Ok, so it's been awhile since last I blogged. I have an excuse, I've been busy....running. I have been traveling the last 2 weeks, a little pleasure and a little work. Terri and I traveled to New York to go see history...the last game at Yankee Stadium. We've been planning this trip since earlier this year and the time had finally come. We decided to extend the trip a little and make a mini vacation of it. I love NY!! Everytime I go back I fall in love even more. There is no other city in the world, that I've been to, like it. This was my first trip to New York as a runner, and words can't describe how excited I was to get an opportunity to finally run in Central Park. Having suffered through an Arizona summer, I was excited at the mere notion of running in anything below 90 degrees. I was not disappointed. I decided to head out on Saturday morning. Having done my research prior to leaving, I was surprised to find out the one entire loop around the park was only 6 miles. It was my intention to do 8 miles. The weather was incredible, some would say a little chilly. It was in the low 50's with a stiff breeze. Walking up 5th ave, I didn't know what I was in store for. On one hand, I knew I was excited and would feel the excitement and want to run forever. On the other hand, I knew I had a huge steak dinner at the night before after seeing the play "Young Frankenstein" (btw...funny play). Coming into the park, it can be a bit confusing because there are trails leading everywhere...which one do I choose. Then it became very obvious...just follow the runners. And there were a ton of them. Honestly I can say that there were more people in the park running than I have seen in some local 5K's. "Feets don't fail me now"...I jumped into a pack of runners and off I went. I knew that there was an outside path that looped around the entire park, I just assumed I was on it. I just went with the flow. I was in heaven! I kept seeing a number of cyclist go by, and saw a sign around mile 2 indicating that there was a road race going on in the park. Ok, now you take a wonderful run and add tons of beautiful high performance bikes to watch along the way....now I've gone beyond heaven. I've been reminded a lot in the last 2 weeks how important the little things in running are. Including eating right and keeping the weight off. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that my legs felt a bit heavy. However, I was running in Central Park and I was not gonna let that bring me down. I'm glad I chose that mindset, cuz the lead fell out around mile 4. A number of observations about my run. First, I was amazed at how hilly the park course was. Second, there are a lot of really fast runners out there. I was clipping along a pretty brisk 8-8:45 pace and there were runners passing me like I was walking. Surprisingly enough following the crowd led me in the right direction and without fail at around mile 6, I was back at the 5th ave entrance. Like I said, around mile 4 the lead fellout of my legs and I felt good. On I went, and I thought, "Someone's gonna have to tear me off this course." I figured I'd listen to my body and see what happens. Around mile 8, mind you I brought no water and no GU, my body said it needed nourishment. Therefore, I decided I'd loop back around to the front for one more mile and call it a day. All good things must come to an end. Guess that was the theme to my NY trip. It applies to my run in Central Park, and to the Yankees time spent in what is now "Old Yankee Stadium". Gone but not forgotten, the game was incredible and an experience I will never ever forget! This past summer I entered the lottery to run the NYC marathon in November. I was not chosen. However, I will continue to apply until I'm chosen, because I was reminded of what an incredible city this is and how amazing it would be to run 26.2 with thousands cheering you on.....someday! I figured there is only one true way to finish this blog entry...."Boston Sucks, Boston Sucks!!!" Activity
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Posted from runtracker.runnersworld.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment