What's Good?

Happy Friday! Happy 1st day of September! What's good?

Me, I'm recovering — physically and mentally — from my worst race ever last weekend. And okay okay, it was only, like, my seventh race — my second 10K. But I was off by about 40 seconds per mile from my first; the conditions were terrible, with 90+% humidity and a temperature "feel" of 77 degrees. Plus, the skies opened during my warmup run over to Central Park, and I was soaked before I even lined up. I went out too fast — rookie mistake — particularly for the hills that come between miles 3 and 4.5. And yet! And yet! I did it! And while I've always thought "grading on a curve" was bullshit, I was nonetheless very pleased to see that, thanks to NYRR's "age-grading" system, I came in 148th out of 3211 women.

But now I'm at the part of my half marathon training where the exhaustion is really starting to hit. The long runs are getting long — one expects that. But the other weekly runs are getting long too. "Who am I?!" I thought yesterday when I saw that my midweek "easy run" was 80 minutes long. This time last year, I'd never run more than 7 miles. I'm really leaning into the second breakfasts though, let me tell you what.

Anyway… today's newsletter is supposed to recap the food and fitness technology news of the week, not Audrey's half marathon training progress. So onward…

From the desk of Yup, We're Making This Trend:

1. Biohacking and Anti-aging Tech: Wealthy people are really into biohacking — watch this one as Marc Andreessen, Elon Musk, and I are all the same age. (Happy belated 52nd birthday, guys.) Watching the Gen X Tech Bros age is going to be ugly.
2. Ozempic: This week’s Ozempic story is from The New York Times, on how the drug is reshaping the Danish economy.
3. Protein: "Should We All Be Eating Like The Rock?" asks The Atlantic.
4. Cottage friggin' cheese:

Elsewhere in food news: So I guess Hailey Bieber is continuing to convince companies to do "strawberry glaze" things to help promote her skin care line (see also: smoothie) — this time it's Krispy Kreme. She and her husband showed up in Times Square for some donuts, and wow. This is what your professor calls A Rich Text.

"Fruity Pebbles Now Sells Waffles." "New York Is in a Golden Age of Bodega Food."  The Eater with the contrarian take: "Stop Trying to Convince Me Tinned Fish Is the Height of Luxury." "How 19th-century pineapple plantations turned Maui into a tinderbox."  The history of astronaut ice cream. More from the Food Historian on ice cream and war. "The Instant Pot and the Miracle Kitchen Devices of Yesteryear." And just a special shout-out here to my favorite food writer, Helen Rosner, who asks "Is Scarr’s the Best Pizza in New York?"

The latest from the wellness hustle: "Why is the WHO Legitimizing Pseudoscience?" asks Rina Raphael. "Want to have your genes tested? It might be genetic," says Ars Technica. (Is that how "genetics" works? IDK. Humanities student here. But side eye at the whole enterprise.) "Fruit and vegetable ‘prescriptions’ may lead to better heart health," says The Washington Post.

The wide world of Sport: I gave up watching football a while ago because I couldn't justify spectating brain damage. But the sport continues, as do these kinds of stories: "After the Loss of a Son, a Football Coach Confronts a Terrible Truth." Fuck Luis Rubiales. Seriously, fuck that guy. Women have had to deal with so much to be athletes! See also: “Bobbi Gibb: The Boston Marathon pioneer who raced a lie.” Journalist Clive Thompson on his cross-country bike trek. How New Yorkers are smuggling e-bikes into their buildings: "‘Just Befriend the Doorman and Don’t Arouse Suspicion’.”

Bonus breakfast content from Olympia Ohanian's dad. (Congrats on the new baby sister, Olympia.) Click for the video…