Friday funday

Celebrations are continuing. I am thankful for my life, my friends, and the restaurants in Denver.
I cleansed for one day. There were mitigating circumstances--celebration ensued. I tried, really. I have stuck to the less pork, chicken and red meat. It isn't a complete loss.
I met Jenn at Ototo for lunch on Friday. She seems to suggest restaurants on South Pearl St and since it is new to me, I am all for it. I tend to stick around the metro area that I can walk to. Trying to be green in 2011, remember?
Anyways, we met there and shared edamame and egg in a jar. The bartender suggested this dish to us. Basically, it is a poached egg in a mason jar with serrano ham and potatoes. Served with ciabatta and chopped onions and cilantro. Delightful, really. Ototo was a nice change, for me, and somewhere that I plan on returning to.
My decision to boycott Elway's was a bust, too. I spent most of Friday, drinking wine, and watching their regulars' entertain the staff and me. I recognized a few people from previous visits, said hello, and continued to enjoy the scenery.
Eventually, this red head approaches my friend, Jenn, with--see that guy across the bar....he thinks you are great and was wondering if you had a boyfriend.
Seriously. This guy had no game or balls. Send a female over to pick up someone for you. And, my friend has a boyfriend so that was a moot point. Yet, the guy continued to try to pick up every available woman in the bar. Unbelievable.
This situation spurred a conversation that I struck up with the guy next to me. He sat down and ordered a dirty absolute martini. About martini #2, we started talking about the guy without a game. It was fairly entertaining and he kept going on from woman to woman. This guy wouldn't stop.
The martini guy was a runner. Interested in his training plan, I stopped watching the regulars nonsense. Denny told me that he had run the Denver Marathon this past year and that he enjoyed the experience. I told him that I ran it in 2009 after training with Team in Training. He told me that he had trained with TNT for five seasons. Intrigued, I asked him why? I mean, my experience had been unfulfilling. I found it too oriented with fundraising and that I suffered as a runner as a result. I was trained to be lazy.
He told me that he enjoyed the group, the fundraising, cameraderie, etc. and then two years ago was diagnosed with lymphoma. He said that TNT had driven him to his appointments, gave him some financial assistance and completely changed my opinion of the group. I believed that they did utilize their funds for research and helping people, but I had not seen any results of what they said. His experience made me truly respect that organization.
I suppose that, sometimes, I need to know--be shown the facts that organizations do what they promote. TNT was fantastic, in a sense, for me. I met the Goddess and Jamie and Jenny. I now have a group of social runners to run with. I just know that I prefer being trained with a group more dedicated to pushing my athletic limits. When I ran the Vegas Marathon, I was ready. I wasn't willing to walk because I was tired. It was a complete change to the Denver Marathon. However, I now give props to that society. They are what they say.
Friday was a long day. Food friendly, people watching, red wine drinking and excellent. I love celebrating!