2013 was a pretty huge year for my “Bucket List”, even if I didn’t know I had a Bucket List. Looking back, I knocked out quite a few “once in a lifetime”, or at least “big ticket” things in very short succession. It’s actually hard to believe it all happened last year.
Food trucks, amirite? Everyone and their non-Facebook-using moms know I’m a huge fan of food trucks. But apparently some food trucks are fans of mine! After Ironman Arizona I received an extra fancy surprise from two of my favorites. Thanks to some coordination from Tony (the man behind FoodTrailersAustin.com) and Ev, Cow Tipping Creamery and Guac n Roll created menu specials named for me!
[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-pI3SAsjAeEA/UpZirK44ojI/AAAAAAAAIK4/zYTbX5qcnzQ/s144-c-o/IMAG0376.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111172613525874451856/IronMikeSpecials#5951052451413533234″ caption=”Post-race, IronMike.” type=”image” alt=”IMAG0376.jpg” pe2_img_align=”center” ]
IT’S HAPPENING! The journey started 36 weeks ago when I completed my first workout of my Ironman training plan. Since then I’ve done (approximately) 368 workouts. 104 dips in the pool, 130 rides on the bike, 134 times lacing up my shoes. 418 hours worth of pushing myself forward. And now, when it felt like it would never get here, it’s time for Ironman Arizona!
On Sunday, all of the work done to this point will be put to the test. Mentally, I’m ready. I was ready months ago, mainly wishing to be done with training. Physically, I don’t think I’ll ever say “I’m ready”, but I’m ready enough.
For six days, Truck by Truckwest, a new food trailer showcase, took over Austin’s mobile food scene. With a $20 pass you could access special deals at over 60 Austin food trucks, trailers, and carts. Some gave out free samples, others provided discounts, and a few put together exclusive menu items. As for the food trucks, the incentive came in the form of one, winner-take-all, voted-by-the-people $10,000 prize. I’d call that a big motivator!
So of course I participated in this city-wide food trailer crawl! In total I tried 17 different dishes from 15 trailers, with some surprising (and not-so-surprising) favorites. For me, my favorites came from my already-favorite trailers, like both stackers from Cow Tipping Creamery and the chopped brisket slider from La Barbecue. The dark horses included Valentina’s TexMex BBQ (smoked brisket tacos) and Llama’s Peruvian (Saltado de Pollo Sanguche (grilled chicken sandwich)). That’s not to say others weren’t delicious too. Most were excellent, with only one or two considered disappointing.
As for the event itself, I’d call it a big success. Considering the fragmented world of food trucks, where any given truck may not know it’s own schedule from day to day, coordinating such an effort is no small feat. For the most part, trucks were communicating their deals and honoring them just at the sight of a TXTW badge. Some were eager to have those badges come up to their window (Celia Jacob’s Cheesecake Experience comes to mind as being super enthusiastic). The only feedback for the event would be to create a mobile app to help organize a person’s TXTW experience, but that’s a future nice-to-have, and not a criticism.
So who got my vote? Well, that’s my little secre… COW TIPPING CREAMERY. Not for nothing, they are seemingly incapable of creating anything short of a masterpiece in ice cream form. Now, I don’t know if they’re going to win, but I sure hope they do. My fear is
that the voting may become a popularity contest regardless of the food that was served during TXTW, but that can’t
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really be helped.
As for the winner… I’ll update this post when it’s announced shortly. But really, we’re all winners. Because that was a lot of food for not a lot of money. Can’t wait for next year!
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Today I set out with two friends to do the unthinkable — have lunch at five different food trucks. Ok, it’s actually not that unthinkable, and it wasn’t even hard. And I didn’t even plan on it. Wow that was some pretty lame bragging, huh? Ok, let me explain.
Today my Ironman training gets serious. I know, I’m thinking the same thing too: “What have you been doing for the last 5 months?” That training was all well and good (and hard), but that was all considered “base building”. Now is when the real fun begins. For the next three months I’m going to be pushed farther than anyone should be. There will be quite a few “triple” days, a couple 5+ hour days, and a handful weeks that resemble a part-time job of exercise.
I know what you’re thinking: “This is getting ridiculous. Another Cow Tipping Creamery post?” Well, yes. Yes it is. And is that a hint of jealousy I sense? It’s not my fault you haven’t gotten your own ice cream yet. You only have yourself to blame. So in the meantime, let me tell you about all the specials that you’re missing.
*Note: This post was a long time in the making just waiting to be published, so some references may be a bit old.
For every time I’ve heard “breakfast is the most important meal
of the day” I think I’ve met ten people who say “I don’t really eat breakfast.” It makes no sense to me! If I could only have one meal per day, breakfast would be my choice. I mean, I subsist on cereal and milk to the point that some might question if I’m getting kickbacks from Big Cereal. So why then are there so few places to get great breakfast? Enter: Proper Breakfast.
National Doughnut Day: great day… or THE GREATEST DAY? Personally I think these “National ____ Days” are totally and absolutely ridiculous. But that’s because only one of them is “Doughnut” day. Here’s all you need to know: on this glorious day, the doughnut is celebrated*.
*Which I realize is normal for me, but I’ve learned that not everyone constantly thinks about doughnuts.
One nice bonus to doing the CapTexTri is that they give you all of the official race pictures for FREE! Here’s a visualization of what it was like to be me for a few hours on race day. I’ll curate the best I can, but let the pictures do the real talkin
Before the race got started, I was all nerves. You’ll recognize this picture from my race report, but I chose to stay out of sight from the official cameras before the race. Thanks Ev for putting this one together!
