Javalina Jundred and My First Time Supporting a 100-mile Racer

I’ve spent a lot of time at endurance races, but almost all of them have been bike events. I’ve officiated at the Badwater 135, so I’ve some idea about ultra-running, but what I experienced this past weekend at the Javalina Jundred 100-mile foot race was completely new. I went out with my friend Donovan to film our first Kickstarter funded episode of Day in the Life so I can’t give away too many details….but let’s just say he wasn’t the only one to walk (limp?) away more stoked on ultra running than before the weekend started!

Donovan out on the course in the beautiful Sonoran Desert.

Watching runners come through the start/finish all day and then into the night was really something else. The course is a 15-mile loop with each lap run in the opposite direction. The last lap is only 10 miles to make 100 (101 actually!). We had gotten there earlier enough on Thursday to snag a camping spot right at the start/finish so we were embedded in all of the action.  In true Swarm! fashion we camped each night (many people set up their camp and then stayed in hotels) and cooked all of our meals on camp stoves. And keeping with the Burro Schmidt Running Club tradition started at the Calico 50k earlier this year, we cooked pancakes and beans. How cool is it that the athlete we film is down to camp and to be cheap before his first 100-mile run? I don’t know how we keep finding these people!

Our base camp. Photos courtesy of Donovan's mom who flew in from Montana for the race!

I’m going to have a full post with the Day in the Life episode where you’ll learn more about Donovan, his unbelievable path to veganism and what it was like to run his first 100-mile race.  Meanwhile I just couldn’t wait to mention this race and the awesome time I had out there. If you have the opportunity to do support at an ultra event please do take it. Being a part of an accomplishment like this is really gratifying; you don’t even have to run it! Discovery wrote about this year’s race if you’d like to get more of an idea about it.

Vegan in Ocean Beach, San Diego: The Best Breakfast AND the Best Mexican Food?

[Note: I started this post on Tuesday before Bil Keane died. Rest in Peace.]

When I 14 I was paperboy, which I loved, despite being up by 530am every morning. The positives- riding my bike and getting paid, getting paid (!), outweighed the negatives- always having to be around and always having to be up super early. It gave me an odd amount of time every morning before school which I used to read the paper, mostly the comics. Like everyone, Calvin and Hobbes and the Farside were my favorite (Have you seen the zine that organizes Calvin & Hobbes by political commentary PDF!?). Though I did read all of them including the Family Circus, which I never thought of as particularly funny or creative.  But it did leave me with something else. Occasionally the author would show the path that Billy (is it Billy?) had been on all day with dashed lines all over the neighborhood. I’ve always though about what my line looks like each day. And apparently I’m not the only one who thinks about this- The French sociologist Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe asked a grad student to keep track of her movements in Paris to see if people really take advantage of large cities.

But when I’m in Ocean Beach San Diego, I don’t need dashed lines or a sociological study to know what my route looks like.  I love this neighborhood: some of the best vegan food in the world is here. There, I said it. And here’s why:

The Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market

The Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market is an all-vegetarian, member-owned cooperative that has been in this neighborhood since 1972. I love co-ops and always try and visit new ones when I’m traveling. But none have had what People’s has: A bangin  breakfast. Possibly the best vegan breakfast I have ever eaten outside of my own kitchen. Restaurant breakfasts are the Achilles Heal of veganism. Options are rare and when they exist it’s often meh tofu scramble. Not here.

SO GOOD!

The potatoes are real breakfast potatoes! Cut into bite size pieces and cooked until crispy with just the right amount of salt. The tofu scramble is good as are the tempeh sausages, but what wins the award is the vegan biscuits and gravy. VEGAN BISCUITS AND GRAVY FOR BREAKFAST! The biscuits are that perfect texture where they are flaky, yet filling. And the gravy is tasty and creamy yet not overly decadent for a breakfast meal. The best part? You can get a full plate and a cup of coffee for under $8. And the organic coffee is excellent! It’s a meal that I dream about. Famous vegan blogger Quarry Girl discovered People’s breakfast and also gave it rave reviews. Yes, it is worth a trip to San Diego.

Liticker’s Tacos

Last Spring, when I rode LA to San Diego for the Mt Laguna Cycling Classic I txt’d my friend Stu to let him know we were close and super hungry. He responded that they were going to get burritos from the liquor store. What? And that was my introduction to Liticker’s Tacos. Sorry Quarry Girl, I agree with you about People’s breakfast, but the best vegan Mexican food in San Diego is not at Pokez, but in a liquor store on Voltaire St.

Tijuana-style Taco
Seitan Burrito

Have you ever ridden past a taco truck and thought, ‘why can’t vegan food like that exist?’ Now it does! The cooks at Liticker’s work magic with seitan, tempeh and tofu from TJ style tacos to California burritos with french fries. And everything I have ever eaten there is better than anything in Los Angeles or San Francisco. The seitan must be marinated and then grilled to perfection. It’s slightly salty, the way it should be and full of flavor. Even the tempeh has a flavor that I’ve never experienced. My non-vegan friend Mark said it best, ‘Finally it’s real Mexican food made vegan.’

XhabaneroX

Stephanie’s Bakery

My dashed line in Ocean Beach is often between the two above places, but on weekends I try and stop in at Stephanie’s Vegan Bakery, also on Voltaire.  I’ve written about Stephanie’s previously. What a street!  Does it really rival the Vegetarian Paradise 2-Bagels on the Square-Red Bamboo situation in Manhattan? Maybe so.

Some Stephanie's Bakery treats

Rancho’s Mexican and Vegetarian Cuisine

Around the corner from Voltaire is Rancho’s which has a hugely expanded vegan menu: tamales, quesadillas, mole, and a number of burrito fillings including carne asada. Vegan carne asada! This makes Pokez the third best place for vegan Mexican in San Diego. The carne asada burrito comes with meat, daiya, guacamole and salsa. I add rice and beans mostly just to keep the grease from running down my hand and onto my arm and to remind me that I am indeed eating a vegan burrito.  They also have a location in North Park on 30th St at University. I can’t seem to find my photos from Rancho’s so instead here are two spooning dogs I get to hang out with when I’m in Ocean Beach.

Bear and Reba, possibly the two sweetest living beings I know.

Want a ridiculous day of eating that no nutrition professional should ever recommend? Here it is:

Breakfast at People’s Co-op
Lunch at Liticker’s
Snack at Stephanie’s
Dinner at Rancho’s
Dessert back at the Co-op

The Co-op also has a vegan bakery. What a world.

Just don’t eat like this every day and then go and tell people an RD told you to do so…