Sweet Blog o' Mine

Weekend Wrapup

Plus a highlight from Thursday: the Momofuku Ssam duck dinner with Katie, Karen, Kim and Jackie -- which as absolutely delicious -- followed by my maiden visit to Corkbuzz. Will definitely return. Friday night I went to the Black Grouse launch party where I had some of Lynnette's amazing cocktails, then relaxed with Moxie for most of Saturday (with a few long walks and trips to the dog run, of course) after brunch with Jenn, Emilia and Vivian. I also cooked some spicy Asian wings for Sunday and did a few errands, and capped it off with a nightcap at the 8th Street Wine Cellar. On Sunday I threw some split pea soup in the slow cooker, did some writing then had lunch with Doug before heading to Brooklyn with Moxie for a tasty-as-hell Super Bowl with Colin and Jen. I had the wings in tow, and Colin whipped up some mac and cheese and his "beefy blue" potato skins. Perfect with some beer and a rye old fashioned.

Weekend Wrapup Redux

 
Wrote an entire post that got deleted somehow. Grr. So, here goes take two. As with the last post, I am noting, for the record, that this post will do absolutely nothing to convince my father that I do not, in fact, spend all of my free time jaunting about the city eating and drinking.  That said, I do it to keep up with the scene about which I write, but I do it mostly as a way to catch up with friends, who share similar passions (probably why we get along so well).  The weekend started off on Friday with post-work cocktails at Pegu Club with @daisy17 & @jordanarothman and then moved on to tapas at Tertulia, which is quickly becoming a neighborhood favorite.  I need to gather a large group to get their paella and also go sometime to their chef's dinner.

Saturday I slept late and shopped for provisions, produce and flowers at the Greenmarket. Once home, after lingering over coffee and the paper for a bit, I met up Karen once again for our maiden voyage to Smorgasburg, a food-only market by the Brooklyn Flea folks, where we joined up with Jordana and Daniel, and later John P. I had a decadent CT-style (all butter, no mayo) lobster roll from the Red Hook Lobster Pound followed up with a People's Pop made from Stumptown coffee, cream and sugar -- have to try to recreate those at home. Delicious. Next we walked over to Maison Premiere (where Vince joined us), where we lingered in their beautiful back garden over oysters, drinks and conversation. For the grand finale, the majority of us headed back to Manhattan, where we had a drink at Employees Only while we waited for dinner at Red Farm, another new favorite. Their dumplings are outrageous, as is the rib eye!

Sunday morning I went for a much-needed run, then headed up to Yankees Stadium with fellow USBGNY members where I was utterly spoiled from all future baseball games by sitting in a swanky suite. Truly luxurious!  Pictures from the game are here. After the game, a small group of us went out for drinks and nibbles, stopping at Pete's Tavern, Death & Company and Dram.

 
Monday, the bonus day, I relaxed at home, did laundry, and made a batch of cold sesame noodles using sauce I had gotten from the Shorty Tang folks at Smorgasburg (see, Dad? Relaxing! Cooking! Being domestic!). Those were my contribution to @BeerGuy1's barbecue later that afternoon/evening; the food was fantastic -- that's what you get when the team behind Hearth is manning the grill -- and featured falling-off-the-bone smoked ribs and these beauties pictured above, among other delights. I made one final stop before heading home to bed: back to Maison Premiere to visit a friend who was guest bartending from New Orleans. He made me a perfect French 75 on my last trip there and decided that his French 75 would be a perfect way to cap off an amazing Labor Day weekend.

Done and Done

My 4th NYC Triathlon is now in the books. I'm fairly consistent, and with each year comes a tad more slowness, but that's to be expected, I suppose. Given the rain, I was extremely cautious on the bike this year, and could have pushed harder, and I'm sure my first transition might have been a bit smoother had I not wiped out on the "watch out, it's slippery" mat at the end of swim exit (apparently, I was far from the only one).  Many thanks to all I saw along the way -- Mom & Stephen, Mike, Hannah, and especially Russ, who biked with me for a good chunk of the run, listening to my bitching and moaning, especially after mile 4.

After a fantastic shower and a solid nap, I met friends and family for a celebration at the 8th Street Wine Cellar -- thanks to those who made it for helping me celebrate! I slept for 10 hours last night, and am now about to head out to Kismet for the remainder of the week for some major rest and recovery.

An extra special thanks to all who donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on my behalf, and congrats to Team D&P!

2011: Swim 22:19 T1 12:27 Bike 1:51:54 T2 4:58 Run 1:11:40

2010: Swim 20:54 T1 11:39 Bike 1:42:43 T2 6:26 Run 1:08:01

2009: Swim 24:30 T1 10:17 Bike 1:40:57 T2 4:01 Run 1:07:22

2008: Swim 24:30 T1 10:55 Bike 1:36:47 T2 4:00 Run 1:08:40

Gettin' Ready to Rock and Roll (and Swim and Run)

The triathlon's on Sunday, and I'm winding down my training (one more swim today, and that's about it), and getting my gear ready (I patched up holes in my wetsuit last night!), and I've even got my number by email: 2288. I'm feeling somewhat less prepared this year than in past years, but there's not much I can do about it now other than get plenty of rest, hydrate, and mentally visualize the race.

If you're an early riser, and want to watch the race, you can find detailed info on that here (I'll be starting at about 6:30; will hit the run around 9 and finish around 10ish), and you can find me at the Team in Training tent near the bandshell at the end of the race.  I'll be wearing a purple Team in Training tank, Team in Training black and purple tri shorts, a yellow number 2288 and a NYC Triathlon white visor. Good places to watch are along 72nd Street from Henry Hudson Parkway to Central Park West, Cherry Hill before we head to the finish on Dead Road in Central Park, and Dead Road in Central Park near the bandshell off the 72nd Street Transverse.

If you're not an early riser, come celebrate anytime after 6 pm at the 8th St. Winecellar.

Regardless, please support my efforts by making a donation to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society -- it'll make you feel good! And finally, I want to wish all of my fellow triathletes the best of luck, in particular the members of the newly minted Debevoise triathlon team -- kick some ass, gang!

Weekend Wrapup

Pretty damn good weekend, if I don't say so myself. Friday night was a long-overdue catch up dinner w/Lauren, Caroline & Tara at Porsena (which, by the way is delicious. Go.) Got up Saturday for my last long training run in Central Park -- the triathlon is less than a week away so I'm in taper mode now. Scary. That said, I plan on doing a mile swim Tuesday or Wednesday this week, just because I haven't yet. After some lounging about I met up with Karen for an impromptu lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar, followed by some quality A/C time, then met up w/Jordana, Jay & his wife for dinner at Zabb Elee. I was supposed to go out after that but my run in the late morning head had completely zapped my energy so I opted to head back home.

Glad I did because Sunday was my second visit to the Liquid Lab (here's a bit more about my first visit). I'll be writing more about that elsewhere, but 11 hours on my feet tasting over 60 spirits and over 60 cocktails (including 8 of my own original creations) makes for a very long, albeit fun and educational, day!

Amazing to think that this time next week I'll be done with the triathlon and on my way to Fire Island for a much needed vacation on the beach. Can't wait. And by the way, donate!!!

Listen To Your Heart

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may know that I often post Runkeeper summaries of my workouts. You may also have noticed (although probably not), that for several possible reasons, I've been running a full minute plus per mile slower than I have in previous years. At first, I was pretty pissed about it. Over time, I've embraced it. I've been running in very hot weather, which ratchets your heart rate even higher than normal, so even as I've trained more and more, the heat has been kicking my ass to the point where I allow myself a 3o second walk every 5 minutes. But only 30 seconds. This morning, as an experiment, I ran with my heart rate monitor, which I haven't really done all season. I know from past experience that approx 165 bpm is my average running speed, so every time I caught the monitor going above 170 bpm, I forced myself to slow down. The result? A slow but solid run, and I felt great afterwards.

Look, kids, I hate to break it to ya, but I'm not going to *win* the NYC Tri. My goal in past years has been 1) to complete it in one piece 2) ideally in under 3.5 hours. Not sure I'm going to squeak by #2 this year, but I'm okay with that.  I think that after the tri and during the off-season, I'm going to focus more on heart rate training and see what that does for me next year.

PS -- less than two weeks till the tri but you can still donate!!

Weekend Wrapup

Friday night we had a fundraiser for the D&P Triathlon team, then early to bed for me as I had a 6:30 a.m. (yes, you read that correctly) brick workout (approx 15 mile bike and 5 mile run). I was wiped afterwards, and lounged about for the remainder of the day until heading out for drinks at Mayahuel. I had fully intended to go there alone while waiting to meet up w/Rob, but of course ran into people -- @daisy17 & @brooklynwino. I love the days when NYC feels like a small town. After Rob showed up and we had a few drinks, we were off to Kasadela for a garlic & kimchi filled dinner.

Sunday I allowed myself to sleep in, which was blissful and much-needed. Afterwards, I headed out to meet friends at Clover Club for brunch, which is always delicious. Made a quick pit-stop at Char No. 4, then headed back to Manhattan for some errands, laundry (why do I feel like all I do is wash workout gear?), and Harry Potter (because I am a proud nerd). After the movie I had an unbearable craving for ramen -- likely because I had bought a copy of Lucky Peach earlier and was reading about ramen -- so picked up some take-out from Momofuku Noodle Bar, which served as dinner last night and will be lunch today! All in all, a lovely weekend.

Ooh -- forgot to mention: my soundtrack for the weekend was Girl Talk. Love. I may be late to the game, but I just found my new workout soundtrack.

Safety First

Too many people I know (and many I don't) have had serious bike accidents recently. You may be the best cyclist in the world, but it's never all about you -- someone can swerve in front of you on a bike or in a car; you might hit a pothole or some other debris in the road -- regardless, a helmet is a simple, inexpensive way to protect your head in the event of an accident. It could save your life.

Karma Chameleon

Ah Karma. I firmly believe that what goes around comes around, so I try to send out good karma. When I worked at a nonprofit, I had friends (one in particular) who shared wine with me and often bought me drinks, and now, when I encounter a friend who is unemployed, or perhaps just because, I'll repay the favor.

Yesterday, I ran into a public interest colleague who I hadn't seen in some time. As we were catching up, she told me that she had been diagnosed with lymphoma and had been quite sick, although she has now been in remission for six months. I told her that I am raising money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society through Team in Training for the New York City Triathlon and she was thrilled and thanked me profusely. She also talked about potentially doing the tri next year as part of a relay team so that she can do her part to help others.

Want some good karma to come your way? Donate to my efforts. And buy someone a drink.

And I Tri . . .

I've been a bit behind on my NYC Triathlon training and have been kicking it up into high gear since last week. So if I'm looking a bit ragged these days, please be kind -- it just means that I've been pushing myself on the training front.  The swimming feels great and the biking is going well, but the running -- oof. All I can do is continue to put one foot in front of the other, get sleep, eat well and do my best.

While I'm doing all that, there's something you can do, too -- DONATE! I'm once again raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training, and you can donate here. Plus, I started a triathlon team at work (yes, we are badasses)!  If you want to donate to the Debevoise team, you can do that too.  You can also come cheer us on and/or celebrate with us on August 7th.