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.

Country Roads

So one of the cool thing about being on vacation is running in new places.  Right now, I'm at Snow Farm doing a stained glass class. It's a beautiful quite place full of different studios and people working hard during week long intensives. Lots on country roads to take me to new places. 

Yesterday, I got up at 6 to run before the day started. Not having run here before, I had no idea what I'd find. I sorta love that, just look at the road and turn right or left. Yesterday, I turned left.

What I found was up hill. Three miles of uphill. It seemed endless, though was beautiful. On a run like this I was like screw the pace, this is all about effort. The good side is, 3 miles up means 3 miles down so it worked out pretty well.

I'm still not running consecutive days. While my foot doesn't hurt while I'm running, if it does it's just til it's warmed up. It hurts after. Though I think that might be getting better. I was fine most of the day yesterday until late in the day but I had been standing a lot (need to stand to cut glass).

I am concerned about NY and being able to run as much as I'd like. Right now, I'm not running as much as I'd like.  It's a thought in the back of my mind. I'm not going to give it much weight until I get back home and into my normal routine.

vacation all I STILL ever wanted

Ok, coming up for air a bit! Loren and I have been on vacation as I mentioned. We went up to the Presidential mountains in NH to hit the high point of the state, Mt Washington. While we were there, we tagged Mt Jefferson too. You can check out some pictures here. Before that, however, my friend Diane told us running the Bridge to Flowers 10k would be a fun way to kick off our vacation. Please note: Diane did NOT run. I like doing races out of NYC. They're usually smaller and obviously something different. Ya know, different like a hill in mile 3 that gains 400 feet in .75 of a mile. Yea, that's fun. Actually, this race had a bit of everything, some easy hills in the first few miles, followed by that MONSTER which most people actually do walk up most of, which then turns into a dirt road as you go down hill, then you hit some grass, then some mostly downhill rollers to the end. Very pretty and pretty challenging. To give you an idea about that hill, I ran my first 2 miles in like 7:15-7:30 pace. Mile 3 was 10:30. What followed was me totally high tailing it to break 50 minutes. I came in in 49:06. Loren ran pretty well, leaving me behind in mile 1 and finishing in 45:57. One thing I'm not crazy about for this race is the age groupings: 20-39 then 5 years after that!

Big difference from 20 to 39! (I'm 38). Loren was 18th outa 150, I was 32nd.

So then we were off for a few days to hike. No running. 2 mountain peaks, 1 over 6000', one about 5700'. Obviously no running. 

I ran yesterday which let's see...was Thurs for the first time since Sat. That's a lot of time off for me. Loren and I did an easy 5. It felt sluggish. My heel hurt a bit after. I haven't been staying on top of my stretching during this trip like I should. Obviously I'm on vacation and was still very very active so I should be fine. I did wake up this morning thinking I had gotten a little off track. I'm hoping to get back on track tomorrow when I go for my long run. Distance not yet determined. I'm still in Western MA, dog sitting for Diane who did not run the 10k. (Hi Diane).

Next week, I'm going to do a week long stained glass class up here. I'm already looking forward to getting up early and running on country roads. I just have to see what happens. A break was mostly likely good for me with this nagging pseudo injury. There's still lots o time.