Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Food, Fitness, Friends - The Usual.

I've been really consistent with my blogging, wouldn't you say?

Since my pretty wonderful 25K out on Long Island, I've been pretty busy.

First off, it was Restaurant Week in NYC.  Ok, so Restaurant "Week" is now like 3 weeks twice a year, but I still try to take advantage of it! We decided to go to Maya - a Richard Sandoval Mexican restaurant on the Upper East Side. Review to come, but let's just say I was a fan and thoroughly photographed (and Instagrammed) the meal. 


(Chipotle Salmon entree from Maya)

To burn off those tasty, tasty tostadas, it was up and out super early Thursday morning for an EPIC Hybrid Training class at 6:30 a.m. Our friend has been teaching there and sadly is moving to Philadelphia, so we wanted to get in one more killer workout while we still could! I HIGHLY recommend checking out EPIC if you like getting SUPER SWEATY and going non-stop! You will feel so bad-ass by the end of the class, and you'll probably learn a few new exercises to incorporate into your routine. I struggled through Turkish Getups for a good 10 minutes before I (kind of) got the hang of it. 


(Get it, the HANG of it?)

Friday we ran to the November Project workout in Times Square. Waking up early definitely has its advantages, when you can take over the one area in NYC that's usually crowded beyond belief and workout! 


(I have a new top NYC moment - kick lining and singing New York, New York in the middle of Times Square. Photo Credit: Chris Mosier)

Of course, my all time favorite breakfast followed the workout. I still need to dedicate a post to the energy wrap...After NP I ran a few more miles on the treadmill at NYSC.



Friday just continued to be amazing when we had our first DIP NIGHT. Basically, a potluck where everyone brings a different dip. 




I was so excited to be able to host dip night in my new apartment :) With room for all the dip, and all of us! Dip night featured:



-Biscoff Cookie Dough Dip with apple slices
Recipe Here!
It took me some time to appreciate this, but eventually I came to think it was pretty tasty. Don't let the chickpeas scare you!


-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and a Curry Mustard dipping sauce

-Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip with tortilla chips


-Spinach and Artichoke Dip with carrots and celery

-2 Black Bean Dips with pita chips

-Guacamole with tortilla chips

-Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips with Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip 

-Brie/Apple Crumble/Walnut Bake 

-S'mores Dip! 

And of course, this was all accompanied by fresh MARGARITAS courtesy of Jaime! I've truly found my people. 


(She even salted the rims!!)

Despite a serious food coma, a bunch of us were able to rally and head to Central Park in the morning for some mileage. I did 11 and felt...

AMAZING. 

I bet you thought I was going to have some complaint about every muscle that was bothering me.  But nope. I busted out 11 miles at an 8:00 pace. 

I was able to be lazy for a little bit before it was off for an amazingly fun afternoon/night to say goodbye to our friend Leanne. A ton of November Project friends got together for a scavenger hunt throughout the city that ended at Brother Jimmy's for a looooot of drinking. 


(Ate an Oyster at the oyster bar in Grand Central!)

(Quick hockey break) 
(We all have the same birthday!)

(We'll miss you Leanne!!!!)

Sunday I slept in later than usual, finalllllly. But instead of laying around and doing nothing, we decided to take advantage of the relatively warm weather and headed to Brooklyn (whoah, who am I? I never go to Brooklyn - unless it's for food).  First stop was an attempt to get brunch at Buttermilk Channel in Carroll Gardens.  They basically laughed and said there was no way we would get seated before they closed. So we wandered and came across a place that looked good and decided to give it a try. Ok, I'll admit, what really sold me was the drink special on the chalkboard - Mint Tequila Hot Chocolate. Uhm, yes. It didn't disappoint. 



The food was good too, and the fire-place smelled delicious. (Buschenschank if anyone is curious - we both had the Cobble  Hill Cristo which was a poached egg, hollandaise, speck, lingonberries and melted Gruyere on battered brioche. It was the perfect blend of sweet and savory!) 



After brunch we headed on to the transit museum, which I highly recommend! The price is fair ($7) and it was really interesting. I actually learned a ton. And seeing the old subway cars was pretty cool.  




It was such a pretty day out and made me so excited for SPRING. 


(Is it time for Smorgasburg yet?!)

I did speedwork in the park on the following Tuesday in only ONE LAYER - a small miracle.  Of course, the speed work resulted in 0 more miles being run that week until Saturday's long run. My shins and intervals just do not get along.  We ran 10x400 meter intervals which I did at around 1:40-1:30. 




This is my new attempt at foam rolling. These knots are no joke. 




Tuesday night I went to the Coliseum for the Rangers/Islanders game which BUMMER they lost. But it was nice getting to be there - it was my first Isles/Rangers game at the Coliseum! And likely my last. All the feels. 




Hmm, what else.  We went to get a real German dinner on Saturday night. I ordered the Jagershnitzel and besides being a baby cow, it was delicious. Crispy, buttery spaetzle is incredibly yummy as it clogs your arteries. 


(Not the more photogenic of dishes)

Saturday's forecast called for rain rain rain. But I had no choice, 18 miles were happening one way or the other. I would never have been able to do it without Peter getting me up and out and into the rain. We met up with Brian, who luckily knew his way around the bridges way better than me.  For the first half of the run I felt pretty good, then I had my usual "crap, I'm halfway done and now I have to do that all over again and I'm tired and it hurts" moment - luckily that's about when we picked up Kaitlin and I was able to suck it up and catch up with her while trying to keep up with a pair of fresh legs (meanwhile, Brian's legs never tire). I guess I was going a lot faster than I thought, because at the end, my 18 mile pace was 8:30.  There were a few parts in the park where Brian and Kaitlin had to give me a few peppy words because I was fading. 

Can we just briefly mention how DRENCHED we all were? I'm talking 5 pound pony-tail. Also, a car drove past me at some point and it was like a scene from a movie, hugeeee splash all over me. But it didn't even matter because I couldn't have gotten any wetter than I already was. 

I felt so relieved that I finished that run and felt OK doing it. Especially after an only 4 mile week. 

Normally, I would sleep the rest of the day away after a run like that. But instead, I showered, packed, ate and got on a train to go to Nassau Coliseum to see my parents, sister, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins, and best friend for our last Islanders game together :( I can't believe it. 



We all had rooms at the Marriott with a view of the Coliseum from our windows and enough food and beer (and sangria) to feed a small army. It was amazing. Minus the Islanders losing (but we're all used to that...) 





In other news, I've been doing weights a lot more since most days my legs don't feel run-ready. Operation do an unassisted pull-up is in full-effect and I started going back to Body Pump at NYSC.

Took a trip back to my most favorite margarita place - Bamboleos - for St. Patrick's Day! $20 pitchers with free chips and guac from 4-7. Go, people! 




So now that I'm relatively caught up - I'll likely fall ridiculously behind again. Sorry about it. 

Oh...WHO HAS READ UNBROKEN? Can we please discuss? 




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