Add some letters to your name without going crazy in the process. (Or making others crazy.)

That’s my cousin Valerie up on the left. On the right is Jessica French, a singer featured in the Hyundai Holiday commercial. When we saw the commercial on Christmas Eve, a few of my cousins noted the resemblance between our cousin and the singer.

Valerie wasn’t so convinced. Isn’t it usually that way? I told her I’d post the question here. What do you think?

Past look-alikes:

My dad and César Chávez

Emmanuel “Meme” del Real from Café Tacuba and Dave Grohl

Johnny Depp and Edward James Olmos as el Pachuco

Oops. I got super lax with posting after reaching my 10 year blog anniversary. I have some half-finished posts about some of the things I’ve learned through blogging and my favorite posts. Remind me not to forget those.

As for what’s been going on these past few weeks:

I got an iPhone 4. (Not the 4S, the local Verizon store didn’t have it in stock. Plus, the 4 was cheaper and I was fine without the 4S’ features.) I resisted getting an iPhone or any other smart phone mainly out of inertia — Verizon didn’t have iPhones until recently — and cost. I liked my relatively low cell phone bill. I finally gave in after having an iPad for a couple of months. I’m happy with the iPad, but as my brother says, I can’t make calls/text on it and I look really dorky trying to take a picture with it. I took advantage of my 2 year upgrade. I feel like I’ve finally joined the dark side… but really, it was a matter of time ’til I caved. That In-N-Out cheeseburger photo up there was the first taken with my new phone. I had to make it special.

I’m running the Puente Hills family YMCA Turkey Trot on Sunday. The 10K is two loops of a flat and boring course through the Puente Hills Mall and adjacent business park. I’ll get great views of the 60 freeway and the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance. Rain is in the forecast; this makes me happy. Last year, I think the rain scared off a lot of runners which meant the field of 10K runners was tiny. My sister won her age group and a turkey and I actually placed. I’m not sure I can best my time from last year considering I haven’t done any dedicated speed training. I’ve just been working on building up the miles again. Still, I know I can run strong distance races as I’ve done it a few times this year. Plus, maybe the rain will give me boost as it did at the LA Marathon and Pasadena Half Marathon.

Sean and I went to a screening of Tegan and Sara’s new tour/concert DVD Get Along at the Vista Theater on Tuesday. I’ve seen them once before at the Hollywood Bowl. Even in a huge venue, it was easy to see that they have great rapport with their fans. I loved their in-between song banter. After the screening, they did a lengthy Q&A with the audience. It was refreshing to see just how much they appreciate their fans, even if they can seem a little too, um, earnest.

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving. I see my extended family often enough that the only difference with Thanksgiving is that we’re hanging out on a weekday and not eating Mexican food. My favorite part (aside from ham, stuffing and pumpkin pie) is playing board games with the cousins and my godmother’s house. We also like to take silly pictures.

Wedding planning is slowly coming along. I feel like we get something done every two weeks or so and then get lazy. Right after Halloween, we took advantage of sales at costume shops to get props for the photo booth. Earlier this week, we finally came up with a workable concept for our wedding invitation. Sean’s friend, a graphic designer, has agreed to design our invites. I’m excited to see what she comes up with.

Happy International Day of the Nacho!

A few years ago, I met up with Pachuco3000 and Gustavo Arellano at a Mexican restaurant in Northridge before Gustavo’s talk at CSUN. P3000 picked a hole in the wall since that’s the type of place Gustavo frequently reviews for the OC Weekly. I was a bit surprised when P3000 ordered nachos. I remember his reasoning more than the actual food. Basically, nachos are one of the best indicators of whether or not a Mexican restaurant is any good. Since nachos — the loaded kind, not the processed orange cheese and stale, overly salted corn chip variety you get a ballparks — are made up of several basic ingredients, you can get a sense of whether or not those ingredients are any good.

Do they fry their own corn chips or do they use store bought kind? What kind of beans do they use? Are they perfectly salted, any manteca (lard)? Are the toppings fresh, house made and the proper amount? And what type of cheese do they use? Is the meat bland and overcooked or juicy and tender?

P3000 has a point, but he doesn’t need to convince me that ordering nachos is a good idea. I’m already a fan. These day, I don’t eat them too much. I have to keep my pansa in check. Plus, after eating the best nachos ever in Cozumel nothing compares (2U).

It’s been 4+ years since we had these nachos and my family and I still talk about how amazing they tasted. I’m not ashamed to admit that I frequently check out the photo my sister took (above) and think about going back to Cozumel. The best nachos ever came from a small Cozumel seaside café. While my family took turns exploring the ocean floor with our scuba diving instructor, my mom chilled on a beach chair under the palapas. She also ordered some nachos. As soon as the first group of novice divers (me, Lori, Dad and Mike) came up from our lesson and took off our gear, we attacked the nachos. We were hungry from swimming, but they were also perfect. Everything tasted fresh, especially the guacamole and black bean layer. We ordered a second plate and those went pretty quickly. After all, there were 8 of us digging in to the nachos. Anyone else think food in Mexico often tastes better than food stateside? Is that just me?

As for stateside nachos, I can’t pick a favorite. I typically get nachos in bars, not at Mexican restaurants. I liked the nachos at Simone’s (Pilsen, Chicago), but they had too much sour cream and no guacamole. Some chain restaurants like Rubio’s Baja Brill and Baja Fresh have decent versions. I used to frequent the Rubio’s in the UCLA student union. I probably should have shared those chicken nachos.

Last year I ran the Long Beach half marathon. Lori ran too (but we didn’t run together). Our dad joined us and cheered us along at the finish line. It was my second race and first half marathon. Prior to the race, I had never run more than 10-11 miles. I didn’t take any gels/chomps and relied on the course water, sports drink and food from spectators. Along with Target capris, tank and stopwatch ($10), I wore my first pair of Mizunos and a pace band I picked up at the expo. The day was cool and gloomy (high of 65ish), perfect distance running weather. I met my goal finishing in 2:03:56 (<2:05) without walking. I came away from the race ready for more.

This year, I’m running the marathon. Lori won’t be running, but I won’t be alone at the start. Sean is running too. He’ll be running his first half marathon. I have more experience running races, but not too much as my codo hurts every time I pay a race fee. Long Beach will be my second marathon. I have a stronger distance running base and despite gaining a few pounds have gotten faster. I’ll be wearing the same capris, but I’ve upgraded watches to a Garmin to help me keep pace.

Other differences:

1. Weather: it’ll be hot and sunny in Long Beach. The high will be in the low 80s. Frankly, I’d rather run a marathon in rain than in the heat. The rain doesn’t seem to slow me down, but the heat does. I ran most of my long runs in cooler temps (60s-low 70s) with the protection of the marine layer. Maybe I should have run more when it was warmer and sunny.

2. Health: I’ve had a cold all week. Thankfully, the worst has passed. I’m less congested and feeling better.

3. The hamstring: Despite getting plenty of rest during my super taper, my hamstring doesn’t feel any better. I went out for a 3 mile easy run yesterday morning. It was hard from the beginning and my heart was beating way too fast for an easy run. Could I really have lost that much fitness in 3 weeks? My leg started hurting about 20 minutes in once again and I stopped to stretch a few more times before I got home. I stretched and iced afterward, but my leg still hurt the rest of the day. I felt better after getting a massage in the evening. Today I tried an icy hot patch. It burns, but it feels good.

I have no clue how I’ll feel on Sunday, but hopefully my parents’ and grandparents’ prayers will make a difference. Who knows… I prayed for a dry LA Marathon and didn’t get that, but I did have a great race. When I thought of my paternal grandparents in the last few miles, I felt a surge of energy and finished strong.

GOALS

Four weeks ago:

A. Less than 4:10 – Based on my 1:58 finish in the Pasadena half marathon, the McMillan running calculator put me down at 4:09:59 for the half. I thought the time was ambitious but doable considering Long Beach is a flatter course.

B. Less than 4:16:19 – I know this seems arbitrary. I chose it after reading in Men’s Health that it was the average marathon time for men 40-44, the fastest age group. This was in 2009. In 2010, men 40-44 were a little slower, averaging 4:19:51, but they were still the fastest age group.

C. Set a personal best, finish in less than 4:23:56.

Today:

A. Set a personal best (see: goal C above)

B. Finish. It’s okay if I need to walk. At this point, I just want to prevent further injury and get my medal.

If you want to see how I do before I get around to posting a race recap, track me live. The race starts at 7. My bib number is 2016.