Recappin'

So in between my 10-miler in January and my tearful 8-miler last week I did do a little running. It went a little something like this:

After the really chilly Run to the Brewery, I ran an even chillier Hot Chocolate 10k in Prospect Park with Kaitlyn.

SO COLD! Of course, by the end of it I was overheating but man were my digits numb at the start line. It was 1.5 laps of the park, and I hate loops (especially ones with huge hills!) but my time was still pretty good and I clocked in at 1:00:14.

I was hoping to do the D.C. Rock'n'Roll Half in March, but the way February went, I was too busy to train properly, so I didn't register. Smart move. I was putting in miles here and there (mostly there) but I really needed a race to get my focused and the Brooklyn Half it was. The rest of the year so far has looked like this:

March consisted mostly of bRUNch with Outward Bound friends and slowly turning up the mileage. 

Now that it's April I've done a few more races, a few "Run for Boston" runs and will finally be hitting double digits.

With just over 3 weeks to go to Brooklyn I'm a little anxious but excited. I've been registered to run this race for three years now, but each year I couldn't run because of injuries or having to travel for work...so this is my year!  Training hasn't felt too bad so far (knock on wood!).In a perfect world, I would do it under two hours, but really all I'm aiming for is to have it not be my slowest half. I think I'm on the right track :)

Boston.

Can I claim to have a running blog, casual though it may be, and not post about the Boston Marathon? Yes, I probably can, but I'm gonna go ahead and say something anyway. 

Tonight I went for a run because it was on my training schedule, but also because I wanted to be around other runners who wanted to be around other runners—because this is how we help each other make sense of something so apparently senseless. It's how we show our solidarity, pay our condolences, meditate on our heavy-heartedness, and send out our positive vibes. A lot of us were wearing blue and yellow or race shirts, but everyone seemed to be making the same silent statement. 

Somebody Call Me A Wahmbulance!

Does anyone else feel like this year is closing in on them? And it's only (read: ALREADY!) mid-April.  

I think I'll save a re-cap of the last 3 months for another day, because right now I just want to talk about the run I just had.

It's 9pm and I just got back from an 8 mile run because, even though I woke up at a respectable running hour when the sun was shining, I loafed around in bed. I watched a couple of running documentaries to get myself psyched up ("Running the Sahara"—Charlie Engel, what a dick!) and a bunch of Nike commercials on YouTube, but it didn't stick. Then it got cloudy and I didn't want to run. So I went shopping.

By the time I got home at 5, I was feeling better and the sky was clearing up, so I polished off my Carrot and Raisin cookie from the Union Square Farmers Market, rehydrated, digested, watched some more Nike commercials, and headed out around 6:30.

The first couple of miles in the park were a little tough, and I debated just doing a 5k and saving the long run for tomorrow (as part of a short group run I'm already doing) but motivation was on my side. I left the park at Columbus Circle and headed toward the Hudson—the sun was shining on the water, I was gaining some downhill momentum, and Alicia Keys was singing all about how I was on fire.

Weeping installment #1. Running catharsis is no lie.

I don't even know where it came from. I'm not even running red (which is what I've decided to start calling it when I have to run and I also have my period (sorry dudes). I thought of that on this run. Is that a thing? It is now. Gross.) I just started to feel good about being out there on a long run and couldn't hold back the tears.

One of the things I freaking love about living on the West Side now is that I'm closer to Riverside Park and the Hudson River Greenway, which is really fantastic. I hate running loops, so it's nice to be able to just run a straight shot for miles, and feeling like I'm knocking them down quickly. 72nd St...54th St...23rd St. BAM!

I realized that I was feeling pretty excellent and my body was cooperating. I was also making better time than the 10k I ran last weekend. I'm training for the Brooklyn Half and have all but committed to the NYC marathon this year. I was feeling anxious and having reservations, but this run was helping to put some of them to rest. Then I thought of my family waiting for me on 1st avenue in 2011 and

Weeping installment #2. I have a great family.

I was pretty far downtown by this point, and passed the murals I helped paint for NY Cares day. I hope they never paint over them. At mile 7, "Life" by the Avett Brothers came on, which always makes me cry no matter what, so I'd like to consider this one a freebie. HOWEVER, the sun was so glowy and the buildings were so beautiful, and the Statue of Liberty was just chillin' out, and even though I know I belong in the mountains I can't seem to leave this city.

Weeping installment #3. We're not of this world for long. I'd better start doing what I want.

It was a good long run. Then it was a good long train ride back to Harlem, so now I'm just going to eat a bowl of wheatberries and watch Clueless because I am tired (and tired of weeping haha) and that movie's been on my brain for some reason lately. What-ever!