Summer Streets is a great program that runs three weekends in August and shuts down a lengthy area of the Manhattan streets along the east side.  From 7am to 1pm that section of streets is car-free and full of runners, walkers, bikers, rollerbladers, etc.  Along the path of the Summer Streets there are “rest stops” with vendor sponsored booths and areas where Crunch gym holds free mini-classes.  It is such a wonderful way to get people outside and moving.  You can read more about it here: Summer Streets site.  There’s another one next week!

Summer Streets!

I have heard about Summer Streets before and walked by it, but never had the chance to fully join in and run the streets.  I was very excited to use the Summer Streets as a way to spice up my 10 mile training run.  (I’m currently training for the NY Marathon.)

My run started at 42nd and Park and wound down toward lower Manhattan.  For the most part the streets weren’t too crowded and everyone was courteous and followed the directional signs that were posted.  I felt like this was (sort of) a preview of what it would be like to run through the streets of NY in the marathon.  There are so many sights to serve as a good distraction.  I was also able to see a ton of runners from Team in Training and some of my old coaches.  Running community out in full force!

I had originally planned to turn around at the end of the Summer Streets path, but once I got downtown I couldn’t resist following all the runners and bikers streaming over the Brooklyn Bridge!  I can’t believe I’ve been in NY for 8 years and never been across this iconic bridge!  It was a fun run, but tough!!  Way steeper than I thought it would be.

Let's do this thing!

Once I was across the river to Brooklyn (where I passed Melissa, who was running into Manhattan), I ran around kind of randomly to burn a few miles.  I don’t know Brooklyn well enough to tell where I was, but I know I turned around at the Atlantic Yards (under construction) arena.

No excuses, legs!

As far as the actual run itself, my legs weren’t really in it today.  They felt fine, but laaaazy.  (Yes, my legs, not me. )  I walked more than I would have liked, but no worries.  10 miles in the books!  This run showed me I need to find more “experience” runs to do.  Running is a great way to see a city and there is clearly so much I haven’t seen!

These sand castles were being worked on near the courthouses downtown.

Anyway…

For a long time, tofu has been my main squeeze.  It has been my favorite form of non meat protein.  But I knew I needed to venture out of my comfort zone. I knew I should probably try other things like tempeh. I was a little scared of tempeh. It looked so grainy. But finally I was inspired by this lovely recipe by Mama Pea. She admits that she too used to be afraid of tempeh. But Mama Pea actually grates it with a cheese grater! This was awesome to me because what  weirded me out most about tempeh was the long loaf like appearance.

My ingredients were all from Trader Joe’s: Thai Red Curry Sauce (contains eggs), broccoli slaw, and of course tempeh.

Mama Pea says to grate the tempeh over the pan, but I am a  SPAZ and started to get tempeh bits everywhere so I had to switch to a bowl.

This is what the tempeh looks like when it is cooking.

After 3 minutes I added my slaw and sauce and let it cook for only 3 minutes because I like my slaw kinda chewy. So easy!

All ready to eat!

The best part was I had leftovers to eat for lunch for 2 days and the curry tempeh slaw tasted just as good cold as heated. Next time I would add even more vegetables.

I’m currently totally into tempeh and broccoli slaw so I’ve also used it to make a healthier stir fry.

So that’s how I overcame my fear of tempeh.

Anyone else try tempeh or have a good tempeh recipe?

Here’s what 2011 has been like for me so far:

In February, I met The Pioneer Woman! She signed her book and we talked about West Side Story. It was surreal because I’ve become such a huge fan of hers in the past year.

For the Superbowl, I made buffalo chicken dip. Yes, it is the most unphotogenic food ever but tastes just like wings. Tina was right because this stuff is like crack. I will only be making it once a year because it is ridiculously unhealthy, and I felt grossly full after eating it.

For President’s Day weekend, I visited my sister and brother in Washington, D.C. I visited D.C. last year on President’s Day weekend, but the city was full of snow. This year it was beautiful spring-like weather. For lunch on Friday, I met my sister at Jaleo. This fantastic tapas restaurant has a great lunch special where for $11 you can have a sandwich with half a soup or salad. I chose the ‘JLT’ which the menu describes  as Jamón, lettuce, tomato, Manchego cheese and mayonnaise on a fresh brioche. To me it tasted like the best prosciutto I’ve had in my life with the exception of the prosciutto I’ve had at Mike’s Deli.

For my soup, I chose gazpacho which was so phenomenal that I was half finished with it before I remembered to take a picture.

During my trip, we also went to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a D.C. institution.

Chili fries split with my siblings

A chili dog that was consumed by me. I really loved Ben’s chili. It was typical comfort food but felt lighter than most chili because there wasn’t too much ground beef in it. It was the most flavorful chili I’ve had in while.

Source

On a personal front, I gave up all caffeine for Lent this year. I put up a picture of Diet Coke because it is the form of caffeine I consume the most. I’ve never been a huge coffee person. I love the taste, but I don’t need it every day like some people do. I’ve probably consumed more coffee and iced green tea in the last 4 years or so because there is a Starbucks in my office building. I actually don’t normally consume caffeine in the morning. I am more of a I need a pick me up at 3pm to get me through the rest of the work day type of person. The first week I had a few headaches and every now and then the headaches return but so far so good. I’ll give you guys a full report when Lent is over.

Question Time

Anyone read any good books lately?

I feel like I’ve been a reading machine this year. I think its because of the long winter. Some of the best books I’ve read this year have been The Hunger Games Trilogy. I am not a person who normally reads young adult fiction. I never read The Twilight series, but I really enjoyed The Hunger Games books. I am warning you right now this is an intense series and I sometimes wonder if they are totally appropriate for young adults. But if you like futuristic, dystopian society stuff I definitely think you will love these books. They really make you think and the themes are timeless.

Annnd I’m back!

After way too long a winter, I finally kicked off my 2011 racing season this weekend with the More+Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon.  I was actually supposed to do two other races in March, but scheduling conflicts (cousin’s wedding!) prevented me from racing.  Therefore, I was very excited to shake off the spider webs, stretch my muscles, and pound some pavement!

You might remember I ran the More+Fitness Half two years ago – my first half marathon!  I loved the race then and was happy to find that not much has changed.  The race, which is women only, is 13.1 miles around beautiful Central Park.  This means two loops of the whole park and then a small loop around the bottom of the park.  For those that have run Central Park before, yes that meant TWICE up Cat Hill and TWICE up Harlem Hill.  A workout to say the least.

I arrived at the race about 25 minutes before the start and it was already in the 40s, perfect running weather.  Before the start of the race there was a nice tribute to Sally Meyerhoff.  Sally won last year’s race but died in March 2011 when she was hit by a car while riding her bike.  The award for the race’s winner is now named for her.

Once the race began, the main thing on my mind was how I would be feeling as the miles started to pile up.  I’ll be honest here.  I had not trained well for this race.  Between work, the weather, and any other excuse I could think of, I had not gotten a lot of running done.

My first few miles felt kind of sluggish, but I was happy to see I was maintaining a little over a 10 minute mile.  As I settled into my running groove I started to feel better, more confident with my abilities.  It just felt so good to be outside running again!!  The first loop around the park went by fairly quickly.  However, I knew the real test would the second time around the hills.

Around mile 7 (shortly into the second loop), I was grabbing water and realized I was right next to a pacer for the 2:10 group.  Errr?  I was not on pace for a 2:10 finish.  I decided to try and stay with the group for as long as I could.  Did not last long!  My guess is that the 2:10 pacers were a little behind because I felt like they were gunning it the whole time I was with that group.  Once I accepted that I was not going to hold their pace I was able to get back into my stride.

Of course the hills sucked the second time around.  There was no getting around that.  But they were do-able and I knew it was (pretty much) downhill from there!  In past half marathons I have struggled around miles 9-12 and summoned just enough energy to push through to 13 and into the finish.  This time, even though I was slower than I would have hoped, I think my pacing was much better.  Before I knew it I was at Mile 11 and still feeling pretty good!  I held my pace through 13 and sprinted that final .1 mile.  Final finish time was 2:30:03.

I was treated to a nice surprise near the end of the race.  As I headed down the finishing chute I spotted Deirdre and Shannon cheering for me in the crowd!!  Totally made my day.  I have such awesome friends.

The other thing that made this race great was that someone had written “Become Your Dreams” in chalk all along the course.  It was like my running angel the whole time.  Each time my foot landed on one of those messages I knew I’d be able to push it a little further.  Big thanks to whoever took the time to write that!

Love the shirts too!  How genius to have women’s-cut shirts for a women’s event!

She put out a delicious spread. I especially enjoyed the quiche and the pumpkin bread.

There were many fabulous ladies in attendance.

Amelia and I were excited to see Megan Check out Ashley’s post for the full list of fabulous ladies in attendance.

After eating and socializing, Ashley spoke to us about breast cancer awareness.

After a great brunch, Ashley sent us home with goodie bag!

Keeping with the pink theme the bag contained Orbitz bubblemint gum, Emergen-C, a loofah and even a coupon for a free dozen eggs! Amelia is making Thanksgiving dinner for her family and she is psyched to cook with Eggland’s Best.

I am a firm believer in truly examining everything. I feel it is important to see all the details and take a closer look.

Here are two examples:

This was my Halloween costume. To many I looked like a goth chick or a dominatrix. But after taking a closer look (and when my jacket was off) one could see my full costume.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo i.e. Lisbeth Salander. Okay so only a handful of people got my costume, but I liked it and it was fun to spend a night not looking like myself. Plus, I just finished the 3rd and final book in the series and I think Lisbeth is an amazing character.

Taking a closer look is also important when you are purchasing food.

So I have a confession to make. Despite being a fairly intelligent person and a reader of numerous healthy living blogs I am sometimes a sucker for certain buzzwords. I try to read the nutrition labels on everything I buy, but when I see certain words I just assume it is very healthy. In this case, the buzzword was:

VEGAN

I read vegan and I assumed very healthy.

Sorry, for the blurry picture but if you can read the nutritional label it reads 600 calories! Sure there are no preservatives or artificial colors or flavors but 600 calories is a lot!

And look at the portion:

I hadn’t even eaten any of it yet! I’m not a huge calorie counter but for 600 calories I want a lot of bang for my buck! Caloric and portion complaints aside it was decent for frozen Thai food. It could have been spicier, but I could say that about a lot of Trader Joe’s products. I did learn the important lesson of checking my labels more carefully and remembering that vegan does not equal low in calories.

Are there any buzzwords that trip you up?

Hello everyone!  I wanted to share something I’ve been working on for a while.  Since July, I have been training for my second marathon!  And this one is special.   

On October 2, I will be racing in the 2010 Hamptons Marathon in East Hampton, NY.  I decided to train for this marathon with Team in Training.  I’m sure many of you are familiar with this wonderful organization already, but just in case you are not let me explain.  Team in Training (TNT) is a national group that helps train its members for endurance events, such as half and full marathons, century bike rides, triathlons, etc.  While participants train, they also work to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).  Through LLS, the money is used to find a cure for blood cancers and also provide support for the patients and families struggling with these cancers.   

I have always wanted to do a race with TNT, but kept putting it off.  However, when I was looking to train for my second marathon, a friend mentioned that she was training for the Hamptons with TNT.  I signed up that day.   

Although I do not have a personal connection with blood cancers, I know what it is like to watch loved ones battle cancer.  That is why I have chosen to train for this marathon with a purpose.  Instead of complaining about long runs or hill workouts, I think of how lucky I am to have the ability to run!  I am strong and healthy and will not take that for granted.  

I will be sure to give you a full post of my thoughts on training with TNT, but so far I can say that it has been a very positive experience.  

**If you’re interested in donating to my fundraising, or learning more about TNT, please click HERE.**  

Have you ever trained for an event with a charity group?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

If you want to see my post from last year’s Healthy Living Summit click here!

After landing in Chicago, Amelia and I took the L. Thanks to Heather and Kath for the great directions!

We checked in the hotel and found our room.

The hotel had some pretty amazing views.

We then left to explore the city and get some lunch.

One of my only requests on this trip was to go to Millennium Park and see the Bean or at least that’s what I call it. Do a shot for every blogger’s post you’ve seen this week with pictures from the Bean! Okay, don’t! I don’t want anyone getting alcohol poisoning!

We traveled onward over the River…

and through Chicago traffic until we reached our destination

After seen some fellow bloggers’ amazing meals, Amelia made the wise choice that we should go to XOCO for lunch. After waiting about 30 minutes, we were seated outside. I ordered a beer.

Then I had the Cubana Torta . It is truly one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. Everything was so fresh. The meat was chewy but not tough and the guacamole was a refreshing balance.

One of my best food pictures ever! If I do say so myself. There were also some unpictured churros that I ate throughout the conference. They were fabulous as well. Mr. Bayless, you KNOW your flavors!

Then, it was time to party!

Photo booth fun with Freya and Dawn!

Amelia and I reunited with our friend Danielle who we sadly hadn’t seen since the VeggieGirl meetup last summer. Thank goodness for the Summit for bringing us together again! After the Cocktail party was over, we decided to tear up the town with Danielle and a new fabulous blogger we met named Shannon. Shannon, you are so fun and I hope you move to NYC and all 4 of us can party together again.

After going to 4 different bars and 2 beers later for me, we needed sustenance. Amelia and I shared a grilled mozzarella cheese and tomato sandwich.

We proceeded to head back to the hotel and pass out. Amelia and I had been up since 4am because of our early flight!

We were tired yet so excited on Saturday to start our day!

This was my first time trying Oikos Caramel and it was amazing!

I went to many great presentations throughout the day including:

-Stepping Up Your Blog Photography where I learned important things like how even on my point and shoot I can turn up the ISO setting when I am in places with low light.

-The Ups and Downs of Pressing Publish where I realized how lucky I am that I have yet to receive a negative comment (yes, I just jinxed myself).

-The Five W’s of Strength Training where I learned its a good thing that I start my workout with weights when I go to the gym!

-Stop Staring Over Your Shoulder where I was re-affirmed in my belief that the blogging community is totally awesome and supportive and I was introduced to a sweet blogger named Katie and totally awed by her story.

But my favorite presentation of the whole day was Fueling for Fitness!

I almost didn’t go because I thought it would only be beneficial to people like Amelia who run half marathons and marathons. Rebecca and Heather were great speakers and I felt like I learned so many things like:

-Proteins and Carbs both contain about 4 calories per gram

-Carbs are the main fuel in exercise (I always thought carbs’ fueling strength was equal to protein, color me misinformed!)

-Reaffirmed my belief that weight loss should not be the goal and that’s it is all about behavior change.

I actually went up to Rebecca in the afternoon to say how much I enjoyed the presentation and she was as nice and dynamic in person as she was as a formal speaker. She really got me thinking about how important it is to project positive thinking on your blog and be mindful of how even phrases like ‘I dropped a dress size’ can affect someone with an eating disorder.

In the middle of the day it was lunch time!

The food was amazing! My favorite parts were the eggplant, artichokes, and chickpeas cilantro salad. I had Perrier to drink which made me think of my mom because she loves her water with bubbles!

After a day of amazing speakers and meeting new friends, Amelia and I walked back to our room only to discover it was still being cleaned. This was one of only low points about the hotel because it was almost 5pm and our room was still being worked on. We sat in the hall for 15 minutes. And I took one of funniest pictures I’ve ever taken of Amelia!

After rest and some showers, we went and got pizza with Danielle.

I was excited to try Lou Malnati’s because I had already tried Geno’s East on other trips I had taken into Chicago so its nice to see what their rival had to offer. We waited about an hour for the table which I feel is to be expected on a Saturday night. Fortunately, we were able to put in our pizza order while we waited for a table so we didn’t have to wait an additional 30 minutes for our pizza to bake after we sat down.

Representing Cleveland even in Chicago!

They don’t have Great Lakes beer in NYC so I always try to have it when I go home to Cleveland or whenever I see it on a menu.

We ordered The Lou which was fresh spinach, mushrooms and sliced tomatoes covered with a blend of mozzarella, romano and cheddar cheese.

It was so delicious! The basic flavors really came through. I would say one of the main differences that I could taste between Lou Malnati’s and Geno’s is that Lou’s had a butter crust and you can definitely taste the butter. I like butter so it didn’t bother me one bit. In my opinion, they are both delicious. Even though I live in New York, I would never say thin crust is better than deep dish. Its just different. New York style pizza can be eaten walking around folded up or after a night of a little too much debauchery. Chicago deep dish pizza is much more of a sit down kind of meal that needs to eaten with a knife and fork.

On Sunday, Amelia and I did the Run/Walk. Amelia ran and I walked. I didn’t have my camera, but it was great walking along the waterfront and chatting with fellow bloggers. After a delicious bagel thin breakfast, we packed, checked out of the hotel and met my cousin who lives in Chicago for coffee. Then we walked around and people watched and eventually made our way to O’Hare. We had to say goodbye to the fabulous city of Chicago.

SO WHAT DID I THINK?

In a word: FABULOUS! As someone who attended Healthy Living Summit 2009, I think it just keeps getting better. The sponsors were bigger, the amount of bloggers grew, and I loved how I could pick which presentations I went to. The only thing I liked better last year was the keynote speaker because I felt like I learned more from last year’s speaker. I loved how the cocktail party was setup in a room that was more conducive to mingling. I loved how we had an opportunity to speak with more of the sponsors throughout the weekend. Finally, I thought the food was even better this year. Ladies (organizers of the Summit), I know it’s a lot of work to put together a weekend like this and I want you to know how much I appreciate all of your efforts. You rock! It was great seeing you all again and I hope to see you next summer! 

Finally, to all of my new blends I look forward to stalking your blogs and I hope you do the same!

Amelia pre-ordered hers but I had to go pick one up on the way to the meetup. Fortunately, there was one left at Borders Columbus Circle.  It’s incredible to see a book on the shelf written by someone you know!

We all met up at Le Pain Quotidien.

There were a TON of girls there.  As always with these meetups, you make fast friends because you already have so much to talk about!  Shortly after we arrived, the woman of the hour came in herself!  It was so good to see Caitlin again!  She was sweet enough to sign my copy of the book.

Amelia and I, despite being separated at the table, ordered the same thing: the Black Bean Hummus Tartine with avocado & spicy tahini spread.

The flavors were fantastic despite the simple ingredients.

Our server was nice enough to take a huge group photo for us and went above and beyond her duty by even lifting up light fixtures to ensure the perfect picture.

Its like Where’s Waldo. Can you find us among all these fabulous ladies?

It was so great meeting so many new New York bloggers and readers and to see Caitlin again. So excited to watch her on the Today Show tomorrow morning and to see her again at the Healthy Living Summit in a week!

The first brunch was on Mother’s Day at Fishtail by David Burke.

For an appetizer, we shared the Fishtail Taco Sampler which consists of tuna tartare, crab salad,  and salmon tartare tacos.

These were delicious. The fish was so fresh that it tasted like it had been caught that day. The seasonings were slight so the fresh flavor of the fish could shine through. We could have easily had two more orders of these for brunch and been satisfied. And we loved how the tacos were served on corn husk. It was a great touch.

For my entree, I ordered the Classic Eggs Benedict.

I know some people view Eggs Benedict as a boring order, but it is one of my favorites and this Eggs Benedict was one of the best I’ve ever had. The eggs were perfectly poached. The hollandaise sauce was light but flavorful. The ham was tasty. Even the potatoes were seasoned well. My mom had the Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelette which she enjoyed immensely.

For dessert, we had to order the Cheesecake Lollipops after we saw the table next to us get it.

How cute is this presentation! I’m a sucker (pun intended) for inventive presentations. My mom doesn’t even like cheesecake and she loves these lollipops. They were light and cold. We were only able to eat half of them and I took the rest home.

I would recommend Fishtail to anyone. It was an amazing dining experience. It can be a bit pricey, but if you go to brunch it is definitely cheaper than dinner and you still get to have the same restaurant experience.

Another Sunday, we ate brunch at Dos Caminos. Sadly I only have one picture because I forgot to be in blogger mode because I was STARVING. Like it was 2pm and all I had eaten that day was a banana. My mom and I both enjoyed some amazing margaritas. I got the frozen Prickly Pear Margarita and my mom got the Traditional Margarita on the rocks.  I liked how my margarita was sweet but you could still taste the top shelf tequila. We also shared an order of guacamole which was refreshing and delicious.

For my entree, I ordered the Dos Caminos Rancheros.

It did not disappoint. All the flavors complimented each other beautifully.  The smoky flavor of the salsa tasted great with the smoked ham and the crispy tortillas tasted homemade.

This was another great dining experience. I feel so lucky to have spent time with my mom at such amazing restaurants.

What is your favorite thing to order at brunch?