There will always be another day and another run..

I'm behind again with my blogging. It's just so hard for me to be disciplined when it's so nice out!

My Lunchtime Workouts are in full swing so I can take advantage of the nice weather and do lots of fun stuff after work.

Last week and this weekend were a perfect example of that and I even maybe pushed it a little too far. Double booked Thurs and Friday nights, staying out wayy later than necessary in both instances, seeing a play (the Tony winner for best play, by the way.. Clybourne Park go see it!) then out for drinks with a new friend at a new bar w/ a fun juke box and a friendly bartender.

Friday night -- early drinks with ANOTHER new friend then out to a very fun piano bar where I sang along and belted out the words (or what I thought the words were) to all the great old piano bar standbys in my lovely voice, and laughed and drank and didn't want to leave until it was finally 4 am. So Much Fun. 

Grabbed a slice of pizza to keep all the beer in my stomach company (fun to see all the awesome cast of characters typically having a slice at 4 AM, it's been a while!) then home and to bed.

Then, BBQ all day Saturday - eating lots of delicious food, drinking lots of white wine and laughing and catching up in the sun on my new friends' amazing outdoor terrace (complete with outdoor sectional and fancy grill) uptown. I was in such a great mood when I left I opted to walk a very LONG leisurely walk home (110 blocks!) in the summery evening.

 Really good times. I am loving the summer so far.

Only thing that didn't love all these shenanigans was my Long Run this weekend.... First I had to make Long Run Saturday a Long Run Sunday because I stayed out so super late Friday plus had to trek it wayy uptown for the BBQ all day Saturday.

But -- I made myself stick to  do doing the run on Sunday.. AND, I thought I was going to die. For the first time I can ever remember, I set out to do a specific distance and quit before I was done.

Dammit.

I set out to do 10 miles - which has been my weekend long run distance for several weeks now. I ate breakfast and thought I hydrated properly (keeping in mind just how dehydrated all the Thurs - Sat. shenanigans had probably caused me to be). And set out at around noon.


Well it was freaking hot out. But, that really should not have impacted me the way it did. I have run in the heat and humidity before.

The first 3 miles felt great and I thought it was going to be a good run. Usually I can tell by mile 3 if it's going to be a constant struggle. This time, I could tell around mile 4 and it hit me.  Hard. I was really really thirsty, sweating a ton. I made it through until mile 6 - ate a couple honey stingers and continued until 7.5 miles - stopping at every. water. fountain.

Then at 7.5 miles I just stopped to rest. I just didn't care anymore. I walked a little in the shade, drank more water. Then felt ok and started up again at a slower pace until I hit 9 miles. And then quit altogether. walked home, picked up a bottle of Smart Water on the way, took a shower and passed out on my couch.

Such a bummer, this is the first time I just didn't care enough to push myself through it.


BUT.....................

I am not dwelling on it - I beat up my body for the 3 days prior - drinking too much, not getting enough sleep, then I go out running in high heat and humidity. What Did I Expect?

Plus, it was all worth it..

I love Tia Pol. We sat right there
at the bar, with a summery breeze
coming through the front.  It was
a pretty perfect evening.

It really was. I had such fun Thurs - Saturday. Doing new things with new friends and loving it all. Taking advantage of living in the best city in the world. I have always said I don't want running to get in the way of living life. There will be plenty of other runs, and easier and longer runs at that to be had another day!

And, instead of just crashing out all Sunday evening, I even managed to make it out to dinner at Tia Pol last night w/ my dear friend who just got back from a few weeks in Europe. The restaurant had its whole front open, we sat at the bar, shared an awesome bottle of muscadet cava (refreshing!) and stuffed our face with delicious food.

Afterall, I may not have run my full 10 miles but I still put in a good effort on the 9 - or at least the 7.5 of the 9... That deserves a little face stuffing.

Me on a better running day... 

Then to bed early and woke up this morning feeling dumb and lazy. Normal Monday morning stuff, but wow, I did not want to get out of bed. Or go to work. Or do anything once I got to work. I FORCED myself to the gym for lunch - but only because I have dinner plans w/ girlfriends who I miss and haven't seen in ages tonight. It was such a struggle to do my Lunchtime Workout.

BUT...... I can say, it's true. You never regret a workout, once you're done. Even if you half-ass it, maybe you regret half-assing it, but you don't regret GOING in the first place. Nor do you ever regret a run, even if you regret not going as far or as fast as you would have liked. It's so true.

I can get a little competitive on a good day. Just a little.
Sometimes...

So on that note I leave you with these few above truisms for my better running days. To inspire the return of such days in the near future. When I don't want to stop until I've met my distance goal of the day, don't feel like I'm running in quicksand and parched like a camel and do feel a little ready to race someone.

There will be more days like those. I'm not worried.

'Til then, I'm heading out to meet my girlfriends to catch up over another bottle of wine, stuff my face a little more and have a few laughs! 

Things that make me go hmmm..

I've been on an unintended blogging hiatus - thanks to a few things going on at work and a little travel (to a warm and sunny destination - it was paradise, bring on summer!)

So first - a little update.

I've had some good runs lately - including my first SUCCESSFUL 10 miler - without any stomach issues - yay! I didn't eat garbage or drink a lot the night before, and went a little slower than my last 10 miler (where my stomach protested for 12 hours afterwards) and also - at 1 hour in (a little over 7 miles) I ate a couple Honey Stingers - which were great and seemed to help on the energy front. I finished at 1:24:48.

Since my last post, I also tried out a Jack Rabbit Free Group Run -- my first ever group run - it was fun! I recommend checking out the runs if you're thinking of doing something social or having a hard time motivating. You can sign up to receive emails in the store - they have a number of group runs throughout the week - varying distances and start locations (Union Sq, Uptown and Bklyn). I did one of the shorter runs - about 4 miles, through Manhattan - which meant a lot of stopping for traffic lights and obstacle course style dodging - which made it really fly by. The people were fun and nice and the pace was very comfortable - with a couple groups forming after we started out based on everyone's comfort level. The end point of the run was at a bar with beer (and water) waiting for us - fun!

I've also been out to eat several times of course. At the bar of good ol' Joseph Leonard (Thanks Daniel, for too many Magdelanas!), to an old favorite standby - Lupa (delicious Bucatini Ameritcana and Tartufo) and to the oyster-bar-cocktail-place in Williamsburg that is always crowded and has lots of absinthe drinks. Blanking on the name, but if you've been there or walked by, you know what I'm talking about! Delicious oysters -- my favorites were the Powder Points from MA.

And, I had a nice Easter in a warm summery destination where I ran every day, went to the beach and pool, consumed lots of seafood and tropical frozen drinks and caught up on a few good books. It was wonderful.

That's about it as far as an update. I had planned to do a post in time for Easter / Passover on how to make cute French Macarons - as I have posted very little about baking to date. And, I just recently succeeded in making them from scratch, thanks to a couple different recipe trys and some 'troubleshooting' reseach on a few great websites. They are the perfect Easter / Passover treat. But now that I missed the holidays... I will save that post for another day.

What's really on my mind today is the answer to questions that have been perplexing me lately like ---

Notice I had to take Garmin
off my wrist in order to take a
picture of it. And it's still a bad
picture! This was after my stomach
wrenching 10 miler, btw. I needed
photo proof of my mileage to
ease my pain.

1.  How do people take a pictures of their Garmin while it is still on their arm???

I see this in many running blogs and my runner friends do it sometimes. Baffling. I have tried and I guess I am just not coordinated enough. I cannot take an iPhone picture with one hand. Impossible. How do you all do this?? Is someone else taking the picture for you?

2.  How do girls keep head bands from slipping off head while running or in gym class??? 

I like the idea of keeping my long bangs / fly aways out of my face but I have tried all kinds of head bands (including Lululemon)  and just cannot find a kind that stays sufficiently put while running or even doing yoga. Seriously. Is my head just too big or am I too rambunctious with it while exercising? Please advise.

How do you girls get these things
to stay put on your head while
running or exercising??

3. How do people run long distances without music??? Or run w/ others and chat during the run??

This is something that has baffled me for years. Run without music?? No way. That is part of what I love about running. Turn up the tunes, zone out. It helps motivate me. I have heard the argument that listening to music is discouraged because it means (a) you are not paying attention to or 'listening to' your body and breathing; or (b) you may speed up your pace too much when a good song comes on.

I say to both of those points a big So What? Seriously. What is wrong with those things? I PREFER not to pay attention to my body and breathing when I'm running - it isn't always pleasant and usually doesn't help motivate me to keep going. I love running, but there are times when I don't particularly like exactly how my body and breathing feels while I'm doing it, especially when I'm pushing myself. If I were to listen to my body at such times it would be saying - "what are you doing to me, please stop."

 And as for speeding up my pace - great! I'll take my speed and a hop in my gait when I can get it. If it means I go a little slower later on, so be it. Nothing like a little kick jump of a good song to put a smile on my face and forget that my legs feel like lead, I'm gasping for breath and I hope I can make it through the run without a pit stop. I do recognize that people who are really training for something are all concerned about pacing and negative splits etc. Not me. I like to run whatever pace feels good at the time.

The only compelling argument I've heard for trying to cool it with the music is that over time you can become desensitized to music. In other words, save it for when it counts - when you're having a challenging run, or at the end of the race. If you listen to it all the time, you'll get too used to it and it won't give you the bump you need when you really need it. While I can see the point here, I don't find it to be true for me  -- at least not so far. When I am desensitized to certain music, I just download new songs. I've been running to music now since high school (and, trust me that was a long time ago) AND I have my iPod in my ears nearly every time I leave my apartment, walking around the city on my way to and from work, running errands etc. I have yet to feel desensitized or that the little kick a good song can give me has worn off. So - maybe this last point happens to some people, but I have yet to be afraid.

All this said - I DID have my first sans music run recently -- on the Jack Rabbit free group run I mentioned above. I felt like headphones might be seen as a little antisocial in the group setting. Although I did note that a few people had them in. I have to admit - the run was a breeze. I chatted a few times but basically ran near others without talking. It was fine, not bad at all. Maybe just having others around or the fact that this felt like an easy run for me helped. I will probably continue to try for sans music in group settings just because of the trying to be social thing - and may even try to chat w/ people a little more next time -- but for now, on solo runs it is full on music for me. Favorite playlist of the moment -- Girl Talk's free downloads. Check them out. All Day is the best, Feed the Animals and Night Ripper are also good. Perfect for running!

4. Where did they go to the bathroom in the Hunger Games arena??? 

Finally, and most importanlty, the one thing that has me really scratching my head these days is where Katniss and Peeta and the others went to the bathroom during the Hunger Games. Presumably behind some bushes  a la camping style -- but did the Capitol's cameras capture that as well?? And how did the cameras film Katniss and Peeta in their little cave?? The book made the cave seem so super hidden and tiny - surely the Capitols didn't think to plant a camera in there ahead of time?? Maybe these mysteries are resolved in the movie, which I have yet to see, but I think these are important points left out of the book, no?

If only I had the answers to these questions... my mind would be free and clear to ponder more intellectual thoughts, surely.

Going out to eat on my mind

I have going out to eat on my mind today. Probably because I had to forego my Saturday night dinner out with friends  -- that I had been looking forward to all week -- after my stomach staged a protest following this week's Long Run Saturday. Still not happy about that.

People eating at the bar at  Gottino.
Doesn't it look lively?

Also I haven't really expanded yet on how I like to go out to eat.


I do,  I like to go out to eat. A lot. It is the main way that I catch up with friends. I go out to eat for dinner probably 5 times a week on average. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Always before or after whatever else I'm doing with a friend. Sometimes just a snack and a glass of wine, but I'm out and about at some sort of restaurant more often than I'm at home.


I'm not the only person who lives like this in this city, and that is one of the (many) things I absolutely love about NYC. People are always out and about, catching up with friends over food and beverages.


Often it is me and another friend catching up just the two of us, and when that's the case, I like to score a seat at the bar of a restaurant rather than sit at a table. It's more fun, more casual, livelier. 


Not all my friends share this feeling. Some think the bar stools are uncomfortable, or that it's claustrophobic at a crowded place with people standing around trying to get drinks. 


But, I like that (well not the bar stools being uncomfortable thing, but that never really bothers me). I like the chaos, the crowd, the people around. Some eating, some just drinking, coming, going. I like it. 


I also like to order lots of different things to eat and share everything. I like the variety. And wine. There is always wine. A glass, quartino, or a split bottle is always on the bar in front of us.

For location, I have lots of favorites. While I love trying new places, on a normal night, I tend not to venture too far from home. So you'll see a West Village slant here. A couple favorites on my current rotation -- 


Weeknight go-to: Gottino

I have been to Gottino soooo many times. It seems like I've been going there for years - but I can't even recall how long it's been open. I definitely started going there soon after it opened and haven't stopped since. It never disappoints. A pretty perfect weeknight place to catch up with a friend. 


The place is practically just bar seating (I now refuse to sit at a table here although I have done it). It can be crowded, and there is often a wait, but be patient, get a quartino and find a place to stand against the wall. I've never had to wait very long. 


And unlike many of my favorite places in the city it is a good place to go in all seasons. It is cozy and warm in the winter but isn't too dark and subterranean to enjoy when the weather is warm. Best of all is when they open the door in the summer and you get a breeze going through the whole place. Ahh. Just think, that kind of weather is right around the corner!

They have a good selection of wines available by the glass/quartino that are well kept and not sitting around opened for too long. I have never had a wine here I didn't like and I always agree with their selection. 


As for the food -- I have dreams sometimes about the walnut pesto crostini. I am addicted to it. The anchovy and butter crostini is also to die for (don't be afraid of anchovies - they are salty deliciousness!)  and I always order the shaved brussel sprouts salad. The bacala whipped w/ olive oil is also a good choice. 


The ambiance is my idea of perfection for a wine bar. Small but not too crowded once you're seated. Comfortable. Good lighting, good level of liveliness, not too loud. 


The only thing I'm not a fan of is the water glasses. Super cute but they are barely larger than a shot glass and, as I am a camel and I often sit down at Gottino after having gone on a sweaty run, (well I shower first) I tend to arrive thirsty and spend most of my dinner refilling my water glass, which can be distracting from conversation. Bigger water glasses, please. 


However, the wine glasses are very nice. I like good wine glass. Not fancy, just good. With a stem. I'm not a fan of stemless wine glasses or the trying-to-be-bistro-chic wine in a juice glass. In my mind drinking wine from a juice tumbler is only cool if you are at a bar in remote town in Sicily. And Michael Corleone is sharing a glass with you. Or on a picnic.  Gottino's wine glasses are good, graceful, sturdy glasses with stems. 


Aside from their teensy water glasses (which is a small price to pay) after hundreds of times at Gottino, it is still in my opinion a pretty close to perfect place to sit at the bar and catch up with a friend.

Weekend go-to: Joseph Leonard 

I am also loving Joseph Leonard at the moment  It is my favorite place for a late weekend dinner. I also like going there early and during the week, but on the weekend, it is crowded, a good crowd and fun. 


This is not where you go if you want a serious intimate conversation. This is where you go for a fun, good dinner and drinks.


The guys that work there are great. It stays open late (I have been there until wayy later than necessary on more than one occasion for post dinner drinks, ughhh still recovering from that one night months ago...). People are there eating and drinking late. It is fun, lively, bustling. They play Jay-Z and other unexpected & awesome music at a perfect volume. The crowd is good. People mingle a little; in a good way.

I usually go for wine when I'm out to eat, but the drinks here are delicious. And the Magdelana cocktail is a perfect mix of spicy /sweet / salty tequila deliciousness. It may be my favorite cocktail in the city.

All the food I've ever had on the menu (probably almost everything on the menu) is very good, I am never disappointed in my meal. Although, at the same time, nothing really stands out as memorable -- but maybe that is due to the number of cocktails usually consumed while waiting to sit. My only real complaint is that there isn't really a lot on the menu.... The menu is kinda small, and not a lot of small plate options. This makes it harder to order lots and share.


That said, a couple Magdelanas in, with Jay-Z playing in the background, a good livley atmosphere and delicious food on your plate -- 'more variety on the menu' seems an insiginficant request.


Oh, and unlike most restuarants, even if you don't score a seat at the bar (which I suggest of course you try to do) the place is so small and revolves around the bar so much that even seated at almost any table, you feel like you're at the bar. Especially the tables in the front.


Althought the wait can be looooong on a weekend night  (over an hour for sure) and if you are waiting during peak dinner hours (which can be as late as 10:30/11 on the weekend) there is little room to stand and you will be jostled around by the crowd and waiters.


If it's really busy, I put my name down and go around the corner to Bobo (Bobo also has a yummy tequila cocktail - although not as good as the Magdelana).


Or, like everyone else waiting for a seat at Joseph Leonard, try the bar at Jeffery's Grocery just across the seat (same owners). It's worth waiting.


And, if you've had dinner elsewhere, stop by Joseph Leondard after the dinner rush, late night for a  Magedelena or two. You won't regret it.