Food Pic of the Week

Here’s another one from Hawai’i.

Tangö Contemporary Cafe (***) 

21288 Ala Moana Blvd. , Honolulu, HI 96814 

Damnit, I forgot why this place is called Tangö. I think our waiter said it was a combination of the two owners’ names (one from Hawaii and the other from some Scandinavian country). 

Shredded Duck Confit Hash

We pretty much (well . . . I made the husband) come to this restaurant just for this dish. Hands down, this dish was the best breakfast that I had in Hawai’i. I know that the dish isn’t the prettiest, but the taste was quite fabulous. Plus, the Bloody Mary was out of this world!

 

Random Thought Thursday

Let get into some randomness

I need to get more inventive with the names of my running playlists

-Since I registered for a half marathon in Jan, I’m a little scared of training in the winter months of Dec and Jan. Man, I hate doing stuff outside (except smoking, I guess) in the cold.

-I really want to start swimming again and need to find a cheap pool that’s close to home/work. 

-I am thinking of a fun trip to celebrate my bday in June. It will be the big 4 – 0. Maybe Perú again. No, Pananá. Wait, Colombia. Shit, I don’t know. Perhaps, the hubby and I can combine forces and celebrate both of our birthdays since they are 31 days apart. 

-Am I the only one who sanitizes airplane trays and surrounding areas before take off?

-Breakfast of champions. A picture from the Hawai’i vacation. We were about to swim with sharks. I guess that I should write a reflective post about the Hawaiian vacation. You know, the good, the bad, and the struggle.

-Speaking of Hawai’i. Please do better, New York City.

It seems that NYC will provide some homeless families a year living expense stipend and send them to other cities in the U.S. My question. What happens when the family runs out of money in the new city? This clearly is not the right answer or solution to the homeless issue in NYC. So damn dumb.

-I really need to get my hair did.

-Is it me, or have NYRR’s races been filling up faster than normal? NYRR Manhattan 7 Miler (Feb. 9) is already closed. I guess that’s a good thing because more people are interested in running. However, it’s bad for my procrastinating ass.

Random Question: If you could run a half or a full marathon anyplace in the world, where would it be?

Running motivation . . . I think

Running motivation .  .  . I think

Usually, around this time I am coming off of my NYC Marathon high. Obviously, this is not the case because I was unable to run this year’s marathon. Fingers crossed for next year.

Random: Yesterday, I saw someone still wearing his marathon. What’s the longest period of time that you have worn a finisher’s medal? A week after the marathon seems a bit excessive. But, eh. Do you.

Besides the “easy” three-miler from last week, I have not done much of any physical activity.

Running in “nature”

Now, it seems that I’m starting at zero. The soreness in my quads, my “easy” run involved

a “big” hill in Central Park, definitely has confirmed that I’m starting from zero. After weighing myself last week, I really have been letting myself go. I’m at 216!!!! This is the heaviest that I have been! We gotta change that as we enter into 2020.

I’m in the process of mapping out a fitness plan. For a distant goal, I already have registered to run Mardrid’s Rock n Roll Marathon in April, but I need a couple of small goals to meet along the way.

As a short-term goal, I just registered for the Fred Lebow Half Marathon on Jan 19. Hopefully, it will not be an insanely cold January morning. I might as well get started on my 9+1 for 2021’s NYC Marathon.

The little/easy things:

1. I’ve started cycling to work. It’s only a 1.5-mile commute, but every little bit helps.
2. I’m doing a work stair climbing challenge. Unless I’m carrying crap, I’m not taking elevators. Just as an FYI, my office is on the 12th floor. Also, it may help me reduce the number of cigarettes that I smoke during the day. Or maybe, I should take more smoke breaks so I’ll make more trips up and down 12 flights of stairs.
3. Intermittent fasting is back.

The struggle things:

1. Getting back to the gym at least four times a week. Maybe at least three times a week. Since I’m intermittent fasting, the plan is to do my runs in the morning and lift after work. Perhaps, I’ll pull the trigger and join the riff-raff gym (NYSC) near my job.
2. Trying not to eat like a damn animal. But food and booze are delicious.
3. Reintroducing myself to my running groups. Since the weather is getting a bit cooler, maybe fewer people will run, and I will not feel like I have to throw myself at 80 million folks to start and maintain a simple conversation.
4. Crap there was something but I forgot.

One random thing. Actually two things.

-Last week, it seemed like every post on WordPress was from a BibRave Pro. I submitted an application, but I’m not too hopeful. It seems these types of things are based on social media followers. Well, we’ll see.

-I finally got a new phone. I’ve upgraded from an iPhone SE to an iPhone 11 so I made a multigenerational jump. Two weeks later, I’m finally getting the hang of the phone – I find it a bit bulky. The main thing that I did not consider is how annoying it’s going to be running with this larger phone. My former phone, the SE, fit in my hand and my running shorts perfectly, but this one is a bit more difficult to manage.

Food Pic of the Week

Top of Waikiki (***) 

2270 Kalakaua Ave, Fl. 21st, Honolulu, HI 96815 

Still trying to get back into my blogging schedule.

For our fancy dinner in Hawai’i, the hubby and I dropped by this revolving restaurant that overlooks Waikiki. Eating here probably was one of the better dining excursions that we had in Hawai’i. Don’t even get me started with our luau outing. Talking about the celebration starts at 6pm, but we are not going to serve food until 8:30/9pm. 

One cool thing. Since this is a revolving restaurant, you don’t have to walk to escalators that lead to restrooms. You can wait for the restaurant to make its 360 rotation. Easy, breazy.

Anyway back to Top of Waikiki (ToW)

First, I loved the restaurant’s cocktails. I rarely order fancy, bougie cocktails because they typically have more juice and bullshit than booze. Look, I refuse to pay $15+ for a martini glass full of mixers and “organic” tonic water.

For the most part, ToW’s signature cocktails have about four ingredients. The Fitzgerald in the Lineup was my favorite of the signature cocktails. Y’all know that I love my gin. Actually, this is pretty much the type of beverage that I end up ordering at  “fancy” bars in NYC. Yes, I’m one of those people who orders drinks like this:

Me: Could I have the Ernest Hemmingway Margarita? Buuuut, I would like it without Cointreau, passionfruit juice, ice, or pomegranate-infused mint water.

Bartender: Sooooooo, you just want tequila with a splash of lime juice in a glass.

Me: You got it! But please, go easy on lime juice.

Ok, I slightly lied. I did order the Gummi Bear Martini. It was Halloween, and I was in vacation mode. However, this martini did not have 80 million ingredients in it.

On to the food. 

Paniolo Ribeye

Cioppino

It hurts me to say this as a seafood/shellfish lover, but the steak had the edge. The Ciopinno, which was full of clams, scallops, shrimp, calamari, mussels, and fish (I think it was tuna), lost points with the bland tomato broth. Also, the restaurant does not provide extra bread. Damnit, the hubby is European, and he likes his bread!!!!

The restaurant was quite fun, and our bartender (sorry, mixologist) and waitress were so nice.

If you are ever in the Waikiki area, I highly recommend ToW. Oh, if you get there around 9ish, you can see the nightly fireworks. Oh (part two), one tip when making your reservation. Try to arrive a bit early and have a couple of drinks at the bar for happy hour (5/6 pm to close). You can get the signature cocktails for $9 at the bar, compared to paying $18 for the SAME drinks at the table. We were smart. After our pre-dinner cocktails, we ordered a nice, moderate bottle of wine for the table. I say for “for the table” like there were more than two people. I mean the cocktails were good, but not $18-at-the-bar-when-I-can-pay-$9-at-the-bar good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that I’m cheap.

I think that I had too much beef and pork while vacationing in Hawaii because I earned a new badge on Yelp. 

 

Quick Nonrunner NYC Marathon Review

As most know, I could not run this year’s NYC Marathon due to an injury. I will say that after arriving from Hawaii the Saturday before the marathon, it took all of my strength to cancel my marathon registration. Even though I was not running, I was up for most of the night. I think it was a combination of being on Hawaiian time and having nerves for a race that I was not running. 

On Marathon Sunday, I thought that I was going to be super crabby and attitudie that I was not running. Surprisingly, I was not. I even made to Marcus Garvey to see the elite men pass Mile 22. 

The top three or four men runners

Actually, I would have been a bit pissed if I did not catch the elite runners considering that we live 0.5 blocks from Mile 22. I gotta say that it was an exciting experience spectating the marathon. Besides volunteering at a fluids station once, I have never watched the NYC Marathon in the 18 years that I have lived in NYC. To be perfectly honest, before I started running again, I actively avoided the marathon.

It was so inspirational watching people attempt, meet, and achieve their goals of running a marathon. I have to admit that I got a little misty-eyed while spectating. Maybe I was still in my feelings that I was not running. Maybe it was the crisp autumn air. To make myself feel better, I tracked the other Kwames who were running the marathon. 

Other folks with my name.

 Go Kwame Doh and Kwame Siriboe!!!!

Oh, what a small world. I randomly saw my high school “twin” running the marathon so of course, we gave each other a fist bump.

Outside of Facebook, I have not seen him since 1998. Twin is in quotes because many folks in high school thought we looked alike, which was not the case. We went to a predominately white high school with very few African Americans. I guess all the Black folk “looked alike”. 

I also gotta say that the entertainment at Mile 22nd was on and poppin with all of the old school throwback R&B and Disco Soul songs. It was really a huge party in Harlem. 

Just out here lending a hand.

I really cannot wait until next year’s marathon (it’s going to be NYC Marathon’s 50th birthday); hopefully, I will not be injured this time around.  

Congrats to all of the participants and finishers of TCS NYC Marathon!!!! See you next year . . . I hope.

26.2 reasons to run NYC’s Marathon

In my last post, “26.2 reasons why I’m relieved that I’m not running NYC Marathon”, I was a bit of a hater. Now, that we (technically, y’all) are less than two weeks out from NYC Marathon, I figure that I would spread some positivity…for the most part.

1. It’s the largest marathon in the world. I may need someone to fact check this for me.

2. Most people will never spend a major chunk of time in all five boroughs in one day. I know folks who are from NYC that have not visited all five boroughs.

3. From what I hear, the opening ceremony activities are pretty fun.

4. It’s addicting. After running one, you’ll want to run more.

5. The crowd support is great.

6. The marathon is right after Halloween so you can get leftover trick or treat candy while running.

7. This year’s medal is in the shape of an apple. Feeling major FOMO about this one.

8. You have the opportunity to run alongside celebrities (***). I know the guy from MTV’s Catfish and Tiki Barber regularly run NYC’s Marathon.

9. Free coffee, bagels, and GU’s at the start village. At least they were there last year.

10. For the most part, NYRR makes the process of picking up race materials and travel to the starting village pretty darn simple.

11. You can “brag” about it completing the marathon for the rest of the month and/or year.

12. With the exception of a few bridges, the course is relatively flat. The 59th Street Bridge is a killer for me. But, you can listen to Simon and Garfunkel’s 59th Street Bridge Song for inspiration. 

13. NYRR is pretty good with fluid stations. With the exception of the first three miles (most of which is crossing the Verrazano Bridge), there are fluid stations near every mile.

14. For the past few years, NYC has had nice fall weather. Actually, last year was a bit too warm for me.

15. Free beer around Mile 17.

Beer at Mile 17

16. It will move/inspire/celebrate/motivate you.

17. You’ll have awesome views of different parts of the city.

18. Hearing the roar of the crowd coming off of the 59th Street Bridge and up 1st Avenue will be unforgettable. You’ll need that energy to get you through the Bronx.

19. If you are not a super-fast runner, you can make friends with fellow runners if you need to take a walk break.

20. Some folks will run in some interesting costumes.

21. Getting a steak dinner.

22. The post-marathon expo is really fun. Going forward, I don’t think that I’d pay to have my medal engraved.

23. I’ll be cheering on folks at Mile 22.

24. You’ll get an extra hour of sleep because of daylight saving time.

25. Every start village is like its own NYC party.

26. There are several Facebook groups that can provide advice and tips for this marathon.

0.2. You’ll have an amazing feeling of accomplishment. 

Random Thoughts Thursday

26.2 reasons why I’m relieved that I’m not running NYC Marathon. Hopefully, I will not be a hater for a few of these reasons. 

TBT Marathon Monday 2018

Ha. I guess it was a good thing that I put “maybe” on my Instagram post. 

1. I am not running 26.2 miles.

2. I can sleep in on Marathon Sunday.

3. I’ll be able to root and cheer for folks this year because Mile 22 goes right through my neighborhood. Oh, I get to buy glitter for my signs.

4. I probably can schedule my toe surgery and have time to recover before training for Madrid’s marathon.

5. No Marathon Monday soreness.

6. No painful post-marathon shower. It’s over for me once the soap and water hit the areas of chaffing. 

7. I can have a beer while watching the runners. Well . . . technically, I usually have a few shots of beer while running the marathon.

8. Since I can defer my registration, I do not have to worry about completing my 9+1 for guaranteed entry into next year’s marathon. This is important because the marathon was supposed to be one of my 9+1 races and I am NOT doing that NYE midnight run again. I know this is bad, but I did (for a millisecond) consider selling my marathon bib. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that you are not supposed to do this. 

9. Once the hip fully heals (hopefully in a few weeks), my running motivation will be restored. Usually, after the NYC Marathon, I do not want to think about running until mid to late January. Maybe this will be the year (technically 2020) that I will run NYRR’s Fred Lebow Half Marathon, which will be held on Jan. 19, 2020.

Man, coming up with 26.2 reasons is tough. 

10. No worrying about having to use a porta-potty.

11. No post-marathon blues. I’m already dealing with the ‘I’m injured and cannot run’ blues.

12. I will not have to deal with the Marathon expo. I’m not really a large crowd, massive lines kind of guy. But, I do like taking this picture.

TBT: NYC Marathon Expo 2018

13. My friends and coworkers will be glad that I’m not going to be constantly talking about the marathon. However, it is a great way to make a conversation about yourself . . . unless you are in a group of marathon runners. 

14.  I will not have to deal with walking another half of a mile (at least) after the marathon to get my bag. Yeah, I know that it would have been easier to get the poncho. But, I like doing the bag check because I take a shower at my gym after the marathon and change into my “hanging out, let’s get some gin” clothes. Also, I need to have my post-marathon smoke.

15. No running across the 59th Street Bridge, which always has been a thorn in my side.

16. No stressing out about flying from Hawai’i to NYC the day before the marathon.

17. If I wake up early enough, I can see the top, elite marathon runners in action.

18. No falling short of time goals. I guess not running the marathon is technically falling short of a time goal.

19. Not running this year (hopefully) will make me want it more in 2020.

20. I guess that I do not have to buy new tennis shoes.

21. I probably will have a nice sleep the night before the marathon. Last year, I think that I only got only 3 hours of sleep the night before NYC Marathon.

22. No eye-rolling on the Staten Island Ferry bus to Staten Island. I cannot stand people who are super chipper first thing in the morning.

23. No bloody nips.

24. No constantly dropping F-bombs after mile 21. Once the marathon hits Manhattan for the second time (Mile ~20), I’m pretty much over the entire thing. 

25. I’m going to my favorite Seafood restaurant on Marathon Monday.

26. No monitoring what I eat 48-72 hours before the marathon. Actually, did I ever do that?

0.2. Who wants a heavy medal anyway? 😉