Eagleman 2015 Race Report, by Ernest Hemingway (with contributions from Joseph Conrad)

Posted on July 24, 2015 by cfrietch

Months before, the sleeping dragon, Eagleman 70.3 appeared not as the majestic bird of prey, but rather a placid feathered sparrow, calmly beckoning our siren trio to the lush marshes of Maryland.

But as our good and true party of three departed the cool atmosphere of modernity that is the Comfort Inn Cambridge, we stepped headlong into the tropical ether and dank, hazy sunrise muttering a collective, “well, shit.” Still as a stalking kestrel awaiting the timid dormouse, the sun’s orb clung to the last vestige of the horizon, ready to attack with the fierce intensity of the Roman fire god Vulcan. Continue reading →

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Dear Hollywood: Stop Taking the “Vegan Challenge”

Posted on June 9, 2014 by cfrietch

Image

An open letter (that none of them will read) to celebrities who think they want to go vegan: Please, please tell no one. Continue reading →

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Can I Be “F40-44” Forever?

Posted on December 29, 2013 by cfrietch

2013 in review

I’m a little afraid to say how great 2013 turned out to be. I often kept thinking “is this my peak year?” and “what happens next year?” Well, that’s malarkey. I know that 2014 will be whatever I make of it, regardless of circumstances.

So while I’m already daydreaming about the 2014 season, some themes from 2013 are stuck in my mind. Continue reading →

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Race Report: Hambletonian Marathon (or Why I Might Be Ruined for Big-City Marathons)

Posted on November 20, 2013 by cfrietch

Hambletonian marathonThrough late summer and early fall, I’d been semi-training for a marathon. I wasn’t too sure which one. There were several I was eyeballing. It was interesting doing this training-but-not-training thing. Instead of plotting out each and every weekend and weekday with specific mileage, having no set schedule left me free to continue cycling and swimming, and entering whatever running races I wanted, regardless of whether they “fit” into my training plan. Continue reading →

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Eating vegan in New Orleans: Not impossible!

Posted on March 4, 2013 by cfrietch

New OrleansThis is the sort of article I wish I had found before heading to New Orleans for the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon. Eating vegan in NOLA was going to be a challenge, and the info I found online was pretty scattered (and not recently written). The good news: It’s possible to eat vegan in New Orleans, but forget about anything that has any sort of Nawwlins flavor. Continue reading →

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Skinny today, fat forever

Posted on December 12, 2012 by cfrietch

As I walk out of J.Crew with my size 4 bootleg cords (on sale for $36), I feel I’ve been hoodwinked: Clearly, size inflation is completely out of control. There is no way I wear a “real” size 4. We’ve heard for years that stores are quietly making each size more generous, and adding ever smaller sizes at the bottom end (size 000, anyone?). The reason? It makes you feel better about yourself. (Hey! I can fit into a size 4! I must purchase this apparel immediately!)

Sure, I’ve lost weight over the last 18 months, but I’m not THAT small. It’s a physical impossibility. Yet the same mass deception is going on in my own closet: the ‘skinny’ jeans that now hang on me, the shirt with the tight sleeves that are now swimmingly large. It’s some kind of plot — because someone who wears a size 4 is thin. That person is not me, and it never will be. Continue reading →

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Don’t buy it: Black Friday is for suckers

Posted on November 18, 2012 by cfrietch
Black Friday shoppers

Doesn’t this look fun?

I’ve spent the last 13 years consumed by Black Friday (as a shopping expert, it’s part of the job), and I see it for what it is: Over-hyped, overdone, over-advertised, and like me, you should be over it. Continue reading →

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Posted on October 31, 2012 by cfrietch

I couldn’t have said it better than Lauren, who was there.

“Red Hook, Where Fairway Is”

If you do a google news search for ‘Red Hook Brooklyn’ today you’ll find dozens of stories about my little low-lying, mixed income Brooklyn neighborhood. Surrounded on three sides by water, and on the other by an elevated portion of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, Red Hook bore a serious brunt of Sandy’s load.

From The Daily Beast to Bloomberg, you’ll hear about the rush of water that rushed up our main street, Van Brunt St., and spilled into the side streets. You’ll read about the shops along the main drag, and how many of them took in more than four feet of water.

The shops in my neighborhood are all small, independent, privately owned businesses. Many of them lost crucial and expensive supplies like

Imagerefrigerators and freezers, as well as stock like cases of food. Many of these losses won’t be covered by insurance, as many of…

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Any-veg Indian Masala

Posted on October 17, 2012 by cfrietch
Cauliflower

Matar (green pea) masala with cauliflower

I love Indian food. But of all the restaurants in my Park Slope radius, there just isn’t a good Indian joint. So I’ve been fiddling with a recipe of my own. I think I’m on to something; I’ve got a pretty good base recipe with a bunch of variations that (so far) has been a no-fail. Continue reading →

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Behind the fence at Prospect Park’s Lakeside

Posted on October 9, 2012 by cfrietch
Lakeside rendering

Rendering of what the water feature is supposed to look like. Image: dbox via OHNY.org

Thanks to Open House New York this past weekend, I got to snap some photos of the new Lakeside project in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. The area has been fenced off and boarded from view ever since I moved to Brooklyn, and since I run past the project every time I’m in the park, it’s taken on quite an air of mystery.  The tour was led by Christian Zimmerman, VP of design and construction for NYC Parks. This guy is great — his eyes shine when he talks about the project, which is one part restoration of the original Frederick Law Olmstead landscape design, and one part new construction of a huge ice rink and water feature.  Continue reading →

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