Since I dragged my family to Erie, PA, to shiver in the "cold" (perfect running weather, not-so-perfect-spectating weather), it's only right that we all do something together as a family, and since we were 2/3 of the way to an amazing natural wonder, it would be a shame to miss out on Niagara Falls.
But the Falls aren't the topic of this post. The topic is food.
When we are on trips, we generally enjoy trying new places, especially local restaurants (as opposed to chains). So at the Niagara Falls information desk (where the guy told us to save our money on the "package deal" because it wasn't going to be worth it for us - who says New Yorkers are rude?), we asked the guy (who incidentally looked like he was someone who would know) where we should go to eat. He started with the nearby "touristy" places, but we asked him where he would eat. He directed us to Little Italy on Pine Street, where we found The Como Restaurant.
Well, we actually found the Como Deli, which is the fast side of the Restaurant. We didn't exactly know what to order, but the woman behind the counter was extremely friendly and showed us what they had. We chose a Manicotti dinner which had two huge Manicottis (is there a correct plural for Manicotti? Or is that the plural of Manicotto?) - one cheese (for Tara) and one meat (for me). It came with two sides, so she had a meatball and I had an Italian sausage. At our request, she drenched the whole thing with sauce. The kids went with pizza and shells with red sauce.
The food was fantastic. It was out-of-this-world good. It was come back and eat here every day good. It was move into the neighborhood and beg for a job there so I can eat it more frequently good.
And what made it even better was the staff. It seemed like they greeted almost all of their customers by name and were extremely friendly. When we asked what a particular dessert was, they gave us a couple of them. Free. And when our boys saw a little girl eating a cookie and wanted their own cookies, and we sent Andrew to the counter to buy a couple. They wouldn't take his money and gave him several cookies. And more when he went back for another (and still they wouldn't take his money).
This was one of the best restaurant experiences I can remember.
(for full-disclosure purposes, they did give us free desserts and free cookies for the boys, and the meal was so horribly underpriced that we thought they had possibly forgotten to ring something up - like "cheaper than McDonalds" priced - but nobody from the restaurant staff had any clue that I was going to write a review and they probably won't read this but that's fine)
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Erie Marathon at Presque Isle Race Recap
When the news came out that the Boston Marathon was changing its qualifying times (of course, making it harder to get in), a friend of mine realized that the Columbus Marathon wouldn't be the qualifier that we expected it to be. As you might remember from reading my blog, I am turning 40 shortly, meaning I get an additional 5 minutes to qualify for Boston. But with the changes, I lose that five minutes. And those changes are as of Sunday, Sept. 25 (and Columbus isn't run until October). The plan I was working from wanted me to shoot for a 7:17 pace (for a 3:11 finish), but I was more realistic and was shooting for a 3:20, which would qualify me for Boston and would be a 20 minute Personal Record (PR)... as long as I ran before 9/25. The Erie Marathon at Presque Isle was the race that fit the bill... 9/18, flat as a pancake, and quite affordable.
So on Saturday (after an extremely early U5 soccer game and pictures, for which we had to be at the field at 7:30), we headed to Erie, PA. We made it to beautiful Presque Isle for packet pick-up and the small expo (three exhibits). The marathon shirts are nice - long-sleeve tech shirts (I got a similar one a couple of years back and have almost worn it out). They additionally threw in some 2011 Erie Marathon tech socks, which was cool. The kids enjoyed playing at the park for a while, and then we headed to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, a really cool (FREE!) museum, where we enjoyed a movie about Beavers on their huge IMAX screen (we went back on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the museum a little more). Then we went and found some high-carb food on a crowded restaurant night.
4:30 am came extremely early on Sunday morning, but I wasn't sleeping really well; I just wanted to get out and get running. I had gotten my race outfit together in advance as well as everything I'd need for pre-race, during-race, and post-race. It was chilly when we got to Presque Isle; about 50* and windy. I mostly skulked around trying to find somewhere out of the wind.
At the start line, they directed us to stand in areas representing our pace; I stood directly between the 7 and 8, representing the 7:30 I planned to run. There I met Mark and David, runners I've "met" on dailymile, and we decided to run together. After some preliminaries (10 seconds before the countdown clock got to 0), we got a marks-getset-go! and we were off!
It was smooth running all the way. The course was beautiful and flat, running around Presque Isle State Park twice. It was a much smaller marathon than I've run before, and the half marathon started 1/2 hour later, so we didn't have to be concerned with that part of the crowd. We went out fast, though we really tried to temper the pace (and it didn't quite hit me that Mark's 3:20 goal had morphed into 3:15). We had fun; the guys I was running with are really cool guys - very friendly, very chatty. As the race went on, I realized that I couldn't keep up their pace, so I dropped back and ran with Sean and Gary - I'd "met" Gary on the "I am Running the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle" facebook group. These were two hilarious guys. I loved running with them. The time passed quickly while we ran together (about 10 miles).
Because of the way the loops were situated, it was very easy for spectators to hang out at the start/finish line and then walk across to see us again, so it was cool to see my family at the start, at the 5.8 mile mark, at the halfway point, at the 18.9 mile mark, and at the finish (I will post some pictures once I upload them from the camera). It is always great to see familiar faces and hear your name being called. The only problem with this was that it made it way too convenient for the spectators to only be in these two locations, meaning there were a lot of lonely areas in between. There were water/sports drink stops every mile, and every group passing out drinks (including some cross country teams, a scout troop, some costumed characters [Gumby was a notable costume], and a group of people dressed as hillbillies (advising us that "every tenth cup has moonshine in it") was wonderful, not only passing out drinks, but also cheering us on (I would advise anyone to not take the marshmallows handed out by the scouts, however. No matter how they told you that it was "fast sugar," there was no way I could chew one of those at mile 20+!)
My half marathon split was 1:36:50, which was 50 seconds off my PR for the 1/2 marathon (set this Spring at the Cap City Half) - I wonder how fast I could run one of those after a strong summer of training...
I took PowerBar gels at miles 10, 15, and 20, and I have to say I love that stuff. I can't choke down Gu (I tried at about mile 22) and don't get me started on those puketastic energy jelly bellies.
As the race went on, I started doing the math. My mile times had been increasing, and I saw my BQ slipping away. I had promised myself I wouldn't be disappointed as long as I had given it my all, but it was a little disconcerting to see that time slipping away. But by the last 6 miles, I was struggling. I decided to stop and walk through the water stops, which was probably a good idea; although my times dropped to about 9 minute miles for the last several, none reached the 10 minute+ mark like happened last year at Columbus.
Toward the end of the race, my friend Brandon came motoring by, running really smoothly for a guy who's been sidelined by injury for the last several weeks. Then I saw my friend Dave, who was planning to run the race with me but who got injured and ended up changing his registration to the half (and running a phenomenal 1:36 in it). Dave ran alongside me and cheered me on, pushing me to pick my pace up and finish strong.
I finished in 3:24, four minutes off the Boston Qualifier, but 16 minutes faster than the PR I set last year in Columbus. I am extremely pleased with my time and with my effort. I was 77th overall (out of 600 or so) and was 13th in my age group. This was a great marathon, and I plan to return.
After the race, they had bagels (the good cinnamon crunch kind from Panera), bananas, chocolate milk (which is great recovery drink, and not just because Dave Parsons says it is), watermelon (awesome!), and it seems like something else, but I can't think of what, probably because I didn't choose to have any. Then they had Subway sandwiches, chips, cookies, and pop, free for runners and for a $1 for anyone else (with the $1 going to a local food bank). GREAT!
I feel tons better than I did after my last marathon, and I'm extremely pleased with my new PR. Though I was touting this as my "one chance to qualify for Boston" I am confident that if I train hard (after some rest, of course), I can drop the additional 9 minutes off my time. After all, last fall I dropped 38 minutes, and this fall I dropped 16 off that.
So on Saturday (after an extremely early U5 soccer game and pictures, for which we had to be at the field at 7:30), we headed to Erie, PA. We made it to beautiful Presque Isle for packet pick-up and the small expo (three exhibits). The marathon shirts are nice - long-sleeve tech shirts (I got a similar one a couple of years back and have almost worn it out). They additionally threw in some 2011 Erie Marathon tech socks, which was cool. The kids enjoyed playing at the park for a while, and then we headed to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, a really cool (FREE!) museum, where we enjoyed a movie about Beavers on their huge IMAX screen (we went back on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the museum a little more). Then we went and found some high-carb food on a crowded restaurant night.
At the start line, they directed us to stand in areas representing our pace; I stood directly between the 7 and 8, representing the 7:30 I planned to run. There I met Mark and David, runners I've "met" on dailymile, and we decided to run together. After some preliminaries (10 seconds before the countdown clock got to 0), we got a marks-getset-go! and we were off!
It was smooth running all the way. The course was beautiful and flat, running around Presque Isle State Park twice. It was a much smaller marathon than I've run before, and the half marathon started 1/2 hour later, so we didn't have to be concerned with that part of the crowd. We went out fast, though we really tried to temper the pace (and it didn't quite hit me that Mark's 3:20 goal had morphed into 3:15). We had fun; the guys I was running with are really cool guys - very friendly, very chatty. As the race went on, I realized that I couldn't keep up their pace, so I dropped back and ran with Sean and Gary - I'd "met" Gary on the "I am Running the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle" facebook group. These were two hilarious guys. I loved running with them. The time passed quickly while we ran together (about 10 miles).
Because of the way the loops were situated, it was very easy for spectators to hang out at the start/finish line and then walk across to see us again, so it was cool to see my family at the start, at the 5.8 mile mark, at the halfway point, at the 18.9 mile mark, and at the finish (I will post some pictures once I upload them from the camera). It is always great to see familiar faces and hear your name being called. The only problem with this was that it made it way too convenient for the spectators to only be in these two locations, meaning there were a lot of lonely areas in between. There were water/sports drink stops every mile, and every group passing out drinks (including some cross country teams, a scout troop, some costumed characters [Gumby was a notable costume], and a group of people dressed as hillbillies (advising us that "every tenth cup has moonshine in it") was wonderful, not only passing out drinks, but also cheering us on (I would advise anyone to not take the marshmallows handed out by the scouts, however. No matter how they told you that it was "fast sugar," there was no way I could chew one of those at mile 20+!)
My half marathon split was 1:36:50, which was 50 seconds off my PR for the 1/2 marathon (set this Spring at the Cap City Half) - I wonder how fast I could run one of those after a strong summer of training...
I took PowerBar gels at miles 10, 15, and 20, and I have to say I love that stuff. I can't choke down Gu (I tried at about mile 22) and don't get me started on those puketastic energy jelly bellies.
As the race went on, I started doing the math. My mile times had been increasing, and I saw my BQ slipping away. I had promised myself I wouldn't be disappointed as long as I had given it my all, but it was a little disconcerting to see that time slipping away. But by the last 6 miles, I was struggling. I decided to stop and walk through the water stops, which was probably a good idea; although my times dropped to about 9 minute miles for the last several, none reached the 10 minute+ mark like happened last year at Columbus.
Toward the end of the race, my friend Brandon came motoring by, running really smoothly for a guy who's been sidelined by injury for the last several weeks. Then I saw my friend Dave, who was planning to run the race with me but who got injured and ended up changing his registration to the half (and running a phenomenal 1:36 in it). Dave ran alongside me and cheered me on, pushing me to pick my pace up and finish strong.
I finished in 3:24, four minutes off the Boston Qualifier, but 16 minutes faster than the PR I set last year in Columbus. I am extremely pleased with my time and with my effort. I was 77th overall (out of 600 or so) and was 13th in my age group. This was a great marathon, and I plan to return.
After the race, they had bagels (the good cinnamon crunch kind from Panera), bananas, chocolate milk (which is great recovery drink, and not just because Dave Parsons says it is), watermelon (awesome!), and it seems like something else, but I can't think of what, probably because I didn't choose to have any. Then they had Subway sandwiches, chips, cookies, and pop, free for runners and for a $1 for anyone else (with the $1 going to a local food bank). GREAT!
I feel tons better than I did after my last marathon, and I'm extremely pleased with my new PR. Though I was touting this as my "one chance to qualify for Boston" I am confident that if I train hard (after some rest, of course), I can drop the additional 9 minutes off my time. After all, last fall I dropped 38 minutes, and this fall I dropped 16 off that.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Sweet Corn Festival
Every year in the week before Labor Day, Millersport holds its annual Sweet Corn Festival. I understand that people in every town are proud of their local festival (or despises every mention of it because of the inconvenience and crowding and noise and trash caused by the festival), and there's something about a local festival that is essential Americana.
Last week we spent a lot of time at Lion's Park (the location of the festival). Wednesday was the parade (a good parade, which, in my opinion, is judged by how many marching bands participate) - and everyone follows the parade to the festival grounds. We walked around and greeted our friends, ate donuts, people-watched, and watched a tractor pull.
Thursday was my highlight of the Festival; it was the date of our church's second annual lunch for the concessionaires. We used to think of the ride/game workers as "carnies" but (thanks to a woman in our church) we now see the Durant Amusements workers as our "festival family." I mentioned this last year when we had our inaugural luncheon for them, but their workers blow away all stereotypes. Many (most?) are international college students from places like Russia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Macedonia. They are serious students, studying to be engineers, dentists, nurses, lawyers, and so forth. We enjoyed meeting them and hearing their stories and feeding them a home-cooked meal.
Thursday evening we took the boys to ride the rides. Jonathan had soccer practice, so I took him to the festival after practice, while Andrew and Tara went earlier. We ended up buying them wristbands so they could ride everything as much as they wanted. They had a blast. We saw many of our new friends, and since Thursday was the slower day, we had time to relax. One of the workers recognized us and insisted that we ride free on the Ferris Wheel - it was fantastic.
Friday Tara and the boys made cotton candy all morning, and Saturday was the 5K race. After the race, the family made more cotton candy (I showered first). We were back in the evening to help out in the MHS music boosters' booth (selling ice cream, cream puffs, and apple dumplings) - I brought the boys home and Tara stayed to help clean up.
I was thinking this about the festival: I saw a lot of parents I knew, especially parents whose kids are near our kids' age. Some of the kids were helping out and others were just hanging out. But they are there. Every year they will be, and when they get older, they will be working in the booths because they're already involved in the activities the community offers. Sure, every community (and I mean every community) has the complaint that there's "nothing to do" but some of us manage to find something to keep us busy... and we love it.
I think of the Sweet Corn Festival as the one time when everyone who has ever lived in Millersport comes back, and I think the connection that many people made while working in the various booths has something to do with that. Sure, it's hard work, tiring and hot. But it's one of those things that people look back on with fond memories.
And isn't that what makes Americana?
Last week we spent a lot of time at Lion's Park (the location of the festival). Wednesday was the parade (a good parade, which, in my opinion, is judged by how many marching bands participate) - and everyone follows the parade to the festival grounds. We walked around and greeted our friends, ate donuts, people-watched, and watched a tractor pull.
Thursday was my highlight of the Festival; it was the date of our church's second annual lunch for the concessionaires. We used to think of the ride/game workers as "carnies" but (thanks to a woman in our church) we now see the Durant Amusements workers as our "festival family." I mentioned this last year when we had our inaugural luncheon for them, but their workers blow away all stereotypes. Many (most?) are international college students from places like Russia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Macedonia. They are serious students, studying to be engineers, dentists, nurses, lawyers, and so forth. We enjoyed meeting them and hearing their stories and feeding them a home-cooked meal.
Thursday evening we took the boys to ride the rides. Jonathan had soccer practice, so I took him to the festival after practice, while Andrew and Tara went earlier. We ended up buying them wristbands so they could ride everything as much as they wanted. They had a blast. We saw many of our new friends, and since Thursday was the slower day, we had time to relax. One of the workers recognized us and insisted that we ride free on the Ferris Wheel - it was fantastic.
Friday Tara and the boys made cotton candy all morning, and Saturday was the 5K race. After the race, the family made more cotton candy (I showered first). We were back in the evening to help out in the MHS music boosters' booth (selling ice cream, cream puffs, and apple dumplings) - I brought the boys home and Tara stayed to help clean up.
I was thinking this about the festival: I saw a lot of parents I knew, especially parents whose kids are near our kids' age. Some of the kids were helping out and others were just hanging out. But they are there. Every year they will be, and when they get older, they will be working in the booths because they're already involved in the activities the community offers. Sure, every community (and I mean every community) has the complaint that there's "nothing to do" but some of us manage to find something to keep us busy... and we love it.
I think of the Sweet Corn Festival as the one time when everyone who has ever lived in Millersport comes back, and I think the connection that many people made while working in the various booths has something to do with that. Sure, it's hard work, tiring and hot. But it's one of those things that people look back on with fond memories.
And isn't that what makes Americana?
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Race Report: 2011 Sweet Corn Festival 5K
The Sweet Corn Festival 5K (Ken Keener Classic) was one of the first races I ever ran in Central Ohio - I first ran it back in 2005 when I lived in Gahanna and had some friends who had a place on Buckeye Lake. The 210# version of me struggled in that race; I remember the first mile being quick and the second mile seeming to stretch forever, going way out into the country before returning to the finish line in some 24 minutes.
Now the SCF 5K is my hometown race, and I run on the race course multiple times every week; it doesn't seem nearly as long any more. Twice I placed in my age group, and last year I ran the course in a then-PR before the race in order to run with my 6 year old son. This year I came with high hopes: a top 20 finish, and hopefully a time faster than 19 minutes.
My first issue came before the race. I am used to running at 6:00 am, and the race didn't start until 9. Meaning the day had three hours to heat up, and heat up it did. Just standing at the start line was enough to make us all dripping sweaty - I began to question my race strategy and how hard I should realistically push. My plan was to push the first mile around 5:50 and to run the last two miles in 6:11 or 6:12. That would put me just under 19 minutes for the race. I ran the first mile right on target, in 5:50, but then the wheels fell off. I needed to back off the pace because it was simply too hot and humid. By rule, I don't take water on a 5K, but I was grabbing water from all the water stops and I really appreciated the guy standing with a hose "shower" for us to run through.
One thing I really loved about this race was the fact that I have been here three years now and am rather well-known in the community. The community support I felt was amazing. I had people cheering for me all along the course. I was constantly giving thumbs-up to people cheering me on. Another highlight was just after the two mile mark. By this time, I was running alone; I had given up on catching the runners ahead of me, and there was nobody near enough behind me to catch me - it was the first time in a 5K that I can remember thinking "maybe I should take a walk break" - but then came the water stop at the turn around. I knew almost everyone there, especially two of my family's close friends, Richard and Bruce. As I came toward the water station, I gave them a "bring it on" motion, and they all threw their water on me. I loved it!
I didn't have much of a kick to finish; in fact, my third mile time was dreadful (for me). I finished in 19:47 (respectable - not fantastic, but good, especially considering the heat), and I was 19th place overall, and second in my age group.
I ran the second and third miles of the course to "cool down" and met some of the walkers and encouraged them (like, "There are thousands of people in this area who not only didn't beat you in this race, but only walked from the bedroom to the kitchen to the couch this morning, and you are doing 3.1 miles."). When I got back by Richard and Bruce, they had cleaned up their water stop, so I splashed my water bottle around toward them. They got a chuckle out of that.
I had to wait to get my AG award until after the door prizes were announced - the SCF usually has a ton of door prizes (including gift certificates for free Weldon's Ice Cream, which I was hoping for!), and I ended up having my name called last... and the only door prize they had left to give me was a warm bottle of Powerade. :-)
Overall it was a good race, and I was glad I ran. Maybe next 5K I'll break 19 minutes. But that will have to wait until after the Erie Marathon on the 18th...
Now the SCF 5K is my hometown race, and I run on the race course multiple times every week; it doesn't seem nearly as long any more. Twice I placed in my age group, and last year I ran the course in a then-PR before the race in order to run with my 6 year old son. This year I came with high hopes: a top 20 finish, and hopefully a time faster than 19 minutes.
My first issue came before the race. I am used to running at 6:00 am, and the race didn't start until 9. Meaning the day had three hours to heat up, and heat up it did. Just standing at the start line was enough to make us all dripping sweaty - I began to question my race strategy and how hard I should realistically push. My plan was to push the first mile around 5:50 and to run the last two miles in 6:11 or 6:12. That would put me just under 19 minutes for the race. I ran the first mile right on target, in 5:50, but then the wheels fell off. I needed to back off the pace because it was simply too hot and humid. By rule, I don't take water on a 5K, but I was grabbing water from all the water stops and I really appreciated the guy standing with a hose "shower" for us to run through.
One thing I really loved about this race was the fact that I have been here three years now and am rather well-known in the community. The community support I felt was amazing. I had people cheering for me all along the course. I was constantly giving thumbs-up to people cheering me on. Another highlight was just after the two mile mark. By this time, I was running alone; I had given up on catching the runners ahead of me, and there was nobody near enough behind me to catch me - it was the first time in a 5K that I can remember thinking "maybe I should take a walk break" - but then came the water stop at the turn around. I knew almost everyone there, especially two of my family's close friends, Richard and Bruce. As I came toward the water station, I gave them a "bring it on" motion, and they all threw their water on me. I loved it!
I didn't have much of a kick to finish; in fact, my third mile time was dreadful (for me). I finished in 19:47 (respectable - not fantastic, but good, especially considering the heat), and I was 19th place overall, and second in my age group.
I ran the second and third miles of the course to "cool down" and met some of the walkers and encouraged them (like, "There are thousands of people in this area who not only didn't beat you in this race, but only walked from the bedroom to the kitchen to the couch this morning, and you are doing 3.1 miles."). When I got back by Richard and Bruce, they had cleaned up their water stop, so I splashed my water bottle around toward them. They got a chuckle out of that.
I had to wait to get my AG award until after the door prizes were announced - the SCF usually has a ton of door prizes (including gift certificates for free Weldon's Ice Cream, which I was hoping for!), and I ended up having my name called last... and the only door prize they had left to give me was a warm bottle of Powerade. :-)
Overall it was a good race, and I was glad I ran. Maybe next 5K I'll break 19 minutes. But that will have to wait until after the Erie Marathon on the 18th...
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