quite a bit. I had to keep taking walk breaks to alleviate the pain.

Nadia, defending female marathon champ

Running along the Ballona Creek Bike Path (Photo from Bodie)

Nice view while heading to the finish line

14: 9:17 (10:18)
15: 10:36
16: 11:50
17: 12:04
18: 12:07
19: 11:41
20: 11:58
21: 11:50
22: 13:28
23: 15:21
24: 14:18
25: 13:28
26.2: 14:07 (11:45)
Finish: 4:38:36

"It doesn't get any easier, you just get faster."
2013 - 5:03:46
2012 - 4:52:59
2011 DNF
2010 DNF

After I crossed the finish line. I felt like I had just run a horrible race for my last marathon of 2014, but for me anything around 4:30 is a good race. I felt a little bit better when I realized that that was my fastest finish for this race. I also had to remind myself that I had dropped out during the first two years. So it's really true what they say... that it doesn't get easier, you just get faster.

After talking to a few of my friends and trading race stories, it was time for me to go find some food. I changed out of my running clothes and put on the cotton race shirt. It felt very tight for a medium. I thought it was pretty dark during packet pickup so maybe they gave me a small instead.

Medal and bib

As I headed home, I drove to my favorite ramen shop in Fullerton, but it really packed from the outside. So I kept driving and stopped by The Habit on Nutwood Ave instead. I've driven by this location many times, but I've never eaten here before. I guess it was a good thing that the ramen shop was packed as I was really craving a burger instead. I could've easily eaten another one.

Double Char!

When I got home, I finally checked the t-shirt tag and found out that it was women's medium. Phew, I thought I was getting fat from all of the holiday eating! :)

Honolulu Marathon 2014

12/11 Thursday
I drove down to the San Diego airport for a morning flight with Hawaiian airlines to Honolulu. Why did I fly out of SAN instead of LAX? It was a couple of hundred of dollars cheaper versus flying out of LAX. It was just my luck that I got stuck sitting next to another horrible passenger. Another one that you don't want to be stuck next to on a long flight. He was a talker, just not a regular talker that will eventually get the hint to leave you alone... no, he was somebody that had no self control and probably had abused drugs all of his life. He kept talking to me or asking me to help him with his touch screen even though I had my ear buds in and my eyes were closed trying to get some shuteye. Then every time there was beverage or food service, he would order a bottle of wine or beer. He must have spent about $60 on booze. So of course he had to keep bothering me to use the lavatory. Near the end of the flight on his last request to go to the lavatory, he said, "you don't like me." What was your first clue? My response was, "you keep waking me up when I'm trying to sleep." So needless to say, I could not wait to get off of the plane as soon as it landed.

Flight out of San Diego

I took the bus for $2.50 to get into Waikiki. The bus ride takes about an hour and I got off a block away from my condo, the Kuhio Banyan Club. I got checked in and dropped off my bag before heading back out for the expo at the Hawaii Convention Center. The daily rate was super cheap because the elevator was out of service the entire time that I was there. I was on the 3rd floor and had no problem taking the stairs. All of the furniture was outdated, but I couldn't care less with such a cheap rate.

Kitchen

I got to the expo, picked up my bib, and perused the booths. It was a bit disappointing to see that the expo continues to shrink. They even had a new company, Under Armour, for this year's official race merchandise. The selection was very small. I liked Nike and even Adidas. I'm not sure if UA will be around again next year. I was not impressed. There was really nothing worth buying.

Graffiti wall

After going through the expo, I stopped at the nearby Don Quijote to buy some drinks and snacks. Their bananas were super green, but I bought them anyways since I had a couple more days for them to ripen before the marathon. For some reason I was craving shrimp chips, so I bought a bag. I also have been drinking coconut water in the days leading up to a marathon, so I bought a large Vita Coco. I'll have to remember to buy a fruit flavored one next time because this regular flavor tasted really gross.

Snacks from Don Quixote

I then walked over to Ramen Manichi to check it out. According to Yelp it had just opened recently not so long ago. The restaurant was located just North of the Ala Moana Center on Kona St and was pretty easy to find. I sat at a counter seat. The menu was pretty nice with lots of pictures and was pretty descriptive. For my bowl of ramen, I ordered their Manichi Special Tonkotsu Ramen Shibori. I also ordered the negi negi gyoza, which I liked since I like a lot of green onion. As for the ramen, I liked the broth and the flavor of all of the ingredients, but the portion was small. I could've easily eaten two more bowls. But that would put a decent dent in my wallet. So keep in mind that their ramen, in particularly their special items, are on the expensive side for ramen even for Honolulu.

Manichi Special Tonkotsu Ramen Shibori

Negi negi gyoza

After dinner, I made my way over to the Consolidated Ward Stadium movie theater to watch the free special advance screening of Disney's McFarland, USA. They gave us a free drawstring bag. They also told us that we had to check in our cellphone because it was an advance screening and they did not want people recording any part of the movie. Even for a free screening, the theater was not full. It was a feel good movie about high school cross country running based on a true story. There was a subtle political message thrown in as well. Overall I liked the movie. It was well done. During the long hike back to my hotel, I bumped into Marathon Maniac President Steve also making the same hike.

Drawstring bag from McFarland, USA

12/12 Friday
I was still adjusting to the new time zone and didn't leave my room until it was time to eat lunch. I made my way over to Ramen Nakamura for my annual bowl of ox tail ramen. It was pretty empty when I got there and I sat in the first seat at the horseshoe counter. I got the usual ox tail ramen and fried rice combo. This specialty ramen has been getting more expensive but it always hits the spot when I come back to Honolulu. The place was pretty packed when I paid my bill and was ready to head back to the expo to meet up with my friend.

Not-so-nice view from my room

Ox tail ramen and fried rice

Along the way to the expo, I bumped into a fellow Marathon Maniac who has run a marathon in all 50 states 3 times already and is currently working on his 4th circuit. We chatted a little bit before going our separate ways.

I then met up with my friend from Las Vegas. I took a picture with two of the mascots and went through the expo with him. Afterwards I went with him to Don Quijote. I picked up some Kona coffee beans for my coffee drinking coworkers. He gave me a ride back to my hotel.

Sunshine and pineapple

Expo

My favorite mouse!

For dinner, my friend picked me up for our annual trip to Side Street Inn to eat a plate of their famous fried rice. This time we went to the Ala Moana location. We usually go to the Kaimuki location on Kapahulu Ave. On this visit I ordered the Side Street Works Fried Rice. I've had the regular fried rice and kim chee fried rice at their other location. From now on I'm going to eat the Works. It's got everything extra thrown in, kim chee and lup cheong (Chinese sausage). It was that much better! I had a Side Street Inn Rogue Ale with my meal. This location was a hole in the wall. It doesn't look very nice on the outside, but don't judge the food by the outside. Parking can be an issue here. Free street parking is available, but you'll have to drive around and hunt. Be sure to read the parking signs! My friend and I were able to find a spot on Pensacola St. There was the option of valet parking.

Side Street Inn Rogue Ale

Side Street Works fried rice

12/13 Saturday
For an early lunch, I walked over to Teddy's Bigger Burger on Kapahulu Ave. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to order the Monster Double Biggest combo with tater tots. It came with two 9 ounce patties making it an 18 ounce burger! The buns were not big enough to hold this burger together. It quickly fell apart and got messy.

Monster Double Biggest combo with tater tots

I walked over to the Waikiki Pier with a very full stomach. After enjoying the beautiful scenery, I walked over to the expo at the Hawaii Convention Center for the third day in a row to meet up with Alison and her mom. They had just arrived for the race weekend. It was good to walk off some of that lunch! I walked with them back to their hotel so we could pick a spot to meet up tomorrow before we head to the start of the race.

After getting back to my room, I relaxed while watching some TV. I also got out my race gear for tomorrow's marathon. I'm always happy to support Team Red, White, and Blue.

Race gear

For a very early dinner, I went downstairs and got in line for some udon at Marukame Udon. As usual the line was super long. At least it was not raining this time. The line went pretty swiftly. When I got up to the kitchen counter, I ordered a bowl of niku udon. I added some shrimp tempura and a Spam musubi. Then I found a spot at a counter to devour my udon.

Disneyland type line at Marukame Udon

Niku udon with shrimp tempura and Spam musubi

12/14 Sunday
I woke up pretty early. It was kind of hard to sleep anyways with all of the bumping club music downstairs. Per the usual, I had to walk past a bunch of drunk idiots on my way to the starting area. Along the way, I stopped by Alison's hotel to meet up with her and her mom. While walking to the start with a huge crowd of runners, we got yelled at by one of the cops. It was totally my fault. The sidewalk was crowded and I wanted to get to the other side which was wide open. Then they didn't want us to take the sidewalk that takes you into the park. I just wanted to take us to the beach restrooms just west of the bus drop off spot and southwest of the tennis courts. So I took us past the starting line before cutting across the grass to use the beach restrooms. Why use portapotties when you can use real flushing urinals/toilets? I couldn't spot my usual Marathon Maniacs friends there so we headed back to the starting area. Alison and I hopped into the starting corral near the front. Her mom went back onto the sidewalk to wait for her 10k start.

Light rain coming down just before the race

With the singing of the national anthem, the race was ready to start. We were sent off with a bunch of loud fireworks which is one of the coolest things about running this marathon. A light rain was coming down. It would continue to rain throughout most of the race at different levels of intensity. For the most part it kept the temperatures cooler than it normally would have been. Having run this course 5 other times, I knew when and where I could run fast as well as when I needed to just hang back during steady climbs. You pretty much can run fast through the first 10k through Waikiki. Then it would be a continuous climb for about the next 5 miles up and around Diamond Head. It would flatten out as you get on the H1, but it's a steady slight incline as you head towards Hawaii Kai. The rain started coming down a bit harder. I got through the first half in just under 2 hrs.
1: 8:10
2: 8:17
3: 8:42
4: 8:35
5: 8:34
6: 8:31
7: 8:52
8: 9:40
9: 9:12
10: 9:02
11: 9:40
12: 9:51
13: 9:56

Once you get to about mile 15, you take a loop around Hawaii Kai Rd. This is where you can know that every step from here on out will bring you closer to the finish line. While fairly flat, there are some deceiving inclines all the way to mile 22.  During this stretch you get to see a lot of people still heading out to Hawaii Kai. MM President Steve caught me around mile 22 just as we were getting off of the H1 freeway. From here, there's only one significant climb back up Diamond Head all the way up to the 40k marker. Once you've reached the top, look left and treat yourself to an awesome view of the ocean. It's only about a mile and half downhill to the finish line. On the final stretch, you can see the finish line from so far away. Draw the energy from the spectators and run it in.
14: 10:25
15: 10:40
16: 10:34
17: 10:26
18: 10:16
19: 10:39
20: 11:05
21: 11:11
22: 11:27
23: 11:50
24: 11:43
25: 12:01
26: 10:04
26.2: 1:54
Finish: 4:21:19
Official: 4:21:30

I don't think my chip registered when I crossed the starting mat. From looking at the results, it also did not register at the 10k and 40k mats. I'm glad it registered for the finish line. At least that gave me a gun time finish. Oh well. Slow is slow.

Finish

After crossing the finish line, I got my shell necklace and made my way through the finishing chute. I bumped into my Hawaiian friends that had waited for me to finish right at the exit. I chatted with them for a little bit and moved on. Fortunately I was spotted by Alison's mom. There were so many people at the finish area. We shared our race experiences before heading over to the 42k marker to wait for Alison to finish. She came through under 5 hrs! I was pretty dang impressed! But being the competitor that she is, she was not too happy with her time.

Alison heading for the finish line

After walking over to the finisher tent to get our finisher medal and shirt, we headed out to find some lunch. We decided on eating at Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was pretty busy when we got there since it was a Sunday. There was a lot of people there for NFL games as well as runners like us eating after finishing the marathon. I ordered the "It's All Good" burger and a couple of beers. It was a substantial burger with guacamole and bacon, two ingredients that I love in a burger. But for some reason, I was not impressed with the flavor. I'm guessing my taste buds were probably kind of messed up by sucking on GU's for 4 plus hours. It wasn't bad, but it was far from the best burger that I've eaten. If I hadn't gone to Teddy's yesterday, I would have rather eaten a burger at Teddy's. "Variety is the spice of life," so they've said.

"It's All Good"

After lunch we parted ways to get cleaned up and rest up a bit before dinner. For dinner we met up again and ate at bills Sydney. I liked the ambiance. It was very relaxing. We sat in the upstairs section. The cushioned side of the table was a little awkward. The way the seat was designed, you end up sliding down to the point that you're laying down instead of sitting. I had an interesting cocktail, the Dark n' Stormy. It consists of aged rum, spiced rum, lime, bitters, and ginger beer. It actually tasted pretty good, but the glass had way too much ice. I shared the turmeric spiced chargrilled chicken and shrimp, red onion, parsley, salsa rossa pizza with Alison. I love a good non-cheesy pizza. The chicken tasted okay, but it wasn't anything spectacular. I was told that the best item on the menu was the Ricotta Hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter. Everybody in our party that ordered it loved it.

Post race dinner at bills Sydney

Dark n' Stormy

Turmeric spiced chargrilled chicken curry and shrimp, red onion, parsley, salsa rossa pizza

12/15 Monday
In the morning, I got ready and made my way over to Kapiolani Park to get in line to pick up my finisher certificate. It starts at 9am, but people start lining up pretty early. I wonder when they'll switch over to digital copies? I normally get in line to get autographs from the male and female winners, but I had to go back to my hotel to meet up for my ride out to Lanikai Beach.

Finisher certificate

Lanikai Beach

After the beach, we looked for a place to eat lunch. We pretty much all agreed on eating Thai food, so we stopped at Saeng's Thai Cuisine. It was located in a small strip mall. We were pretty fortunate to find a parking spot right in front of the place. I had the Evil Prince pork fried rice. It was good, but it wasn't spicy at all like the waiter said it would be. The portion was also pretty small. So I was a little disappointed with it not being spicy... I pretty much ordered it because of the name. :)

Evil Prince pork fried rice

On our way back to Waikiki, we were brainstorming on some possible activities to do. Some ideas that were suggested was visiting a Buddist temple or a botanical garden, but Alison really wanted to go hiking or do something more active. So somebody suggested hiking up Koko Head. Ok, it was me that suggested the hike. It's a pretty strenuous hike up to the top. Alison totally beat me to the top. I could not keep up with her. The views at the top is always worth the effort.

At the top of Koko Head

After getting back down, we hopped back into the car and headed back to Waikiki. Before I left to go back to my place, we stopped by the Hau Tree Bar to have a drink. I don't usually drink a piña colada, but I thought I should have at least one on this trip. I think I maybe have one every 15 years. I think there's a good reason for that. I'm just not into sweet drinks. I'll stick to beers and dry red wines.

Piña colada

For dinner, I was on my own, so I walked over to Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin. The restaurant was located on a small street called Beach Walk just off of Kalakaua Ave. Inside was pretty small, so if you're coming with a large group, it might be a lengthy wait if you don't make a reservation. Fortunately I didn't have to wait too long to be seated. While searching for the best tonkatsu in Waikiki, I came across this place. A lot of people raved about this place as the best outside of Japan, so I came here to give it a try. I ordered the highly recommended kurobuta tonkatsu which in short was very flavorful and full of fatty pork goodness! It came at a premium price of $36 which was pretty dang expensive for tonkatsu. Before they brought out the tonkatsu, the waitress brought me some sesame seeds, a mortar, and pestle to grind up the seeds to go with the tonkatsu sauce. Most of the people working here spoke to me first in Japanese, but their English was more than adequate. Service was great and they were all very nice and polite.

Grind your own sesame seeds

Kurobuta Tonkatsu

12/16 Tuesday
I actually had a hard time sleeping in, so I got out of bed, got ready, and packed my bags for my trip home. I watched some TV before it was time for me to check out of the room. I wore my compression socks for the plane ride. I grabbed my bags and the TV remote and headed downstairs to check out. This place really cares about their TV remotes. You'll get charged if you lose it during your stay. They kept all of them at the front desk.

Time to go home :(

Before catching the bus to the airport, it was time for me to eat an early lunch. After trying out Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin last night, my food buddy told me to check out Kimukatsu for comparison. The entrance was located at the corner of Lauula St and Lewers St. It was located on the first floor of the Waikiki Joy Hotel and was fairly easy to spot. After being seated, I went with their Trio Lunch for $14. Upon checking in on Yelp, I was also given a 10% off digital coupon. I ordered their original flavor katsu, dashi soy sauce for my dipping sauce, and the agedashi tofu for my appetizer. After they put in my order the waiter informed me that they were out of the tofu. So I went with the simmered hijiki (brown sea vegetable) instead. The tonkatsu was 25 layers of porky goodness! The portion for the katsu was very tiny, but it's definitely quality over quantity. Comparing this place to Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin would be like comparing apples to oranges. The katsu here is almost like menchi style. Keep in mind that they give free refills for rice, miso soup, pickles, and cabbage. I would definitely come back here again. Despite the portion being super tiny, it was really good tonkatsu. Now if I had only one choice, I would rather go to Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin.

Trio lunch combo

The weather was so nice and sunny on the day that I was leaving. For this particular trip there was a lot more rain than the previous years, but at least it was never a huge downpour. On my flight back home I was finally fortunate enough to sit next to a sane petite person. She left me alone when I was trying to sleep and didn't elbow me every now and then. It would turn out that she also runs marathons and had also run in the Honolulu Marathon.

The same rainstorm might have followed me home as it was raining when I landing in San Diego. It was pretty late and catching the shuttle to the parking lot is a pain whenever it rains. I was the last person to be dropped off at my car and it felt like a long drive home as I was pretty pooped. Maybe I'll rethink the idea of flying out of SAN for next year's race.

Compression socks, ready for the flight home