Run Run Run

The past couple weeks, a lot has been going on so running had to be put on hold temporarily. Two weeks ago, I passed my certification exam. This allows me to fit running into my schedule and I could not be any more excited. I'm beginning to run three to four times a week again.

August 12th was 6.3 miles along the Hudson River in Downtown Albany. The time was a little over fifty minutes with a pace or just under eight minutes. Despite the humidity and toughness, I managed to get through it. Not pleased with the times but it was wonderful getting outside for a run before the storm came through the area (7:49, 7:33, 7:45, 7:59, 8:14, 8:25, 2:22). I added two miles on the way back to my vehicle for the cool down segment (8:35 and 8:30).

A few days later, I went out for six miles and the times were much better and not as erratic (7:51, 7:29, 7:34, 7:34, 7:35, 7:41). The time was 45:49 with an average pace of 7:38.

A couple days ago, I was unsure if I should do a run because of the weather. Luckily, the weather held up for the most part and decided to squeeze a run in. 7.5 miles total including getting soaked the last mile. My time was a little over fifty-nine minutes with a pace of 7:53. The times were erratic but I can definitely feel the momentum and strength returning to form (7:51, 7:39, 7:46, 7:59, 8:15, 7:58, 7:45, 3:53).

At the time of this writing, no races coming up for me soon but I plan on doing another marathon next year. It is good to start training and gain some momentum for the upcoming months. Yes, it is a short update but happy running.

-Matt

Vegan Five One Eats #5

Another installment features a local business here in Saratoga Springs. Vital Eats LLC was apart of  Markets at Round Lake this past weekend. I was very excited that this eatery offered vegan options. Even though they only offered a limited menu, I was in the mood for a quick meal for dinner Saturday evening. At their food stand, they offered curly fries, falafels, veggie burgers, and salads. Trying to recall if I had a falafel before, I chose that with some curly fries.

The falafel contained organic greens, sesame slaw, ginger pickle carrot, and tzatziki. I put So Cheezy sauce on the falafel. For the fries, I used King Ghost Ketchup-Inferno and King Kick-Sriracha Ketchup for dipping.

Let me tell you, Vital Eats knocked the sandwich out of the park and the fries were absolutely delicious. Not sure if they compare to my favorite, sweet potato fries, but I was satisfied. The ketchups were very spicy but that has never stopped me. Since I already mentioned a few condiments, Vital Eats have a wide variety of sauces that you can put on your vegan dishes. I sampled all of them at the Round Lake event and they spice me up. Want to get saucy? You can purchase their condiments online. If you live in the capital region, you can find their products at these locations.

For more information, check out their spicy content (it's not dirty, I promise!) and make sure to visit their booth at the Troy River Front Farmers Market every Saturday. They are also at the Saratoga Springs Farmers Market every Saturday and Sunday (Spa City/ State Park).

Thank you very much Vital Eats for providing amazing food during the festival. Also, thank you to everyone that helped put on Markets at Round Lake. I had an amazing time walking around a quaint village exploring all the local food, arts, and craft businesses.

Get social with Vital Eats: Instagram and Facebook #vitaleatsllc
Markets at Round Lake: Instagram and Facebook #marketsatroundlake

Happy Living

+ Matt

Firecracker 4 run

Happy Independence everybody. This morning, I participated in the 11th annual Firecracker 4 race. For the eleventh year, Saratoga Springs hosted a tough four mile race through downtown. Where would you rather be on the fourth of July? I want to run a few miles with over three thousand other runners.

Runners Set
I did not eat anything prior to the race, only hydrating my body with water. Stretching and a couple warm up runs helped calm my nerves prior to the start of the race. Now, all the runners are at the start line, running watches getting programmed to their proper settings.

Air horn sounds and the Runners are off.
After taking off towards the first mile, it felt like I was starting slow but did not show any panic. Kept telling myself to run my own race without wearing down at the end of the course. It was surprising to see the time for Mile 1, 6:40. After hitting the mile marker, I decided to conserve energy following runners. It was nice seeing Saratoga Springs residents out on the sidewalks cheering all of the runners on along with musical entertainment. Running through hoses, especially on a humid day like this, was refreshing. I would rather see the mile marker timers instead of having a spectator shout out the time. Around the mile 2 mark, the spectator was shouting out 13:30 as I passed (6:50 mile).

The last half of the race would an endurance test with a couple hills to challenge all the runners. Approaching mile 3, my body started to get tired but I told myself, do not stop under any circumstance. I thought about walking a little bit with less than a mile to go but my mind was telling me to slow down and keep running. The last hill on Excelisor Street was tough not allowing me to give me an extra burst of speed. It did not upset me so I ran across the finish line with a 7:04 mile.

My splits were (6:40, 6:50, 7:00, and 7:04). Yes, the splits increased but I was very pleased with my performance. I did a tune up run the other day with a time of 29:30. Today, my official time was 27:45 with an average pace of 6:57. My Garmin watch was 27:38 averaging 6:53 per mile. Overall, I finished 229th out of nearly 3000 finishers which is a great accomplishment. I'm starting to enjoy the shorter distance races more. Can't wait to get signed up for another one soon.

Thank you to everyone involved putting on a safe and exciting road race. Also, thank you law enforcement and volunteers keeping the runners safe, handing out race packets, and refueling us after the race.  The spectators and musicians who performed along the course were very encouraging cheering all the runners on was gratifying. This was my fourth race in Saratoga Springs and it has been a very positive experience.

Happy Running
-Matt

Vegan Five One Eats #4

Hello friends, it has been awhile since I did a featured Vegan eatery. Maybe it was the four bottomless cups of coffee that inspired me to write a post. Yesterday, I met up with my cousin Winsley and Patrick for a delicious brunch at Cafe Madison. Cafe Madison is located on Madison Avenue in Albany, NY. My friend, Jenna, recommended this eatery to me several months ago but never got around to stopping in. Thank you very much for the suggestion.

If you are vegan, make sure to ask for the vegan menu because it is separated from the regular menu. For my first trip, I ordered their French Toast with Maple Seitan Sausage based on a waitress recommendation. Their bread is home made dipped in dairy free batter (almond milk, banana puree, cinnamon, and sugar). The French Toast was delicious and filling. For my next trip, I will be ordering their Loaded Breakfast Burrito. Overall, the vegan options for brunch were very good and would recommend it to those looking for a great brunch spot. Check out the vegan menu here.

There is no food picture to post because I wanted to act like a regular human being interacting socially. That means, not staring at your phone while a conversation is taking place. Cafe Madison was an excellent establishment with great service and delicious vegan food. If you want to be guaranteed a table, I would recommend getting there early because it gets busy relatively quick. Cafe Madison opens at 7:30 Monday-Sunday.

Cafe Madison is located at 1108 Madison Avenue in Albany, NY 
For specials, get social with the Cafe

Tri-City Valleycats Fathers Day Home Run 5K

Saturday morning was a great day to run in a local 5K race. The race was at Joseph Bruno Stadium on the Hudson Valley Community College campus, home of the Tri-City Valleycats. I've been running mostly long distance races so it was time to switch to a shorter distance. A 5K race is always tough so don't be fooled by the distance (3.1 miles). Overall, it was a very fun and satisfying race. Now, here's the recap.

Wednesday prior to the race, I ran a 5K distance to get myself ready for Saturday. This would be very interesting considering I did not do any running since the Vermont City Marathon on Memorial Day weekend. Wednesday was tough but I got through the run and did very well. My watch recorded negative splits which is a very good sign (7:19, 6:46, 6:34, and 6:20 pace for the final tenth of a mile). Not too bad for not running the previous three weeks. This gave me a lot of confidence heading into Saturday's race.

Saturday morning, I made a couple mental notes not to eat a heavy meal prior to the race. I limited it to toast and a banana while hydrating myself with a couple glasses of water. Do not go too fast out of the gate. Off to the stadium for packet pick up and pre-race warm up/stretch. I'm not as tense and nervous when I do some warm up runs prior to the start.

The horn sounds and the runners are off. Heading up Williams Road into the residential area, I felt very good about my pace within the first mile at 6:28. Heading into mile 2, the fatigue was starting to creep in a little bit. Even though it would be tough to make up ground, I was not getting passed so much. The water stop heading up a hill back to Williams Road helped even though my pace was the slowest (7:02). Once I cleared the hill and headed back onto campus, I was still a little fatigued but not as slow back in the residential streets. I kept telling myself to run through the finish even though I was getting tired. The finish was inside the baseball stadium on the field. The remaining distance was on the warning track. I got passed by a couple runners at the end but I was very happy to see the time at the finish line. My official time was 21:19 with a 6:53 pace. Mile three was a 6:53 pace with 6:20 the remaining distance. I finished inside the top 5 in my age group, 31st overall out of over 340 runners. Even though the splits were not consistent, I was very pleased with the result. To my knowledge, this is the fastest time for a 5K race. Looking forward to the Firecracker 4 race in Saratoga Springs coming up on July 4th.

Thank you very much HMRRC and all the Tri-City Valleycats staff for putting on a great event for Fathers Day. Also, thank you to the volunteers and law enforcement for keeping all the runners safe on the course.

No pictures for this race but it was nice to have a different race recap aside from just marathons and half-marathons. Happy running everyone and stay safe.

-Matt

Vermont City Marathon

On May 28th, I completed my third marathon. Was it the result I desired? No. Aside from that, it was a very fun event and it allowed me to take in the beautiful scenery throughout Burlington. Prior to yesterday, I have never stepped foot in the state of Vermont. I was very excited to make my first trip a pleasant experience. Why not run a marathon race. Burlington was an awesome city and Run Vermont did an excellent job putting on this event.

When mile one is complete, I look at my watch to see how fast I am running. This allows me to dictate the tempo throughout the race. If the time is between, 7:30 and 8 minutes, that is a pretty comfortable pace for me over a long distance. The first mile was 7:52 on South Willard Street coming back towards Church Street.

Miles 2-7 were surprisingly fast (7:18, 7:19, 7:09, 7:14, 7:23, and 7:20) thinking I could keep that up for at least most of the race. Old North End (Route 127) which was a simple down and back segment of the course was where I had great endurance and strong level of confidence. Running through downtown Burlington was a surreal experience. Spectators cheering and holding up signs was very encouraging. Going down Church Street twice (mile 2 and 9) was awesome getting a high five from a drag queen. All the spectators throughout the course were awesome.

Miles 9-14 were pretty solid, not above an eight minute pace (7:51, 7:22, 7:42, 8:00, 7:46, and 7:59). The scenery was very nice passing through Oakledge Park and Redwood Park. Running on residential streets is always very nice and peaceful. Oakledge Park has a nice view of Lake Champlain and downtown Burlington. To my right was the Earth Clock designed by the Circles for Peace organization. Mile 14 and 15 brought the runners back through downtown again approaching Battery Street. I was thinking about that hill coming up and my pace began to slow.

One of the amazing sights I passed on my run, The Earth Clock

Once I hit the gradual Battery Street hill (miles 15-16), I hit the wall but still kept pushing. I knew if I walked on that hill, the rest of the race would be very difficult for me. For the remainder of the race, my pace started to increase close to nine minutes. Some of my paces were around 9:30. I was constantly stopping at all the water, Gatorade, and fruit stops to stay hydrated because it was getting humid out. Looking at my times, they were slightly better than anticipated.

It was crushing watching the 3:30 pace group leaders pass me at mile 18. As I approached the final stretch, I realized that running is not just about achieving a personal best. It is about enjoying the moment and realizing the accomplishment you are about to achieve. Running through the residential streets off of North Avenue was very fun as spectators lined their driveways with lawn chairs, sprinklers, and rock music. With all that music I heard on the course, I was not sure if I had a headache or more encouraged in my run.

Mile 22 could not come soon enough, the final stretch towards the finish and running along Lake Champlain under shaded trees. Even though my paces were very slow, the spectators helped me get through the race. I was filled with all different kinds of emotions. Did my mental focus suffer? possibly. I started to realize what I have accomplished in one year. My mind was telling me: Matt, you are about to finish your third marathon in three different states. You should be very proud of your achievements. Keep going and do your best. All I can do was keep running, enjoy the scenery, and learn from this race to help me prepare for my next one.

Approaching mile twenty-six, the finish line in sight, the crowds lined the barricades cheering all the runners on. It was quite a sight to experience hearing your name being called and giving you positive encouragement. Finishing in Waterfront Park in the grass was a nice relief after taking a beating from the asphalt. Monday afternoon, writing this post, my right foot is still really sore.

10:40 AM, the rewarding feeling of a medal being placed around your neck after 26.2 miles. This is what I look forward to after several months of training and preparation. Wow, Vermont was an amazing experience. Burlington was a heart-warming city.

Thank you very much to all the sponsors who helped make the event possible. Also, I'm grateful for all the medical staff and law enforcement who provided all the participants with a fun and safe race. All the volunteers were amazing being a part of the running community, even cheering us on throughout the course. All the bands and musicians lined along the course provided a pretty nice running soundtrack. All the photographers lined up throughout the course, how do I look? The aid, food and beverage, and the misting stations were very beneficial throughout the event. All the spectators that came out to cheer us on throughout the course, you were awesome and amazing. You might think you are not doing much for runners when actually you make a tremendous difference. One reason why I enjoy running long distance races. Burlington, you gave me an experience that I will never forget. Thank you for the memories.

With all my love and gratitude,
Matt

"In short, running can change your outlook on life and make a new person out of you."- Marc Bloom

Vegan Five One Eats #3 New York City edition

Two delicious vegan slices. Thank you Two Boot's (Lexington Avenue).

On Tuesday, I took a bus to New York City to be in the audience for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Prior to that, I went on a search for a delicious vegan establishment. First thought that comes to mind when it comes to New York food staples? Pizza. I went to a couple pizzeria's in previous trips but never talked about my experiences on here. One place that has delighted my taste buds: Two Boot's. They have several locations throughout New York City. Tuesday took me to 39th Street and Lexington Avenue for a couple fresh slices.

I got a friendly greeting from the cashier and looked at the single slice selection. I'm ecstatic when they have not one but two vegan options available: V For Vegan and Earth Mother. Of course, I ordered both flavors because it is rare to have both available at the multiple locations.

V For Vegan contains Artichokes; Shitake Mushrooms; Red Pepper Pesto; Daiya Cheese; and Basil Pesto on a dairy free pizza crust. Earth Mother consists of Peppers; Onions; Pesto; Spinach; and Mushrooms on a whole wheat Sicilian crust (vegan of course).

If you ask me which one was my favorite? Honestly, I could not give you a straight answer. I've had V For Vegan on prior visits and it did not disappoint once again. The crust was soft and I could fold the slice to eat by hand. If you a person, such as, Donald Trump who eats it with a fork, shame on you. The slice was loaded with ingredients for a thin slice and it was very fresh when I arrived. Earth Mother on the other hand was a very thick slice with their "garden" ingredients. This was my first time having this specialty and it was absolutely delicious. I have never had a pizza with whole wheat dough before. I was very impressed with the Whole Wheat Sicilian dough and will have to find it next time I decide to make pizza on my own. Earth Mother did not contain cheese unlike V For Vegan but that did not bother me. I heard it is frowned upon to order vegan cheese on a Sicilian style pizza. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong.

I apologize if this is a short post, I wanted to get it out before it was too late. Overall, I was very impressed with the establishment on my return. I'll definitely be going back to the Lexington Avenue for those two flavor slices. If you are looking for more locations, click here. Also, anyone other vegan pizza establishments I need to try, please let me know in a comment. Until next time, happy eating.

-Matt