June 2018 – Run To Munch

If someone asked me what is one of my favorite dining spots in Boston, they might be surprised to find out that it’s not in Boston but instead hidden in one of Boston’s suburban cities, Malden (Although I do have my many favorites in Boston too). I have my mixed feelings of a love hate for Malden but Sousaku Bistro continues to be the gem that I love to visit.

A relatively spacious spot with a modern Asian menu in what I would call a slightly back streets of town, does stand out much from the outside. However, parking is never too much of a struggle and the meal and drinks are never a disappointment.

Tony loves to start out with a Mai Thai

I am a boring dinner drinker, usually clinging to my reliable glass of red wine, something on the dry side. Tonight I decided why not be adventurous with this Wasabi-Tini (It consisted of plum wine, a splash of pineapple juice and wasabi with the side to adjust to taste).

We ordered some chicken wings – crispy and a sweet chili spice – could have eaten 100 of them given the chance

Chicken Skewer tiny but tasty

A pork bun, never disappoints

Chicken Don – One of my regular choices

And because we haven’t had enough chicken yet, the garden chicken – Grilled boneless chicken with terkiyaki sauce wrapped in parchment paper with vegetables & baked to perfection

Lastly, one of my favorites is the Sushi Pizza which just combines my two favorite things in the world, sushi, pizza = looooove. Fried rice base, some tomatoes, with shrimp, scallop and tuna.

Another happy dinner that was definitely worth the drop into town

June 1st, the great day of all… or national doughnut (donut?) day as social media posts will tell you. A lovely day for a 5K organized by Tracksmith, a running store that also happens to be a running club for super fast runners. No I didn’t magically get fast, but there was promise of donuts at the end so I thought I’d invite myself over.

Rewind, yes, I am writing a recap of a fun run 5K organized by a store. One man’s fun run, is another one’s race against their inner struggle and attempt to overcome their fear of recording their time compared to days of former personal speed. Plus there’s donuts so that in itself warrants a recap.

Tracksmith, a running store on Newbury, holds training runs, long runs and potentially everything in between. regularly. This one similarly to many others (although I’ve never gone before) started at their store with a mile jog or so out to the Charles River Esplanade path (one of my favorite running spots in Boston). The 5K was actually a relay with a male and female partner running 5k each.

It was a gorgeous evening, but not so much for a run. I forget the exact temp but the humidity level was so high, I felt I was in a sauna before I even started running. Somehow, we jogged over and I didn’t die. Although I did contemplate, patting myself on the back for that one mile jog to the start and head back home to nap instead.

The ladies were out first, and I was out in my little stride, huffing and puffing. I was definitely gunning the first half mile above my current abilities and realized that I should slow down before I make it to the news as local story of a girl having a heart attack mid run to be used as a caution story against all runners.

Surprisingly, after a while, maybe by mile 2, things didn’t feel so terrible, I’ve slowed down into 7:40s or so and despite the humidity I was actually enjoying that feeling of trying to to run.

As I crossed the finish line, my partner Dan ran off to do his leg with the speed of the Flash. Before I was even done panting and dying on the side of the path, he was coming back.

Team DoNutCare – I forget what out total time was (Dan ran like 17min 5K), but the fire was lit. For the first time in a little while, I felt I was ready to start “racing” again. And so I am signed up for two more races, BAA 10K in June and Malden 10K in July!

Final score 23.30 – 7:30s or so average (my 5K PR is 20:20 so I have some minutes to shed)