Should You Run a Marathon: Post NYC Marathon

All smiles at mile 7

Last year, I ran what I said would be my one and done - one marathon and that's it. But it was such a great experience, I was suckered into doing it again.

A grey day, but far from bleak

How to get into the NYC marathon

Running the iconic NYC marathon has bemuse so popular that yo have to enter a lottery, or qualify by running 9  New York Road Runners races and volunteering, or do a charity run. I love to bike, so I decided to join Team TransAlt and raise money for Transportation Alternatives.

This became especially poignant when a terrorist attack on the bike path of the West Side Highway killed multiple cyclists.

The countdown has already begun to 2018!

Throughout the run, total strangers cheered Transportation Alternatives. Since it rained through most of the day, and my name peeled off my hat and shirt, it was nice to have that identifier and connection with random marathon watchers.

NYC as one

After 9/11, New Yorkers banded together, grieved together, and maybe became a bit more neighborly. The marathon also displays this resilient spirit. It seems like the whole city lines the streets. People spend their own money to buy bananas and oranges and offer them to runners.

On my way to and from the expo on Marathon Monday, strangers congratulated me and every finisher I passed shared a smile with me. Even going home from the marathon, I was offered a free subway ride (then I promptly lost my unlimited Metrocard!).

Would I run again? Never say never.

A Day in the Country: Thanks Lexus Performance!

The 2017 Lexus RC F fits in with fall foliage

Traffic around New York City can be so bad that many New Yorkers are tempted to stay put. Why venture below 14th St if you are happily ensconced on the Upper East Side, or explore Queens when you live in Brooklyn?

For that matter, why leave the city at all?

Well, when you handed the keys to a $100,000 Lexus performance car, you need to get on the open road. The speed limit on New York City streets is 25 mph, and on highways, it tops out at 50.  If you can even go that fast.

But on a recent drive to Beacon, only an hour or so outside the city, we were able to go 60 miles per hour! Woo hoo.

The 2017 Lexus GS F also looks great

I drove up in the 2017 Lexus GS F and back in the orange hued Lexus RC F sports coupe, which is a relative bargain. It's starting price is only $64,165.

I was excited about our lunch spot, the newly reopened Roundhouse in Beacon. In fact, the restaurant hadn't even officially opened when we went there, so we had a preview menu that offered great vegetarian choices.

The appetizer: make this for Thanksgiving!

The soup was brought to the table with just the dry ingredients; the rest was poured in table side 

The heirloom pumpkin bisque was a must; we got a bowl with some pomegranate seeds, bits of wild mushroom "marmalade," granola and a dried swiss chard leaf. Then the rich soup was poured in table side. A dramatic flourish for a delicious soup.

I made pumpkin soup for Thanksgiving, and some years, I have scattered the top with a swirl of pomegranate molasses, chopped chives and mascarpone. Then I wipe the sides of the bowl with a dish towel and give everyone a perfect Instagram-ready serving. Other times I dump a ladle full of soup in each bowl and call it day.

This year we have 28 for Thanksgiving. Guess which option I'll choose?

Second course

Roasted and raw cauliflower over a rich puree of...cauliflower

Cauliflower has become one of my most versatile vegetables. I roast it, make a rice of it that is great for a gluten free pizza crust, puree it in soups. I've also roasted it whole, which makes a great vegetarian main course.

At The Roundhouse, we had 'cauliflower variations" - it was roasted, pureed, and carpaccio, (aka raw) with parmesan, lemon and pistachio.

My kids favorite was is when I break the cauliflower into florets, dump on some olive oil and salt, and roast it till it's caramelized and soft.  Broccoli also takes to this treatment well.

I would love to spend a little more time in one of the Lexus sports cars to see the art at Dia: Beacon and try more of the local produce featured at the Roundhouse.

Note: I was a guest of Lexus, which paid for my lunch. I was not otherwise compensated; opinions and calories were all my own.

Free in NY: Watch a Taping of Kevin Can Wait

With Kevin James and Erinn Hayes

Broadway ticket prices go for hundreds of dollars, but you can see free live theater in New York if you plan in advance, reserving tickets to a taping of a television show. This is truly live theater; shows are filmed in front of an audience and an emcee keeping things lively.

One of the perks of blogging is being invited to special behind-the-scenes events, like a recent opportunity I had to go to the set of Kevin Can Wait and meet the stars, Kevin James and Erinn Hayes, and director. But anyone can go online and see a show being taped, for free.

Seat from Shea Stadium!

This is a common experience in Los Angeles, where most television shows are taped. My husband’s cousin is a writer and we’ve gotten to go on set a few times. Back home in New York, we’ve seen the Rachael Ray show and Martha Stewart; both of these are great because they often come with swag. No, not Oprah-sized gifts, but things like cookbooks, aprons, kitchen utensils and food.

At the Kevin Can Wait taping, the studio audience is often treated to fresh pizza. If you haven’t watched the CBS show, (which moves this week to a new time slot, 8 pm ET on Mondays) the main character hangs out at a pizza restaurant. To keep the show authentic, pizza is sent in whenever there’s a restaurant scene.

Long Island, for real

What also keeps the show authentic is filming it on Long Island, where the show is set and where the star, Kevin James, grew up. His last show, King of Queens, was set nearby, but filmed in California; in Kevin Can Wait, the sense of place is palpable.

Kevin loves the Mets

Kevin, a notorious Mets fan, (both the actor and the character) has a stage home filled with Mets and other local sports teams’ memorabilia; actual seats from the old Mets home, Shea stadium, pennants from the Knicks, Jets’ knick knacks.

The Halloween episode (which actually airs ON Halloween; again, at 8pm ET) even guest stars a current Mets player, Noah Syndergaard. Of course, if the Mets had made it past the wild card this year, we would be watching the Mets play in the World Series, but there’s always next year - if Kevin can wait, so can I.

Kosher Cooking for All

In New York, it sometimes seems that everyone is Jewish – or knows someone who is. The homeless man in my neighborhood wished me a good yom tov (good day) on Rosh Hashanah and local stores have special Passover and Hanukkah menus each year.

If you are looking to cook for a Jewish holiday, a Shabbat meal, or just everyday Kosher, you could do worse than Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes.

Written by Jamie Geller, the book has recipes that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a Kosher cookbook – smashed red potato nachos or miso-glazed salmon. These are easy to make, delicious dishes whatever your religious persuasion.

I particularly liked the tips for making the recipes simpler for everyday, or dressed up for entertaining.  There are also suggested wine pairings throughout.

While many of the dishes are meat – my grandparents didn’t think it was a meal unless there was a huge hunk of animal protein – there are quite a few vegetarian choices. The faux chopped liver, with mushrooms and walnuts, yielded such a look and feel of chopped liver that I was transported back to my grandmother’s kitchen.

And if you are trying to cut down on saturated fats, the olive oil dark chocolate mousse or gooey chocolate cherry cake are wonderful desserts for anyone.

For those without a Bubbie (Jewish grandmother), there are holiday menus, and a Hebrew/Yiddish glossary. And for anyone who has been invited to a seder and doesn’t know what to make, there are Passover ‘adjustments’ to many recipes.

So nu, what are you waiting for?

Brooklyn Bourbon: Widow Jane

For the most part, I take my bourbon neat. It seems a shame to muck up great bourbon with anything else.

Especially when that bourbon is Red Hook’s Widow Jane.

But the guys at Cacao Prieto have come up with an intriguing variation on the classic cocktail, Blood In The Sand.

This drink is usually equal parts Scotch, cherry brandy, sweet vermouth, and orange juice.

In the version to be served at Brooklyn Shaken & Stirred, the drink will be made with Punt e Mes vermouth, OJ, orange zest and an outlier, Gran Classico.

This Italian bitter, similar to Campari, (one of my favorite drinks) should add just the right bitter note to the cocktail.

Hey, we’re New Yorkers. We live in small homes and have rats in our playgrounds. We have the right to be bitter.

And if the drink overwhelms the bourbon, I think they are also offering unadorned tastes.

Royal Family: the New New York Palace

While the world awaits the royal baby in London, The New York Palace has unveiled its newly renovated Royal Suite.

This palatial suite, larger than most NYC apartments, and costing more per night than most starting salaries - per year! - is how the top 1% of the 1% of the 1% live.

I got to experience this luxury for a few hours on a sweltering NYC summer night. Perched high above Madison Avenue, the subway a distant memory, I drank in all the details (plus super cold white wine).

The 3600 square foot suite has three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a dining room, living room, and sitting rooms, all on the 45th floor. There is a pantry where your staff can serve meals; we had canapes, cheese and our unfulfilled dreams.

The antique barber chair in one of the bathrooms is a great touch.

For an evening, we were all royalty.

Skinny Jeans in Portland: Staying Fit

To fit in in Portland, you literally have to fit in - to skinny jeans. But with popular calorie bombs like Voodoo Doughnuts and Blue Star Donuts tempting you, your exercise regimen cannot take a back seat.

Thankfully for my bottom line, I stayed at the Hotel Monaco, which has a fully equipped fitness center. There were a couple of treadmills and elliptical trainers, with their own screens (one only seemed to play CNN but maybe that is a better choice for keeping my mind fit than Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

There were weight machines, free weights, weighted balls, barbells, foam rollers, stability balls and a bosu ball.

The gym also had a couple of mats, including a cushy one for gymnastics, plenty of soft towels and cold water, along with headphones.

I also liked the eco touch of a light sensor, so when I went there at 6am (still on New York time) the lights were off.

Radisson Hotel Utica: delivers on fitness

When I heard that the Radisson Hotel Utica had recently renovated its fitness center, I looked forward to staying there. The hotel, in upstate New York, has an indoor pool; on our visit over Memorial Day, it was 43 degrees and raining the whole time. So an outdoor pool would have an extremely short season.

And any other outdoor activity was curtailed, even though it was late May.

So we headed to the gym, a basement space with plenty of room. There were new treadmills and elliptical trainers, with individual TVs, a full array of Life Fitness weight machines, free weights and stability balls.

There were also mats, with space to use them, towels and water. 

It wasn't the most inspiring place - the blank walls could use some decoration, but it was more than ample.

The hotel also offers a free breakfast buffet on weekdays, though oddly of the four rooms our group reserved, only one was given the breakfast coupons. Free breakfast is one of our favorite family friendly amenities.

The Radisson has an elaborate Sunday brunch, with free-flowing champagne and made to order omelets.

Fitness on high: Grand Hyatt New York

The rooftop fitness center at the Grand Hyatt New York lives up to its lofty perch and noble name. This is a gym where you can find almost every piece of equipment you require to complete your fitness regimen.

The fitness center has stationary bicycles, treadmills and elliptical trainers, all with individual TV screens and iPod docks that charge your iPhone or iPod while you sweat.

There are stability balls, a bosu ball and a punching bag, with an assortment of gloves.

Other equipment includes mats (though not a whole lot of room to stretch) and along with weight benches, free weights and weight machines. There are also kettle bells, medicine balls with handles, body bars and resistance bands.

Amenities include piles of soft towels, chilled towels, headphones and water.

Fitness Challenge: Plank Pilates

Many gyms have classes they label Pilates, but few have the Pilates set up that a boutiques gym like Plank Pilates offers. This small storefront, around the corner from the Whole Foods Bowery, has space for 5 in its personalized classes, with padded stations, springs and bars.

I tried the Plank360 class, incorporating classic Pilates 9the 'Pilates 100,' a soft ball squeezed between your thighs and resistance work using the bars and springs, with cardio bursts. Throughout the workout, we did jumping jacks, suat jumps and running step ups to get our heartbeat up - then moved into planks, push ups and crunches. The gym also has tower classes, of just Pilates. The subterranean lounge has a light well in the staircase, and organic products in the rest room. You can take a jar of cucumber and lemon infused water to hydrate during your workout, and make tea and read magazine after. The tiny gym offers a great intro to Pilates, and is an antidote to crowded NYC mega-gyms.

Fitness Challenge, Day 96

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program, and many gyms around New York are affiliated with it. CrossFit718 has one hour small group training sessions, with a coach and up to 10 participants in each class. The classes, which vary each time, include short bursts of intense activity, like using a medicine ball to squat, throw and catch. Do this enough times and your quads will be screaming. At the intro class I took, we were encouraged to reach a goal, and record our times or reps. This way, you can track improvement over time. My class included a 3-5 minute run (depending on your speed) with that same medicine ball, and a punishing routine of pushups, squats and sit ups. The bare bones gym is stocked with towels and a water cooler, and you might even be offered a banana at the end of your workout. Advanced athletes can try kettle bells, Olympic lifting and endurance training.

Fitness Challenge: Day 91

Shopping is a sport, though in New York, it can be more of a blood sport. If you want to work out, and shop, the Westin Galleria Dallas is close to the huge mall, and has a the signature Westin WORKOUT gym.

The hotel is actually considered part of the Galleria complex, though it is nearly impossible to walk from one to the other. We tried, but not only was it over 100 degrees, there was also nowhere towalk.

So we confined our aerobic exercise to the air conditioned gym. The smallish gym, overlooking the outdoor pool, had state of the art cardio machines, a bosu ball and stability ball and free weights.

I forgot my headphones, but a Westin employee offered to go the front desk and returned with headphones for me.

On the Lookout: Funny Road Signs

Visitors to New York are probably confused about many of our street signs. There are alternate sign street parking signs, no standing signs, and no parking on school days signs (does this apply in summer? After private school lets out if the sign is near a private school or do you have to wait till NYC public schools are out?).

We like to look for funny traffic signs when we are traveling. In New York, we are unlikely to see a duck crossing or tractor crossing sign, both of which we’ve seen.

In London, a sign warms us the ‘Mind the Gap.” I really don’t mind it.

Other unusual road signs include turtle crossing and the grammatically incorrect Stop Men Working. Should we stop the men we see from working? Allow the women to continue working?
Brought to you by your friends at SafetySign.com

Fitness Challenge: Day 68

Almost every day, websites like Groupon, Living Social and Bloomspot offer bargain-hunting New Yorkers discount fitness classes. You can get yourself a nice assortment of gym passes and classes.

I just sampled NYC Boot Camp, an outdoor boot camp that meets in Coney Island, Battery Park City, and down the street from me in Prospect Park.

The founder, Alan, uses playground equipment, hills and steps in the hour long workouts.

My favorite exercise was a TRX-style chest pull, using the playground swings. Without kids on them. We also did pull ups on the climbing equipment, burpees and triceps dips from the benches, and walking lunges through the park.

The partner exercises get you invested in someone else’s success. In one innovative exercise, one person did crunches; the other,
holding her feet down, held a plank.

Your face was basically stuck in someone else’s sneakers, but since you are bear crawling across the playground and running in park where animals defecate, the smell of your partner’s feet is the least of your worries.

We got wet, (it was raining) dirty and winded. It was a great workout.

De Luxe Coffee ups the ante in Brooklyn

Being rude has a certain cachet in New York. We are brusque because we can be.

Yet, places like De Luxe, a new coffee bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn, belie that rudeness. See, under this facade, we really are nice. Ok, maybe not you, gross seat hogger on the F train, but certainly the owners of De Luxe.

Everyone is greeted warmly at this small coffee shop, and if you stay, you can sip coffee from an aqua cup - and get a free refill. The coffee is rich and delicious. No chemist perfectly calibrating the bean to water ratio, just an honest cup of joe.

There is a small selection of pastries and donuts. And if you come at lunch, you can have a delicious, reasonably priced sandwich. To go, the sandwiches are wrapped in brown butcher paper and you feel like you're in a small shop in France. In 1948.

Although I'm not a hard-bolied egg fan, the sandwich with cheddar and arugula sounded interesting, and for only $5, it was a true bargain to boot. There is also a hummus sandwich, sparked with pickle and arugula ($7) and tuna, also with pickles and roasted red peppers ($9).

But the hands-down winner is a ricotta, fig and truffled honey sandwich, for $6. A perfect vegetarian lunch

Family Vacation: the postcard

The US Post Office’s fortunes nose dived with the popularity of email and posting vacation photos on Facebook, but a pretty strong contingent still sends family vacation postcards.

I love getting those postcards, which usually reveal nothing about the vacation itself (having a great time! Wish you were here!) but provide travel porn on the reverse side.

You pick an iconic souvenir postcard: the Statue of Liberty when you visit New York, Big Ben for that family vacation in London, the Great Barrier Reef for Australia.

But how cool would it be to take your own family vacation photo and make your own postcard? You can do just that with custom postcard printing.

You can send these out after the family vacation, or use them for holiday cards.
And you can get them free! Just leave a comment below and be entered to win 100 free custom postcards.

Family vacation not included.

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Fitness Challenge: Day 60

Although I am no longer a member of New York Sports Clubs, I have a lot of free passes given to while I was one.

I checked out the New York Sports Clubs at 91st St and 3rd Ave, which has a large pool and an atrium where spin classes are held.

I have never liked the cave-like atmosphere at most spin classes, which are held in dark, interior rooms with the lights turned off. The heat generated by all the stationery bikes is overwhelming enough; why do we need to be in a dark, crowded room as well.

At this gym, we basked in the sunshine while sweating away. The music was thumping, my heart was pumping, but I didn't have that claustrophobic feel I usually have in spin.

Gastronomie 491 Satisfies a Wide Range of Hungry New Yorkers

The new Gastronomie 491, on the Upper West Side, offers take out and sit down meals, at a counter or small seating area in the rear.

The specialty market/cafe is perfect for families looking for a quick meal, and looking to satisfy a variety of tastes. There are paninis, Mediterranean sanwiches called pan bagnats, and entrees like a spice encrusted wild salmon and shrimp with a chickpea puree. Lighter appetites can have tapas or mezze plates.

The chef, Steven Gutterman, is sensitive to special food needs. Many of the dishes are gluten free, and vegetarians can find satisfying fare like a vegetable trio of braised feel, peperonata and broccoli rabe, or one with an orange date salad, Israeli couscous and brussels sprouts. Salads are fresh and filling.

Produce is local and organic, and the cheese selection focuses on small producers. You can also shop for a well-curated selection of jams, chocolates and coffee and tea.

Equal care has gone into the selection of craft beers, which can be drunk in the café or taken home. There are even 2 beers on tap. And a gluten free beer.

Now that spring is here, you cam take food from Gastronomie 491 to Central Park and dine al fresco.

Fitness Challenge: Day 46

24 Hour Fitness Midtown has a huge subterranean space with such high ceilings that you don't feel like you are underground. On the street level entry floor, there is a cafe and a small area with a TRX station.

The 4 foot deep pool is appealing; little danger of going underwater here. And there is a large studio next to a spin room, bright, clean locker rooms and plenty of space to do whatever exercise floats your boat.

I check out a class called 30-60-90. It has nothing to do with right angles. We do a series of exercises for 30 seconds: push-ups, squats, bicep curls. Then again for 60 seconds.

And then, yes, for 90 seconds.

The only problem with the intense, hour-long class; it ends just as spin gets out, and there's a line for showers.

And Derek Jeter is the spokesperson for the club; painful for a New York Mets fan.

But not as painful as 90 seconds of burpees.

Fitness Challenge: Day 39

What a difference a few blocks makes.

New York Health & Racquet Club on West 56th St is a thoroughly modern gym, unlike its more dated sibling just a few blocks downtown.

Same basic set-up, with a glorious, large pool in the basement. Same attended locker rooms and amenities.

But upstairs - state-of-the-art equipment, from elliptical machines with individual screens to my personal fave, bosu balls.

And a huge variety of classes. This may be why, at the same time as the New York Health & Racquet Club I went to yesterday, this club was packed, and the other nearly empty.

But not too crowded. Just minutes before a noon-time spin or boot camp, you could get a spot in either. I'd forgotten my water bottle, so I decided boot camp would be easier.

And more like the Marines, who can train for over 45 minutes without needing to hydrate.

I soaked my tired muscles afterward in the hot tub, then used that cool little spinner to extract the water from my bathing suit.