It's my birthday and I'll run if I want to

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?