I (Heart) New York

I was in New York City this weekend to run the MORE half marathon with cousins GO and EH. My trip started with a ride to NYC with Vamoose Bus. It was the fastest trip from DC to NYC that I had taken in awhile. We left at 8am and I was off the bus headed to packet pick-up in Chelsea by 11:45am! Since I had some time, I thought I'd meander to 18th street between 6th and 7th Ave. I was trying to find 'wichcraft so I could have a sandwich. Instead, I stumbled on a Chelsea neighborhood fair.

My first stop food-wise was a Thai food stand's Fried Banana. After that I went and got a vegetable pancake from the Korean stand. I saved the best for last. A guacamole taco.

It was guacamole tortilla with guacamole, jalapeno, tomatoes, red onion and crispy duck skin. Since I'm still in my Year of Veggies, I had mine sans skin. Still it was quite tasty.
But it was the fact that they had everything from pickles

to Fried Oreos (Yes, Fried Oreos. You'll be surprised to hear that - while tempted -- I passed on that one. It was 5 for $6. I just wanted one.) and grilled meats of all kinds. There was one that spun around over an open flame.


The Half Marathon took place on Sunday morning. It was a hot Sunday morning. Hot enough for the race organizers to cancel the marathon and turn the half into a "fun run." I don't how anyone could refer to 13.1 miles as a fun run, but there it is. Basically, the course was not timed. They took our chips and the timing mats off the course. Still, they actually made it a bit more stressful because they were putting a time limit on the course of about 3 hours and telling people that if they couldn't do 7 miles in 1:40 that they should stop after one loop. I was pushing myself a bit harder than I think I would have otherwise. I finished in about 2:26 and some change. GO and EH also finished the full 13.1 miles and I'm just happy that they aren't suing me for cruel and unusual punishment!