Armageddon - come armageddon!

I have returned to NYC. While I was away, NYC was hit with a microburst storm. It hit mostly Central Park and Riverside park, I live between the two and run in both of them. I'm willing to bet I've run close to 1000 miles in Central Park this year alone. It is the back yard to New Yorkers. This storm lasted about 15-20 minutes. 100 trees were lost in Central Park alone. 500 through out the city and 2000 damaged through out the city. This was the worst devastation Central Park has seen in over 30 years. While away, I had seen pictures on line of the park but was really shocked as I ran through there this morning. As Loren rode home from work the other night, her usual route taking her through the park, she told me parts of it looked bombed. So true. It mostly hit the north end of the park, where I enter. Tree and branches down everywhere. Yellow warning tape. Trees that have stood for decades upended by there roots. Simply horrible and I felt very strong emotions as the landscape I am so use to was changed so instantly. Not that this is the first time the landscape of the city I have lived in for 20 years (20 years this week!) has changed quickly and drastically. 

On the East side, I stopped to touch a tree that had been pulled out of the ground completely and had fallen across the Park Drive. The root base was at least 10' across. This was a very big old tree.

Emotional response aside, I had a good but tough run. I'm not sure where Hudson came up with this workout, perhaps from a small corner of hell. I warmed up for 6 miles then did 5 miles of 1 minute 10k pace 1 minute recovery. The 2 miles easy then 3 miles hard. It was tough. The good thing about it: it makes 16 miles more interesting than running just 16 miles. I did seem to get the 1 minute on on every hill in the park. It was pretty humid and we did get rained on a little bit. Luckily the heat was not what it had been last week. This run was WORLDS BETTER than my long run last week.

All of last week, I was doing a week long stained glass intensive at Snow Farm in MA. I worked 10-12 hours a day on my project. I haven't done something like this in years. It took me to a new level of exhaustion. I only ran twice all week. As I've said before, my training isn't where I hoped it would be but when I'm running, I feel like I'm running well. We'll see. I still am unable to do consecutive days due to my heal though I should be able to manage at least 30 miles a week. A far cry from the 70 I was hoping to hit this cycle. 

And in other news from my vacation. Loren and I got hitched while in MA. Yes, it's legal (seems to be the #1 question when I tell people) and recognized in NY. Some day our government will get its head out of it's ass and repeal DOMA. It's was quick and simple, with just us and my friend Diane. You know Diane, the one who told me to run that 10k. She came to take pictures and gather info to tease me with for the rest of my life.