Harlem Hill, we meet again

Today was my first long run in the snazzy new shoes and I set out to do 6 miles in Central Park. Somehow I figured that I would manage to do 6 miles without hitting Harlem Hill. How silly of me.

The run began as any other Saturday morning run. I met up with my DetermiNation buddies at the mall in the park. There was a 10k this morning, so the park was a little crazy. On a side note, this race was a women’s only 10k. I got off the subway with hoards of other women runners, which was kinda cool. It’s great to see the ladies represent. Anyhoo, back to the run.

So I met up with my running buddies, we divided into pace groups and we were off. A few minutes into the run, the elite lady runners passed us. They really are a thing of beauty. They have such nice form. Back to my run again. There was only one other girl my pace that was doing 6 miles so we decided to stick together. Turns out she runs more like a 9 minute mile and she quickly left our group behind. Everyone else left me at the 102nd street transverse and I was left to do Harlem Hill- alone. Awesome.

For those of you that don’t know Central Park, Harlem Hill is a big giant hill at the top of the park. You stand at the bottom of the hill and you see this steep, twisting, never ending incline. It’s pretty scary so I try not to look at it. When I’m running alone, especially hills, I like to do two things:

1. I like to focus my eyes on the white lines on the road. It’s somehow very zen. It gives me something to focus on that is not the top of the giant hill. It makes me feel like I’m being led somewhere. If I just follow the line, I’ll be ok.

2. I remember from my previous hill training that we’re supposed to take shorter, quicker steps on hills. This helps to lessen the impact. To remember to do this, I always repeat to myself “Baby steps. Baby steps. Baby steps” over and over. Again, it gives me something to think about other than how much this hill sucks.

So using these two techniques, I got over Harlem Hill, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as the last time I attempted it. Running Harlem Hill alone also gave me some good thinking time. I’ve decided to add a new segment to this blog called As Seen On My Run. Why? New Yorkers are weird. They’re even weirder when they exercise. So here’s the first installment:

As Seen On My Run: People and their pets
I was coming towards the end of Harlem Hill and I’m approaching this woman from behind. This lady has a jogging stroller and I think “That’s pretty badass.” Harlem Hill is hard enough without pushing extra weight. I started to pass her and looked over to her stroller. I wanted to see if the kid was enjoying his ride. But there’s not a kid in the stroller. There’s a Chihuahua, just chilling. It’s nice that you want to take your dog for a run, but I think the dog should probably run. Otherwise, you just look silly.

I was laughing to myself about this crazy lady and her spoiled non-walking dog, when I came up behind another lady, this time on a bike. It looked like she was talking to herself, until I realize she has a green parrot climbing around on her shirt. She was trying to get the parrot to settle on her shoulder, but he was climbing all over her. I’m not really sure what to say about this one. I guess if bringing your pet with you will make exercise more fun, then who am I to judge?

This has been As Seen On My Run.

The rest of my run was pretty uneventful. I was getting a cramp in my foot around mile 5 so I decided to cheat a little and take a shortcut through the mall. I still did about 5 and half miles, so all in all. I say it was a successful morning.

Now I have to refuel and get ready for Amy’s bachelorette party tonight. That’s a totally different kind of adventure.