Simply running

There's something about running that I can't explain. Maybe it's the elusive 'runner's high' that I didn't believe existed until last year, maybe it's the fact that it's something I was bad at when I was overweight, maybe it's the fact that I can think about stuff without dealing with all the nonsense of responsibility. Running is addictive.

Now that I've gotten that philosophical part out of the way, I'll explain why I switched from rowing to running. If Godzilla were to attack NYC, what would I do if I were good at rowing... hop on the subway up to 218th and rig a single and row to safety? No... obviously I would run as fast as I could away from him. For the simple reason of utility... I have made the decision to replace rowing with running. For those would would ask me, "Wouldn't swimming be more useful in that situation?" No... because I'm assuming Ebirah is lurking in the Hudson.

Anyway, today was an alright day for running... 5 miles in a shade under 40 minutes isn't terrific, or even close to what I could do when I was 'good' at running, but it's a start. Plus... WOOHOO! I broke 100 miles 'on the year' (read: since April 4th haha).

distance for the day: 5.00 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 101.57 miles
distance biked on the year: 105.94 miles
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Columbia likes getting me

This is what I've come to think. The second day of my return to normal/healthy eating... they throw a freakin' BBQ with several of my favorite food carts (read: Wafels and Dinges, Calexicos, Jianetto's). Be aware food cart people... once I am normal weight again, I will be back with a vengeance.

distance for the day: 2.56 miles
distance biked for the day: 7.55 miles

distance on the year: 96.57 miles
distance biked on the year: 105.94 miles
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M2M, it's about damn time I reviewed them

They raised prices... I am not a happy fat kid (still, at $5.42 including tax, what do I have to complain about?).


Anyway, I sit awake so early in the morning having just completed my run, which I'm still not sure I should be happy or annoyed at (more on that at the end), finally having worked off that late night gut bomb session. What did I eat this time? Bagels... half a dozen of them of varying sorts, marbled raisin, yeast, egg, wheat, sourdough, and I'm pretty sure a pumpernickel one as well, all topped with 'Peanut Butter & Co' chocolate pb. In addition, 2 pints of ice cream (not sorbet this time, finally grabbed the right one), a 1/2 pound burger made out of ground buffalo, 2 pounds of cottage cheese, and that beautiful burger from M2M. Do I feel guilty about any of this? Not really, it was a rather 'light' binge session if you will... and it's not like I got some crappy ass burger from a craptastic burger/pizza place. Nope, this is a good burger, and as previously mentioned... cheap too. M2M apparently has 2 locations in NYC, one downtown on 11th, and another up on 115th next to Columbia. As such, it's become a favorite fallback food option for the student population here. With a dizzying array of sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and even some moderately decent Japanese food all at pretty cheap prices, it's not really that surprising they do so well. It's also a small asian supermarket if anyone cares (I do occasionally buy random Japanese breads, variants of pocky, and Asian ice creams lol). That's not the reason I went though... which was obviously their burger.

Don't get me wrong, once again, like Hamilton Deli (see here, and here), this is no City Burger or Minetta Tavern. It is not 'Pat LaFrieda' blend, it is not shipped from some organic farm on Long Island, it is a plain burger. I'm actually fairly sure that they're the frozen patties you can buy at Morton Williams or Fairway, but whatever. You can either get the plain cheeseburger, which will run you $3.50, or the deluxe version, which costs apparently $5 now... (the incoming freshman will never have it as good as we did... $2.75 Koronets, $4.91 deluxe cheeseburgers, and $6.23 sandwiches at Hamdel, yes I memorized all the prices so I could bring exact change). Also, please don't ask how much the plain burger is, or the veggie burger, or the turkey burger. If you're going to go, don't waste your time on those, in other words... I don't know. Anyway, there's a counter in the back where you place your order, which, if you're getting the burger, takes quite a while. After a few minutes, one of the guys will ask you what you want on it. This is where M2M is unique, you can pretty much do anything. I've asked for red beans on my burger, I've asked for sriracha, I've even asked for kimchi, they will put it on, sometimes for extra, sometimes for free. In any case, the classic ketchup, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, mustard combo comes with the meal, so do yourself a favor... and get everything you paid for.

The burger itself is quite good actually. I won't waste time talking about char (since it's broiled under a brick), degree of doneness (since it's almost always cooked through and through no matter what you say), or bun to patty ratio (are you kidding me? it's a seeded bun that you can buy yourself... not some honey brioche). What I will say is this, if you're hungry, and you actually want a burger 'your way,' don't go to Burger King... M2M is your late night comfort place. Well... not too late, it closes at midnight, hence the name, and the grill stops at 11. Final thoughts on the burger... don't skimp, go deluxe. Their fries (which Wayne actually dislikes) are in my opinion, pretty damn good. They're done up in the same oil as their tempura, so there's a weird aftertaste. Mild, but pleasant. Also guaranteed crunchy if you eat them while they're still hot.

Why am I annoyed at my run? Well... because I'm slow again. I did 3.67 or something in 30 minutes which means my pace was actually below an 8 minute mile for the overall. I ended up going back after a few minutes of stretching to run a mile as fast as I could, at 6:23 which could've been better too, just to prove that I could still do speed pieces *sigh*. Whatever, tomorrow's a new day, and hopefully I can get above that 4 mile mark again for the 30 minutes (I remember a time when 4.1 miles was an 'off' day).

distance for the day: 5.06 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 94.01 miles
distance biked on the year: 98.39 miles
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I'm on a failroll... does that mean I'm doing something right?

I won't be making a real post today mainly because I feel bad about how my run this morning went. I wanted to do a speed session by means of a timed 5k, but I fell short by about half a mile before I started jogging. I ended up walking a lot of it...

distance for the day: 3.36 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 88.95 miles
distance biked on the year: 98.39 miles
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Housing, pentathalons, and why college students are idiots

So today is the distance running event for a pentathalon that my suitemates and I have setup... I will explain more when I finish this post (hopefully tonight!), but until then, I will be running as far as I can for one day haha. Goal... 50 miles, prediction... unlikely.

I will however preface this post by mentioning that my pre 'race' carb load consisted of half a dozen bagels spread with nutella, 2 bowls of oatmeal, 2 pints of ice cream, and an ungodly amount of pasta.

Anyway, how far did I run? Yeah... um, I'm sore as hell right now.

Also... something I passed during my run... hehe they look like boobs (yes, I'm almost 21 and still ridiculously childish).


distance for the day: 24.91 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 85.59 miles
distance biked on the year: 98.39 miles
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A food blog should be about food right?

I promise I will post about food again starting in May... or when I'm back under 10% (yes I am that vain if you know what I'm talking about). Whichever comes first.

distance for the day: 0.00 miles
distance biked for the day: 14.01 miles

distance on the year: 60.68 miles
distance biked on the year: 98.39 miles
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So I fail at many things in life

I pretty much failed a reactor exam today, I fail at running since I injured my knee (strained medial ligament?), and I fail at updating. Trifecta FTW!


distance for the day: 7.59 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 60.68 miles
distance biked on the year: 84.38 miles
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Tests suck... hard

Sorry, I'm getting lazy... but exams take precedence over blogging.

distance for the day: 5.19 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 53.09 miles
distance biked on the year: 84.38 miles
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I fail at updating daily

Yeah, so um... even though I made a post yesterday (and included Saturday's run), I neglected to count yesterday's mileage. Oh, and while I can't promise any food posts anytime soon, I will be making a post about a competition me and my suitemates are holding to determine housing haha. It sounds stupid (and it is), but it is a worthwhile read... maybe.

distance for the day: 2.5 miles on Monday, another 6.33 today (finished the 10k, then walked off the remainder of the current song lol)
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles... hopefully I'll do another 50k tomorrow

distance on the year: 47.9 miles
distance biked on the year: 84.38 miles
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I should be sleeping

but instead, I'm shopping for classes (it's my sister's fault for that term, but really it is like shopping). There's nothing better than being a senior (former) athlete with 9:30 registration time... there is absolutely NO class that I can't get into. Furthermore, as a chemical engineer who's fulfilled all but maybe 3 of the requirements, I can register for classes I have no intention of taking... just to spite others, how's that for justice? ha! Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been very good about posting, but like my running/biking... I've been slacking off and eating out of character, but for good reason. You see, I've been informed that there is a curry challenge going on now at Go Go Curry. I must train for this. I'll get back to dieting once I've defeated various men (and women) many pounds larger than myself lol. In any case, I'll keep this blog updated, maybe less frequently until finals are over, but yeah... that's what's on my docket coming up... curry, back to diet, more running/biking, and more tests.

distance for the day: 6.23 miles on Saturday (10k for those who prefer race distances)
distance biked for the day: 31.2 on Friday (another 50k because I was feeling... uh... perky?)

distance on the year: 39.07 miles
distance biked on the year: 84.38 miles
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The only thing worse...

than never having something, is having something and trying to get it back. For those of you who know me well, you know what I'm talking about. It's hard to explain, and I have a problem set due in... oh, 6 hours, so you'll forgive me if I don't expound on that.

So turns out I'm sick again, from under cooking meat of all things. Fine, so maybe that's not so unexpected. In any case, I'm supposed to be bedridden for the next few days (which also explains why I went to town yesterday on Kozy Shack pudding and Pepperidge Farms cookies... and a quart of milk to boot!). So yeah, that's pretty much why I didn't get any miles in yesterday. Now before you judge my weak distances for the day... I'd like to add that I did erg 2x1000 pieces beforehand, so I wasn't '100%.'

distance for the day: 1.58 miles (again... running at 150 is hard!)
distance biked for the day: 0.11 (shin splints derailed me pretty much 30 seconds in)

distance on the year: 32.84 miles
distance biked on the year: 53.18 miles
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Almost there

The final 3 weeks of school aren't completely unlike the final leg of a race, be it rowing, running, or biking. When I was still an active member of the crew team, I did 10k's every morning like clockwork (and sometimes a 2nd in the middle of the day... and a 3rd at night to boot!). That's besides the point though, what does matter is how I split up each erg session. I'd always dread the first 10 minutes of rowing, especially at 5:30 in the morning, my legs would burn, my heart would ache, and I'd be breathing so hard you'd swear I was about to drop dead, but once I hit that 10 minute mark, coincidentally just short of 2500, I was golden. I always figured... If I got here, I might as well finish out the 5k, at which point I'd tell myself the 6k was just 2 splits away, and of course following that, the 30 minute mark was just another 2 or 3 splits away... and so on. School is just like the end of an erg piece. With 2500 meters to go, who's going to stop and give up on a piece that you've already devoted 30 minutes to? Sure it sucks, and sure you're in pain, and yes... you might even take a few strokes 'easy,' but in the end you know you're going to sprint the last 1000, because the satisfaction of finishing is a high that only someone who's done it understands. School isn't so different, for the next three weeks I still have 'midterms' (what a misnomer), and yeah, I might dick around a little and skip a few classes (the 'easy' strokes), but when it comes down to it... I still have to sprint the last 1000 (ugh... finals).

To be honest, I'm not sure why I explained all that... I guess I needed to give myself some motivation to not mess up too bad what I've worked 75% of a semester for. I guess also to give an excuse as to why my updates have been less frequent and suckier (that's not a real word is it?) lately. Anyway, my distance counter...

distance for the day: 0.00 miles (running at 150 is hard!)
distance biked for the day: 8.43 for Monday, 13.44 for today

distance on the year: 31.26 miles
distance biked on the year: 53.07 miles
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Distracted

I've been extremely busy lately, which would explain why I never finished the post on Friday, or why I haven't been keeping track of my running counter (ha, that and I haven't been running lately).

Just thought I'd make a placeholder post to explain that... mention that I made a cake out of pudding mix (recipe to come), and that I'll be adding to my running counter a biking counter... mostly because my body isn't used to running at 150, so it actually does hurt when I run for too long now. So for the time being, I'll be biking off the weight. It'll still be tagged as running, but whatever, as long as I'm doing something right?

If you're so curious as to how far I would have run, a useful conversion between biking distance and running is about 3:1. On my to do list this afternoon... 50k on the bike, I am going to sign up for a solid 2 hour block, and I will NOT get off for anyone lol. As for right now... I'm going to grab my cake from the oven and go apeshit before I have to lose the weight.

distance for the day: 1.19 miles (from Saturday)
distance biked for the day: 31.2 (for you metric people... that's 50k)

distance on the year: 31.26 miles
distance biked on the year: 31.2 miles (not from January 1st, from today haha)

edit: Nevermind on the recipe, my cake was a disaster... did you know if you don't mix your baking powder evenly, the cake looks retarded? True story.
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Chronicles of ridic(ulous)

Now, as promised, I've returned to finish this post! First up is a partial review of Cafe Zaiya, which has been previously mentioned) this time for their curry pan and their an bread (a.k.a. red bean bun). The red bean bun called to me when I walked up to the case of pastries. Well, actually the An donut called to me, but the red bean bun was cheaper and I didn't want to spend too much money... more on that at the end of the post. I actually forget how much it cost, but it wasn't too bad, probably around $1.25 (I'm not senile or plain forgetful, but when I bought the two breads together and I don't know how the price split). It was satisfying, 'nuff said. The outside was soft and resilient, as expected of any Asian bakery, be it from Chinatown or the Yamazaki's in Taiwan. The surprise came when I got to the middle, unlike some places in Chinatown who try to nickel and dime you by skimping on the filling, I was met with a solid chunk of red bean filling. Not cloyingly sweet and just right in thickness, it definitely hit the spot. I would most certainly buy this again, not just because I sometimes crave Asian breads, but because it was sickeningly good.


Up next was the curry pan, a fried concoction covered in panko bread crumbs, and filled with pungent pungent beef curry! See? the description itself is undeniably delicious. The combination of savory and sweet was to counter to, what I expected to be overwhelmingly sweet, the red bean bun. The outside bread is kind of chewy (yet again), I suspect they include mochi in the batter, but I can't say that with any sort of certainty lol. Again, biting in, I was pleasantly surprised to find filling from tip to tip. There was a plentiful amount of curried beef strips cut up real thin, spiced moderately so as to complement the bread, and not to overshadow sweetness. Honestly, if you look at the picture, it doesn't do the amount of filling justice, it's kind of squeezed down by where I bit in. I bet I sound like a broken record, but at around $1.50 (again, not sure of the price) I would buy this again too. Both of these would fail to satisfy me for a meal, but they make for a nice afternoon/breakfast snack.


After I left Cafe Zaiya, I headed to work, along 5th avenue, when I realized... this wouldn't do. There wasn't enough calories between the two of these. So I hung a left at 42nd, walked straight into Crumbs, and gawked at the case of brownie varieties for a good minute. After awkwardly ignoring the cashier asking if she could help me for what seems like the longest time, I decided on the 'Baba Booey.' On one side was chocolate cream cheese, on the other, peanut butter cream, topped with peanut butter chips, they definitely deserved points for creativity and presentation. I took the time to cut it in half to get a pic of the innards before eating, which reveals a chocolate cake base and more peanut butter frosting inside. Did I mention peanut butter makes me happy? Anyway, the cupcake was ridiculously sweet (even by my standards, and I can handle sweets) and a bit overly moist... maybe too much butter or oil or something. In any case, the cake was a bit of a disappointment as a whole, but the idea was solid, and the frosting was top notch. Maybe I got a lemon, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I probably would go back, but at $3.75, it's not really worth it.


Final stop on the day (on the way back to school for class) was Fay Da bakery on 34th and 8th. Also the same location as Lunch Box Buffet, this day was reserved for bread. Anyway, I decided on the (from left in picture) pineapple bun (波羅麵包), taro bun (芋頭麵包), and the milk cream bun (奶蘇麵包). I did also buy a steamed char siu bun, but I was too hungry and I ate it on the way to the subway station haha. Total cost of the purchase was a sweet $3.95. That's right... in midtown... 4 breads for under $4. This place made Cafe Zaiya look expensive! The pineapple bun was what I have come to expect from a prepackaged Asian food store, not spectacular, but at something like 80 cents, it was okay. The sugary top was flaky, the bread was airy, light, and somewhat firm, in other words, it didn't tear apart in ribbons like really good bread. The taro bun was heavy from top to bottom, with the bread being thick and chewy (again, not a good thing, but not a bad thing). The innards were sparse, but certainly sweet and fragrant of taro... it was white and not purple like I expected though. The milk bun was like the pineapple bun... but with sweetened milk/butter inside, that should explain a lot. Finally, the char siu bun... uh, I don't remember much about it except the pork was plentiful and really thinly cut like pork floss. Anyway, it doesn't really matter that much when everything is so cheap! With that said, the breads were decently good, and definitely hit the spot for a nice afternoon snack. I think I'll return quite often, if not only because the food is decent, but because I'm a college student... and I'm poor.


To cap off the night, we hatched up a plan. In the morning I had bought a roll of cookie dough (because according to my sister, I am a girl who craves things). Anyway, I digress, so I made a couple inches of it for breakfast, prior to the breads and cupcake, and realized... this is such a waste of cookie dough, I could make this part of a giant ice cream sandwich. So I called up Chris at work, and asked if he had brownie, which he did, and we decided to make a supersized ice cream, brownie, chocolate chip cookie sandwich. So at night, we (Wayne, Chris, Rich, Han, and myself) convened with all the components and assembled this monstrosity. Yes those are 2 9" cookies... about half a tube on each side, a full box of brownies, and a pint of vanilla ice cream in the middle. Uh... calorie count on the 'chipwich? just shy of 7000, I ate a plurality (thank you Mr. Schmidt... of AP US History) of it. No recipes this time... this shouldn't be replicated.


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Post General Tso and ice cream run

So you'd think after downing dinner, a blueberry muffin, oatmeal, toast, a pound of cottage cheese, a can of coke, and a General Tso's over lo mein I'd be full... and stop eating right? No, you'd be wrong, and you probably don't know me very well. I ended up getting another pint of ice cream, chocolate this time, and went to town. This all went down at 10:30 pm mind you. Fast forward 5 hours, I wake up and run 4.05 miles as per my original plan, in 32:30 (including cooldown, so the pace is a bit slower than I actually did). I called up Chris, to see if he wanted to do a run outside, planning on going to the boathouse... but ended up failing miserably (my bad) stopping at the George Washington Bridge. Don't judge me for giving up part way... you try running that distance after glutting yourself on food the night before. Plus it was cold... real cold, our hands were numb on the way back (and mine were in my pants for most of the return lol).

distance for the day: 8.15(?) miles (I'm not counting the walking, or else it'd probably be closer to 11)

distance on the year: 30.07 miles
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Running, I love you like a fat kid love cake

Let's make no mistake, I am officially fat again (not just rowing fat, but fat fat). So having gotten back on the proverbial horse, I decided I would finish a decent run today (which I deem as a 5k+) whether or not my shins were screaming at me. Well, as is common with the day after a glorious day of gluttony, everything was howling in pain... my shins, my heart, hell... even my dreaded stomach fat... yes, it has returned lol. Anyway, I was pretty happy with the end result... not where I want to be in terms of distance or pace, but better than I could have hoped for given the amount of crap I've put in my mouth over the past 3 weeks now. It's on... I'm a fat kid on the road to redemption lol.

One thing that is interesting though, I hopped on an erg for the first time in several weeks, just to see how it felt. I pulled a 1k, so it wasn't as if I was doing a marathon or anything, but it was the easiest rowing I've done... pretty much ever. Who would've thought that heavy me could out pull in shape me over 1k?

distance for the day: 3.83 miles in 30 minutes (and 3 miles of biking to boot... ha!)

distance on the year: 21.92 miles
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Damn you crafty farmer's market people...

I feel bad for tagging this under running, because if anything, what I did today can't even be considered running. What I did today was an injustice to great weather, a light problem set load from my professors, and to my own body.

First off, after yesterday, I vowed to restart on my normal schedule, and that includes eating. Yet, when you go outside on a gorgeous Sunday morning and see the farmer's market people selling donuts, how can you say no? At 50 cents a piece, these things were fantastic (better than those I had at Union Square Market). Okay, so no pictures again, even though it was literally across the street from my dorm, but anyway, I bought 1 single plain whole wheat apple cinnamon donut and went down to westside to pick up some egg beaters, some veggies, and some yogurt (it was on sale, and is my temporary replacement for cottage cheese... don't judge me lol). Then on the way back, I got a sugared version of the same donut. The second time, after the guy asked, "Back again?" I remarked, "Yeah... these things are addictive, you guys are gonna make me fat." His answer? "That's what we strive for." Great... your goal in life is to ruin me. So back to the donut, dense but light... wait... what? It's hard to explain, the donut is cakelike and moist so it's heavy, but at the same time it's not oily or 'clog your arteries' heavy. It almost feels like it's good for you... but trust me it's not. Later in the day for lunch, since I had no clue what to make, I went to buy an oatmeal apple muffin. Same guy, same story... apparently, no one buys the no sugar added apple muffins, I of course would gladly trade off those calories so I said it was fine. He proceeds to plop two muffins into my bag, saying, "There's a lot left over, so I'll give you two for the price of one!" Once again, the muffin man... er, I mean farmer market man gets me. So in the end, I didn't cut any calories, I just stuffed my face full of more homemade goodness. How do I classify him... is he a 'friend' or is he an 'frienemy?' The muffins were just like the donuts, nothing but high praise. Ginormous and (insert every description I had about the donuts here), for $1.75 they weren't terribly expensive, especially when you get 2 haha. So if you're up at Columbia on a Thursday or Sunday, do my local farmer's a favor and buy a muffin or donut, or really a dozen donuts wouldn't be pushing it.

About that run, mid 60s weather, low wind, I was planning on running to Trader Joe's to do some health food shopping, but I had to stop at the 72nd street boat basin before deciding to turn back. Seriously, I felt like puking... but with all the people out because of the weather, I obviously couldn't haha (see? considerate... me). I had to resort to walking before I got to the 96th street exit, for a grand total failrun of... 2.61 miles, and at pace I don't even want to think about calculating. I think the eating's catching up with me, so back to the week... back to eating healthy, and hopefully back to 135 by the end of the week.

distance for the day: 2.61 miles in... um, let's not talk about that

distance on the year: 12.88 miles
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The body is an amazing thing...

no not in that way you pervert... I'll explain later

So anyway, I'm coming back to this post just to explain what I mean. After my 2 weeks of eating solid trash, I weighed in at a convincing 144 pounds, up from 131 pounds... to rationalize that, the most amount of lean mass you can put on per week is about 1 pound, so realistically I had gained 10 or so pounds of fat. Within 3 days of eating clean, drinking a lot of water, returning to my workout schedule, I had dropped back to 137 and regained some definition (not like when I was rowing, but still... a minor victory). The point is, the body's recovery is incredible if nothing short of a miracle. Maybe it's because I'm still 20, but still, this is one of those things that I'm just in awe of (it also makes me wonder what took so long to realize that being heavy sucked majorly, and why I didn't do anything about it for years).

distance for the day: 3.84 miles in 30 minutes (running... yes, I feel bad about that Chris, I had to resort to jogging/walking after the 5k mark)

distance on the year: 8.07 miles
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No I'm not trying to kill myself with food (also I'm getting fat)

I know I didn't update my last post yet, but I couldn't help it... I've been bogged down this week with a crapton of work and feeling like hell (in general... I even took 2 off days from the gym, imagine that). Also, I've realized... I'm getting kinda fat. No not like obese, but pudgy, complete with a mini gut and everything (did I mention my fear of developing bitch tits?). Anyway, as I was running this morning, I realized how much it hurts being out of shape (both physically and mentally... haha), so as an added bonus to the food related posts, which will still appear despite what I plan to say next, I am going to start getting back to eating healthier and blogging about my training. I'm sure my running and biking tales aren't exactly the types of lore that tales are written from, but it's mostly for me to keep myself on track. From now on, there will be daily posts, if only just to make a note of how far I ran or whatever. Hrm, and random photos of char siu gyoza?


distance for the day: 4.23 miles in 30 minutes (running)
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