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Dos Botellas
June 7th 2013

Nostalgia strikes again: Only with redeye flight, do I wish the flight was a tad bit longer. It didn't leave until 11pm which is way way past my bed time and didn't even fly for 5 hours. Especially after all week of pre-5am starts, I was passed out at the gate already. I remember my neck hurting and being cold but I must have slept decent. I was surprisingly awake at 4am PST. Mingji picked me up at the airport and we were off to Ann Arbooor, woohoo! It had only been a year. With gray sky and chilly air, I didn't feel so distant to this place. Fuller Rd felt especially familiar from my solo run last year. Covering place on foot is so powerful. We went to the League's Beanster for breakfast. League was ... read more



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Dos Botellas
April 16th 2013

Tue: Need to decompress out of Boston Physically and emotionally tired but it cannot stop here. Hopefully this mini getaway will help level out the rollercoaster ride. Enterprise was just about 1+ mile. After a quick stop at Panera for breakfast, we drove off at ~9am. The first stop came after 2 hrs at Portland head lighthouse. Somehow, I got derailed to Two Lights lighthouse…I wasn’t thinking much. Location looked legit on Google map, that’s all… We got there after some miles of narrow slow road, we couldn't even get past the fence to the lighthouse. The only thing there was a lobster shack. Quickly scrolling through Mingji’s notes, I realized of the real destination, sigh. Portland Head lighthouse was worth visiting. There is a nice path along the coast. Wind-chill was brisk but enjoyed it ... read more



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Dos Botellas
April 15th 2013

5:55am alarm. Slept alright. Feel good. Happy I made it to this day. I was supposed to pick up the shuttle between 6:30a and 7a at Commons. Thao & Vinh dropped me off there . Here we go! Further into the Commons, gazillions runners were hiding as 5 long snaking lines for each bus. The challenge was finding the end of any line... Finally at 7:10am, my bus took off. I figured I’d be there so early. I mean how long can a 26mile ride take? Well, over an hour. We were on freeway for a while. Once we got off, narrow road in Hopkinton was gridlocked. By the time I got off the bus, it was 8:30am. Still a lot of time to 10:20 start, so I thought. But there was a lot to do! ... read more



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Dos Botellas
April 11th 2013

Thu: We're in New England! Nonstop redeye is the best . The only thing is any temptation to sleep can be dangerous. What was intended to be a 10min power nap turned into a 2-hr nap... I even put myself in uncomfortable position...fail. Gots to get up. Finally made it out to Dunkin Donuts at 11a, just around the corner. Love the convenience . We were in the mood for some soup. Yelp indicated New England soup factory to be promising. Few miles away, close enough, it's on! Unfortunately, I was feeling that creamy chowder but avogolemono-ish orzo soup was nice . Next stop was Gardner Museum. It's famous for its courtyard and theft in the 90s. Unfortunately no photo anywhere, including the courtyard garden . It's too beautiful not to use the SLR I was ... read more



Guanajuato

Published: January 6th 2013North America » Mexico » Guanajuato
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Dos Botellas
December 25th 2012

Wed: Over-achieving Guanajuato We landed at 11:30pm the night before. We had no check-in luggage and our tiny jet was the only thing landed in this wee hour. Despite all that in this puny airport, unclear and confusing immigration held us back to finally meet Martin at midnight. Martin, the hotel owner, greeted us there to drive 30min to his hotel. It worked out great as we didn’t have to wonder around town looking for the hotel after midnight on the Christmas day. It was chilly at 9am after a good night sleep and shower. Temperature here ranges between 40s and 80s throughout the day. It was hard to imagine the heat mid day for now. We were so disoriented but we knew we were headed for plaza de la Paz. Right off the bat, we ... read more



Recovery in Kansai

Published: January 19th 2013Asia » Japan » Osaka
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Dos Botellas
November 26th 2012

Mon: It’s marathon recovery, bring on the FOOD! That 4hrs of poundage felt like a bad dream…except sore body made sure it really happened yesterday. Slowly got ready for breakfast at a hotel. It was a small installation. The ground floor is a little cafe. A little homey breakfast :). It was going to be a rainy day today. How we lucked out with the weather! Cloudy few days was followed by a gorgeous sunny day just in time for marathon and rain the day after, ha! We strategically situated ourselves for a marathon recovery Osaka concoction day . Conveniently, hotel was adjacent to Japan's longest shopping arcade of 2.9km - tenjinbashisuji (天神橋筋六丁目). It turned out to be a perfect rainy day option. We went at ~9:40 when some stores were getting ready to open. Lots ... read more



Osaka Marathon 2012

Published: December 7th 2012Asia » Japan » Osaka
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Dos Botellas
November 25th 2012

Day 0: Challenge disguised The road to this race was the toughest of all. At this point, I'm grateful that I'm even able to run. I was limping in a walking boot just 7 weeks ago, ran my first mile 2weeks ago. I finally got up to 7 mile easy jog before hitting the taper week for 26.2 miles. Out with the training books, in with...beast mode. At least that's what I'll need. The week leading to Bridge to Bridge 10k on Sept 30, my left foot started to complain with dull nagging pain. Nevertheless I felt ok to run the 10k. The course was nice on a gorgeous day in SF. After the race, Vinh and I had planned to run back via lunch but my foot pain was back, with a vengeance. It was ... read more



Meet TEAM 133

Published: June 15th 2012North America » United States » Michigan » Ann Arbor
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Dos Botellas
June 9th 2012

Being a Michigan fan in Pac 10 (ok, Pac 12 now, whatever) territory hasn’t been easy. With football, some ignorant broadcasting companies would happily cut off an exciting OT with a Bruins game that nobody cares about. Unless it’s nationally televised, I spent many Saturday mornings in front of streaming radio. Last year this time, my fan-dom confidant and guidance brought Women’s Football Academy to my attention, I banged my head for not knowing this earlier. Since then, I had my eyes and ears open for 2012 event and registration. The event not only provides women an opportunity to learn about M football, but also benefits the cancer center at the M hospital – brilliant. I had absolutely no reason not to participate! This year was gonna be special. Last year was one of the successful ... read more



China

Published: May 29th 2012Asia » China
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Dos Botellas
May 2nd 2012

Wed May 2: The best of Beijing I should have been dead tired. Got up at 3am yesterday and that nightmarish adventure on the Great Wall! Somehow I was up by 4am, no! Hunger attack didn't let me go back to sleep. I had seen the advertisement for tai chi coaching at 7:30am 3 days a week in front of the hotel. Check it out, why not? My quads were sore but movable. In the open space in front of the hotel, there was a lonely instructor practicing tai chi. As I walked up to her, she told me something in Chinese. I didn't know if it was ok that I've never done it before. I vaguely gathered that she wanted me to follow her. She was very nice and good. She went slowly, corrected me ... read more



Great Wall Conquest

Published: June 2nd 2012Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China
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Dos Botellas
May 1st 2012

There is no visiting Beijing without seeing the Great Wall of China. If I could run it, I would cover more ground. The search for the Great Wall run was on. Googled Great Wall marathon. Bam, perfect. As I looked further into it, this requires all participants to be on their 2-wk tour. Shacks. Going down the Google list, I ran into another one – Great Wall of China Marathon. Yet further research and contacting the organizers confirmed that GWCM had no tour requirement. What's more, the course was almost entirely on the wall whereas the other one runs, for the most part, through villages. Even more, this one took place in more scenic section of the Great Wall. Perfect, I'd be able to run it! Sightsee with water support, a brilliant idea! It would be ... read more






Tot: 0.16s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 10; qc: 75; dbt: 0.0585s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 3; ; mem: 6.6mb