Theme of this training week is a bump in the road.
Since I have been dealing with (and bitching about) my hip injury, there really is not much of an update.
I no longer feel a dull pain in my left hip and I am going to go out on a limb to say that I may be injury free. Of course, we shall see how that turns out after I go for a run today. We all know that running is very different than walking, when one is in recovery mode.
I really did not do anything with regards to training. I have this weird thing if I am not 100% (or near 100%), then I do not want to do anything fitness related. Clearly, I could have done strength training while injured. Well, I was supposed to run New Balance’s 5th Avenue mile on Sunday but I went out and drank a little too much on Saturday night.
One thing that I can say about my social life is that I sure can be random as hell. I started out in the West Village with the belief that I would have one to three drinks, MAX. Next thing I know, I am in Jackson Heights, Queens drinking and shaking my booty at a Latin bar, then eating random Korean food at a 24-hour restaurant (a place where I have gotten food poisoning in the past). The next morning, I woke up in time to prepare to head into the city to for the race. However, I was like “let me sleep 10 more minutes.” Yeah, I woke up again at 9 AM and there was no way that I could make it into the city for 
the race. Then, I was like “oh let me sleep for another 30 minutes.” Yeah (again), I woke up at 11:45. Keep in mind that I teach a biology class on Saturdays and Sundays at 12:30. So, I had to haul ass in a $16 dollar Uber (I did not have time to use Uber pool) to teach my class. Hell, I did not even have time to bathe. 😦 Although I had a lot of fun socially, I kind of had a disaster of a weekend, regarding my training commitments.
Even though I did not really do anything fitness related, except take anti-inflammatory medication and ice my hip, I did eat like a damn pig. Oink Oink. So, I guess this training update will be a week of food.
Wednesday: Grandchamps (Brooklyn)
I have been wanting to try this Haitian restaurant for MONTHS, and we finally pulled the trigger and went. I never tried Haitian food before, but I really did not taste anything different, compared to West African cuisine. Do not get me wrong, my goat and rice plate was good, but I did not notice anything different than what I’ve eaten in the past Perhaps, I will get something that is “more” Haitian when I revisit the restaurant. All I remember is that the food was really spicy for no damn reason, and I am someone who loves spicy food. . . in moderation.
Thursday: Astoria Seafood Market (Queens) and Sunrise/Sunset (Brooklyn)
Thursday typically is date night for us and we hit up one of our favorite seafood restaurants in Astoria. The restaurant has been on “vacation” for the past 5 weeks. Astoria Seafood Market is a hole in the wall type of restaurant, but the seafood is delicious and quite cheap, compared to Manhattan prices. On the way home in Brooklyn, I was really craving a Frose . . . or two, and we stopped off at Sunrise/Sunset (a hipstereque bar).
Friday: Brooklyn Baby Cakes (Brooklyn)
I had a sweet tooth and was still sulking over my injury, so I got some cupcakes. Do not judge me, but I got the cupcakes after having “breakfast for dinner” at IHoP. Although they were not mind blowing, the cupcakes were really delicious, especially the Strawberry n Creme cupcake. One thing that I appreciated with my purchase was the amount of frosting was just right. I have been noticing that many bakeries put so much freaking frosting on the cupcakes that the cupcakes are more frosting than cake. The frosting should enhance the flavor of the cupcake, NOT be a proxy for it.
Saturday: Bolivian Llama Party (Manhattan)
After picking up my race materials for a damn race that I did not run (more wasted money), I picked up some grub in the Turnstyle, an underground conglomeration of somewhat bougie shops and restaurants (basically an underground food court/mall). I will say that I really enjoyed these saltenas from Bolivian Llama Party. Actually, I do not think that I’ve had Bolivian food, per se. I have eaten Pervian and Ecuadorian food, whose cuisines are similar to that of Bolivia. However, the restaurant made a point of emphasizing that saltenas are NOT empanadas, but they sure as hell tasted pretty similar. I really do not understand the difference between the two, if any. The mac n cheese with smoked brisket, which I do not think has a Bolivian origin, was absolutely delicious. I could eat that all freakin day.
Sunday: Hill Country Chicken (Brooklyn)
Since I was fighting an extreme hangover from the previous night’s booty shaking, I decided to get some fried food – one of the best things for a hangover (at least in my head).
I do not think that this place has the best (or even good) fried chicken, because I find that the chicken could have more seasoning. Since I was starving, I made the mistake of getting the pimento mac n cheese, which was recommended by one of the workers. The mac n cheese tasted like Velveeta-inspired nothingness. I should have saved my fried food craving for Popeyes, at least a $5 two piece, two sides, and a biscuit meal would have been $13 dollars cheaper than the weak chicken tenders combo at Hill Country Chicken.
A few blogs ago, didn’t I say that I was not going to eat out so much? There goes that goal. Although I did not do any training for the marathon, I think that I put in some ground work for training for an eating contest. 😉
Random throwback:
Facebook reminded me that I was preparing for my half-marathon racecation (a word that I have seen on the blogging universe) in Montreal, Canada. I remember being so excited running this half-marathon . . . even though I was supposed to do the full-marathon.
Run There, Drink That 