Photo of the Day: Race Day
Today I participated in the
Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research 2010 at Central Park with a team from church. Once a month, the fellowship groups select an activity or ministry that serves the community, and we decided that joining a 5K and raising money for a worthwhile cause would be both fun and beneficial. Though the forecast predicted high winds and overcast skies, the weather was absolute perfection today, and after a week of sitting in a cubicle, I was more than ready to spend time in the beautiful outdoors and get moving.
The first mile was fairly easy, the second challenging, the third downright brutal. Right as I was starting to tire during the final mile, I fortunately ran into one of my colleagues, who kept me motivated and accountable to finish strong, even encouraging me to sprint the last stretch to the finish line. Though I only have trained once since arriving in New York, I did respectably, coming in at a final time of 23:44, or just under eight minutes a mile, which met the personal goal I had set for myself.
After the race, we decided to go down to the Lower East Side for lunch to hit up the fantastic
Grub Street Food Festival hosted by
New York Magazine, who assembled their favorite and best-reviewed street eats for the event. I wish I had known in advance and done some research because I was completely floored and overwhelmed by the quantity of delicious food. It has to be one of my all-time favorite culinary experiences in the city so far. I ended up getting to try:
- a decadently succulent lobster roll from Luke's Lobster
- a Korean taco stuffed with barbecued beef, cucumbers, slaw, and kim chi from Pako Taco
- a "double," or fried bread filled with curried chickpeas and tamarind sauce, from Gloria's
- panna cotta with 10-year-aged balsamic vinegar from Il Buco
- a cream soda from P&H Soda Co.
Not a bad haul, right? But then I went and looked online
here and
here and saw all that I missed, and it made me want to cry a little bit. I literally had to slurp back some involuntary drool as I was reading the list. Ah, well, there's always more great food to be had in the culinary cornucopia that is New York City. Sometimes, I love this town. I also had my first celebrity sighting today, though I wasn't even aware of it at the time: one of the characters on the Bravo reality series
The Real Housewives of New York City was filming at the festival, but I don't know which one because I have not seen the show.
All that before 2 p.m. today. I'm home now, and it looks like the rest of today will be spent blissfully curled up in bed with my TV shows. Thank God for weekends!
 |
| A pretty autumn morning in Central Park = perfect running weather. |
 |
| One of the runners gives supporters high fives as he crosses the finish line. |
 |
| Post-run loitering. |
 |
| Noshing on the abundant free post-run snacks, including fruit, donuts, bagels, coffee, tea, and juice. |
 |
| Live music and a Manhattan skyline backdrop. |
 |
| Participants slowly trickle back into the staging area as they complete the run. |
 |
| Pretty pink flowers on sale at the farmers' market. |
 |
| Foodies stand in line for some of the best-reviewed street food in the city. |
 |
| The mouthwatering lobster and crab rolls from the Luke's Lobster booth. |
 |
| My lobster half-roll cost $8, but the tender, succulent seafood was worth every penny. |
 |
| Watching the chefs behind the scenes at Pako Taco, featuring Korean fusion. |
 |
| Korean tacos with barbecued beef, kim chi, cucumber, slaw, and sauce. |
 |
| "Doubles," or fried bread stuffed with curried chickpeas and tamarind sauce, at Gloria's. |
 |
| Panna cotta topped with 10-year-aged balsamic vinegar from Il Buco. |
That lobster and crab roll sure sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteoh, sooooo good. if you come visit, i'll have to find where i can buy it outside of the festival and try it out. but it's probably pretty high in cholesterol...haha.
ReplyDeleteJOSH! you go into detail about the food festival during our skype conversation and totally didn't mention your 5K! 8 mins a mile is awesome. i am so super proud of you!
ReplyDeleteoh right, haha. meh, it was something to do this weekend...highlight was the FOOD! hehe, i want to work up to 10k, or maybe half marathon by this year.
ReplyDeleteyeah...I believe you can do half marathon by spring! Train yourself from now though!
ReplyDeletethat's awesome, seriously. are you doing any organized training?
ReplyDeleteHaha, thank you for the support, but no, I don't have an organized training regimen in the works. Not to mention once winter hits, I'll be hibernating indoors. But seriously, no comments about the food? That's the best part!
ReplyDelete23 minutes?? That's awesome. My first 5k I ran 34 minutes. I'm such a slowpoke.
ReplyDeleteThe food looks so good... atleast you ran off maybe a 1/4 of those calories in the 5K. How much did your team end up fund raising?
34 minutes is not bad at ALL for a first-time 5k. Believe me, there were several perfectly fit people in our group who took well beyond that time.
ReplyDeleteOur team raised more than $1,000! No thanks to me, I'm afraid....
haha, laura- 34 minutes is awesome! i walked one with a few friends .. i just know that we finished way over an hour ;-P. and 23 minutes boggles my mind. haha
ReplyDeletehmmm... korean tacos... interesting. what's that white sauce they drizzled on top? you know, i think i would drool over this food more if i could imagine what it would taste like. i trust you that it was good, and the pictures look yummy, but i have no idea what panna cotta or tamarind curried chickpeas taste like in order to imagine the splendors. and we all know how i feel about lobster. :-P
i remember reading the sauce on the menu, but i can no longer remember what it was anymore. I can see your point...perhaps I should have gone with more traditional foods, haha. and so sad about you and lobster...how i pity you. =P
ReplyDeletehaha.. nah, might as well embrace the experience and try all the unique foods you won't find elsewhere! .. i wish i enjoyed seafood. everyone else loves it and this makes me suspect that i'm missing out. but at least my wallet appreciates it :-P
ReplyDeleteyou are. but it does. =)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Running and great food :) You could totally train for a half by next year.. I aspire to do something like that too..
ReplyDeleteYup, this was a good day. :) I think I could do a half hopefully next year, but from what I hear of winters in New York, I probably will excuse myself from training for a few months, hehe.
ReplyDelete