Well ladies and gents (and other), it’s race week! This Sunday is the San Antonio Marathon where I will crush Colin and his Chicago PR and regain the title Colin and I will amicably run together. It sure doesn’t feel like it’s this weekend though, and Colin agrees. We’ve talked about the race to no end for the last 4 months, so it isn’t so much a matter of “out of sight, out of mind.” We’ve also both been training like crazy and feeling very prepared to Rock ‘n’ Roll*.
Where were you on Saturday, November 6th, 2010? If you live in (or near) Austin, you were definitely at the Gypsy Picnic. How do I know? Because the entire city and its surrounding suburbs seemed to be in attendance. The crowds that congregated on Auditorium Shores became prohibitively large, making any attempt to enjoy the event completely futile. Unfortunately, that’s probably what the Picnic will be remembered for, rather than a great celebration of Austin’s unique food scene. Sit back and get comfy, this is gonna get long*.
Sometimes the simpler things are, the better. You know, “less is more” and all that. Well I put that to the test on my second visit to The Jalopy Rotisserie and Press. If you remember, last time I tried the molé and Ev went with the son hong, both of which were very
tasty and paved the way for a second visit. This time I figured I’d dig into the Jalopy’s roots with a simpler option: The Original.
It’s pretty amazing how many new food trucks and carts have been sprouting up all over Austin. Thanks to Austin Food Carts I’ve been able to keep track of the newest kids on the block. More than anything I enjoy seeing what new niche food style will be on the city menu, like made-to-order ice cream sandwiches, customized funnel cakes, or specialty mega-doughnuts. However, this is actually about the exact opposite, where a new food truck is offering a nearly identical experience to a well-established favorite, or so I thought.
Things that get me through the morning: long showers, doggy kisses from Hazel, lots of coffee, and breakfast tacos. Austin is
a town full of breakfast tacos (maybe the only town full of them…). And with the move to Austin came an obsession with this delicious morning treat. Luckily, in the parking lot next to GSD&M Idea City lies the wonder that is Royito’s. Since our office is so close and they’re only open until 10:30am, the “breakfast taco run?” call comes as a welcome a.m. break.
Tapering. The time in the typical marathon training plan that sucks the most requires a lot of discipline. It’s the 2-3 weeks before race day, when all the strenuous training is behind you, and it’s time to scale things back to give your body the rest it needs. The issue is, leading up to the taper time is some of the most intense and dedicated training. Then, you’re expected to cut back by as much as 60%. Ask any marathon runner out there and s/he’ll tell you about a few irrationalities that take over. Fortunately for me, I don’t have that discipline to taper correctly, so the craziness / irrational feelings haven’t struck me (yet).
Well, it didn’t take long to revisit Holy Cacao. I mean, let’s be serious… with an amazing offering like the Cake Shake, how could the other menu items not be fantastic? And actually, it’s their cake balls that put them on the map.
As I mentioned in my preview, all within about a five day period I discovered the Run for the Water, registered for the race, and, since then, ran the race. With respect to my training plan for San Antonio, this week I was supposed to run a tune-up race between 8 and 10 kilometers the day before my 16 mile long run. What did I do? A 10 mile (16 km) race the day after my long run. Same difference. So with this change of schedule, how did it all go?
A relative new kid on the block, The Peached Tortilla
really has its act together. Delicious food can only get you so far, but you also need to let your people know where to find you. This truck is a beast on the social scene keeping their fans updated where they are and when they’ll be there. But we can’t downplay the food. Like Chi’Lantro BBQ, The Peached Tortilla is a fusion of flavors, though a bit more subtle.
Being relegated to North Austin for work has its pros and cons. The biggest pro is that I drive against traffic to and from work, so I’m rarely caught in any bumper-to-bumper frustration during my commute. The downside of working in the great white north a few miles from downtown is the lack of food trucks frequenting the area (we need to eat delicious food from mobile kitchens too, you know!). Anyhow, thanks to a socially savvy creator of Korean-Mexican fusion, I was able to partake in some delicious and creative fare without having to cross any zip codes.
