SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE! After surviving what felt like the longest winter EVER, summer is finally here. To celebrate, I decided to start things off with a bang- and one of these…
What’s this you ask? It’s a Strawberry Pie Daiquiri, complete with a graham cracker rim. It tastes like drinking a pie. I had four. The next morning I was feeling a little guilty (plus I’m supposed to be training for the Queens Half marathon in a little over 8 weeks) so I got up early on my holiday weekend to go for a run. That’s accomplishment enough if you ask me.
I decided to take a more scenic route. I braved the giant hill and headed to Riverside Park. It was literally a perfect morning and a great day to go for a run. I spent the first half of my run just soaking it all in- the sun, the trees, the breeze from the Hudson. Then it started to get hard, and I had to focus on something else. I saw this old guy way out in front of me. He literally had white hair and was hunched over, so I figured I could catch him. I spent the next mile and a half trying to catch this guy. I followed him up a hill, down some steps, around the corner, but I just couldn’t. The old guy was fast. At some point, he left the running trail and crossed the street and I still hadn’t closed the gap much. I decided to make up for it by really pushing my speed for the last mile or so. I have long legs, and I figure I should put them to good use every now and then. This was a big mistake. The run felt great, but the next day I COULD NOT move. The fronts of my legs were so heavy and my hip flexors felt like rocks. I had forgotten this part of running- all the post-run discomfort. My happy little running bubble has been burst. Welcome back to the world of running.
I blame the old man.
I guess it's official now. I'm scared. I already have buyer's remorse.
I’m sure you’re all aware by now that the Rapture did not happen, but something as equally improbable did. I’ve been converted to a morning runner. I know, not that long ago I said I hated it. Well I was wrong. I like it. I actually really like it. The world seems so different in the morning. Birds are singing. Dogs are extra happy. The trash is less smelly. It’s all so wonderful. I even found a little animal oasis in the park. There were cranes, turtles, the tiniest little ducklings EVER, a cormorant, cardinals, and fuzzy goslings. It was like a nice reward for dragging myself out of bed so early. Now, I can’t wait get up and run to check on the tiny ducklings. I might even bring them some bread crumbs. (Yes, I’m a giant dork. I know this.)
Since Saturday was supposed to be the Rapture, I decided to go out with a bang. I had a ton of friends running the Brooklyn Half, plus all the other DetermiNation runners, so I got up at 6:15am on a Saturday to cheer for people. I know. That’s just silly. But this was SO MUCH FUN! For those of you that have never tried it, I seriously recommend grabbing a cowbell and heading out to your next local race. The energy was amazing. It’s always great to see total strangers cheering each other on and giving advice and pep talks to people that are struggling. It’s rare to see people be so nice to each other, especially in the city. I started off in Prospect Park and then headed down to the finish line on the Coney Island boardwalk. It was a beautiful day and all of my friends did such an amazing job. Then comes time for the best part- the after party! We went to this bar with outdoor seating, giant beers, and BBQ. I had three beers and a hot dog all before noon. It was perfect. Except for the hangover. Stupid non rapture.
Even better, I actually took real life pictures. We had Girl Scouts at our cheer station. They were fun. They would have been more fun if they brought me some cookies.
This was a good week for me.
Thursday I ACTUALLY got up early and ran before work. I hate running early. I always find eating before a run difficult. You can’t eat too much right before or else your stomach does weird flips. But you can’t eat nothing or else you might pass out. (Plus I’m just cranky when I don’t eat. My friend Michelle calls this the “food monster”, which I think is a totally accurate description.) So needless to say this was a MAJOR achievement for me. Sure I only did about 2.5 miles, I felt like I was going to DIE, and I was sore and walking funny the rest of the day, but it’s still an achievement. I rewarded myself with a GIANT cookie that afternoon.
This weekend, some friends and I had a girls’ night at a hotel in midtown. We watched “Bridesmaids,” drank wine, and chatted until almost 3am. Then a miracle happened. I AGAIN got up for a morning run. I figured this was a good way to get some new scenery on my run. I went down 40th Street to the Hudson River, and ran along the river. It would have been lovely, except that it wasn’t. It was drizzly and humid. I almost took my shirt off about a dozen times, but I’m not one of THOSE runners. I feel like THOSE runners are always saying to the world “I look so perfect I don’t even NEED a shirt.” I love my body, but it’s certainly not perfect and when you run, no matter who you are, things tend to jiggle and move. So I suffered in silence and kept the shirt on. You’re welcome, NYC. I rewarded this suffering with a chocolate muffin.
I also came to a conclusion this week. I need to run a half marathon this summer. Sure I said I was going to take the summer off, but I miss it. I like running because it’s simple. You have a goal. You do the required work. You cross the finish line. You get a medal. Life isn’t usually so simple. So let this be my official announcement. I’m going to run the Queens Half Marathon on July 30th. That’s even my mom’s birthday, so I’ll run because she’s awesome and she always works so hard. This time, I’ll do all the work and she can get the medal :)
PS- I came to a second conclusion this week. I need to run with some sort of picture taking device so I can show you all the awesome things I see, like the pretty red bird in the park, or people wearing silly clothes. But since you deserve something to look at, I found this. This is me crossing the finish line at my first half marathon. Don’t I look happy?
Yep, I’m totally doing this again.
Saturday was my birthday and how did I celebrate? By getting up early and going for a run of course! I’ve missed all my American Cancer Society DetermiNation buddies, so I figured there was no better way to hang out with them than to join them for an informal run. They’re all training for the Brooklyn half, and were running 10 to 12 miles (which I’m nowhere ready to do) so the plan was just to run as much as I could. Easy enough. Maybe it was because it was my birthday, or maybe because my 5K felt really good, I was hoping I could go out there and do a super awesome 5 miles without breaking a sweat. Not so. Central Park did not care that it was my birthday. It started out fine, but I forgot how hilly that park is. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY HILLS?!? I did about 3.5 miles, got about halfway up Harlem Hill, and stopped. Curse you, Harlem Hill! You’re supposed to be nice to me on my birthday!
The run itself was a little brutal brutal, but it was nice to have company. I forgot how much I really enjoy running with other people. I love to have someone to talk to and (when it gets really tough) to have someone to keep pushing you forward. I miss my running buddies. I think I’ll be joining them again soon. Just maybe not on Harlem Hill.
On another note, one of the things I enjoy most about running is being able to eat pretty much whatever you want. You just have to run (or yoga) it off. It’s the perfect arrangement! This weekend I had a plethora of birthday drinks, followed by two wonderfully greasy slices of pizza on Saturday and a glorious and indulgent dinner at AquaGrill on Sunday. Sound like enough? Well it wasn’t. I decided to let the birthday gluttony continue with a giant cheeseburger, cheese fries and milkshake from Shake Shack for lunch.
So…who wants to go for a run?
I heard this story on the news and I was in awe. This woman is running 30 miles a day EVERYDAY across the country. Ok, so she takes every 9th day off, but I ran 26.2 miles once, for just one day, then went home and DIDN'T MOVE for as long as possible. I certainly did not feel like getting up the next day to do it all over again. And she's doing it to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Zoe Romano, props to you.
My first race of 2011 was a success! Sure, it was a little disorganized. They had only 2 people to check in HUNDREDS of runners and the race started 10 minutes early, but it was still a TON of fun! And I got to run with my friend, MiMi, which I had never done before. I told myself I wanted to run about a 10-minute mile, which seemed like a lofty goal considering I haven’t REALLY been running, but I finished this 5k just about on target in 32:06. And I didn’t even feel like I wanted to die! All around, a pretty good run. You wanna know the best part? I got to go to the zoo! I know I’m a grown up, but it’s still fun to watch a monkey scratch himself, or see the sea lions at feeding time. And all the free swag wasn’t bad either.
One downside: I told myself I would take some time off of running, but this was REALLY fun. There’s always something exciting about the start of a race and the sense of satisfaction when you realize you’ve finished alive can’t be beat. I think I have what we like to call “Race Fever.” I have a fever and the only prescription is MORE RUNNING. So I think I’ve decided I would take more of a “working vacation” from running. I will still be running, I’ll probably even run several (small) races, but I’m going to try to keep it fun- which basically means I’ll do any amount of running that doesn’t require regular ice baths.
So I think next up is the Front Runner’s Gay Pride run in June because, let’s face it, the gays can make anything fun! Then we’ll go from there. Who knows, maybe I’ll do a half marathon?
And because no post is complete without some stunning artwork, here's a happy penguin! He's happy because we ran to help save him.
