I had a great start to my running and fitness in 2017 with that afore-mentioned New Year’s Day treadmill run (right after seeing Star Wars Rogue One which got me inspired to get buff and rock climb and be able to hang from ledges while saving the day). Then I predictably have fallen off a bit. I ended up not racing the first couple of weeks, but still have the Fred Lebow Half to look forward to on 2/22/16. I plan to run but not race it, but haven’t decided on a pace at all. Somewhere between 9:30-10:45 for sure. TBD.

My real next goal race (so far, 10K TBD) is the NYC Half on March 19th. I’m following a modified Hal Higdon Novice 2/Intermediate 1 plan and trying to increase my mileage since I’m technically already at week 4 of 12 as of writing this on 1/15/16. Eek!

Some two-week highlights:

Monday 1/2: An amazing brunch at Butter & Scotch, where I spent part of New Year’s Eve. Their biscuits are just as amazing as their cakes, cookies, and cocktails. I had the fried chicken sandwich, pictured below with a side salad. We got the first slice of (caramel apple) pie of the New Year, so it was on the house. Even better! Evening PureBarre class. It was easier to hold plank the whole time, but push-ups were still a struggle.

Wednesday 1/4: Ramen Shack for lunch. I have never had a better soft-boiled egg in my life (or in my ramen). I’ll be a repeat visitor here for sure.

Thursday 1/5: SpeedWork; 10 x 200 m repeats. Not going to lie, I was very excited about this workout. I didn’t bother using my watch because I knew I would mess them up between the lap-stop and the 200 m recovery periods. Reyes Deli tacos for dinner afterward, which of course I have no pictures of.

Friday 1/6: Only including this for the dessert count. Got the trio at Luke’s Lobster, so 1/2 each of a shrimp roll, crab roll, and lobster roll. But then we went wild at Billy’s Bakery at closing and got 2 types of cake and a banana nutella cupcake, most of which was consumed while watching Shark Tank and Don’t Think Twice.

Saturday 1/7: My best day of running and food for the year so far. 8 miles run, which included 1 solo mile, 2 with a friend in the park, 4 along the trails around the park in the increasing snow, and 1 cool-down mile home. Then friends came over and we baked an Atlantic Beach Pie. THEN I had the amazing porchetta and duck banh mi at Mekelberg’s with some beer. Then cocktails at Dick & Jane.

Monday 1/9: Tower Barre at A*Line Pilates, a new-to-me studio in Carroll Gardens. It was a neat mix of tower pilates to start, then the more traditional lower body barre moves at the end. The studio was beautiful and intimate and I loved the instructor. Definitely coming back here for pilates, even though I’m at beginner level.

Tuesday 1/10: I ran, but only 2 miles and ended at Whole Foods. I bought a FarmBox from work for the first time ($15 for a big bag of produce, mostly local and in season purchased from smaller farms). This was enough to make a seitan-tomato-brown rice-kale-feta grain bowl that night then kabocha squash red curry with kale on Wednesday.

Thursday 1/12: SpeedWork was 4 x 800 repeats. I took the first one too hard (3:51), then almost kept it up for the second (3:56) before needing to pull over at the 550m mark on the 3rd and try not to ralph. Whoops! Major positive split for the last one as well (4:13). I was overdressed and it was very humid, which did not help matters. The good news is I had a delicious fried chicken sandwich with tots and fried macaroni & cheese balls for dinner after at the new Gnarly Eats.

Friday 1/13: PureBYK 45 minute spin class at BYKLYN. It was too late to cancel this without getting charged after my speed debacle Thursday night, so I took it pretty easy with the resistance compared to the previous time. I then wolfed down a barbacoa burrito from Chipotle for lunch and donated blood in the afternoon before having a Peter Pan donut and dinner at Hail Mary. Had to try the deep-fried burrata and their 3-layer birthday cake…

Saturday 1/14: Since I was baking Butter & Scotch’s 3-layer birthday cake with friends the next day. This was a lot of work, from cutting up the butter to making a meringue to assembling the 3 layers, plus mixing up a cream cheese frosting. I definitely need a third cake pan because my pie dish caused one layer to be slightly misshapen. But after some refrigeration, this really came together and was a success. Restorative yoga afterward at Shambhala Yoga.

Sunday 1/15: 10 miles along the Bay (Sheepshead), beach (Manhattan and Brighton-adjacent), and boardwalk (Coney Island) with a running club friend. I felt pretty good considering I hadn’t covered this distance since the marathon. We kept the pace in high 10’s and low 11’s which was made easier by all of the ice and snow on the sidewalks and boardwalks. Miraculously, neither of us fell! We then got Roll N Roaster for lunch; classic roast beef sandwiches, cheese fries, and a lemonade for me. I’ve been wanting to hit up this spot for years. Then second brunch at Building on Bond where I got a full English Breakfast.

Dinner was at Chumley’s where my friend who knows the chef and I ordered half the menu.

Total miles: 12 miles and 1 class the week of 1/2-1/9, 16 miles and 3 classes the week of 1/10-1/15. AKA totally not ready to race Fred Lebow, but a start to my half marathon base.

Total desserts: 14? There was a donut I didn’t mention, but no ice cream these two weeks.