Taper, sweet taper
Met up with Stephanie to do a late morning jaunt along the High Line Canal. Temperature starting to drop transitioning us from the 60 degree weather he have been enjoying to the GULP 3 we expect tomorrow??
Since this is my taper week before Cross Country Nats in sunny San Diego, we opted to just do 8 this morning, again with purpose as I am trying to not do too many aerobic miles this week.
Warmed up wtih one easy mile and then hopped into a progression run of sorts after stretching and little drills. We planned on going 8, 7:50, 7:40, 7:30, 7:20 and then 7:10. We ended up averaging 7:29 with 8, 7:47, 7:33, 7:29, 7:13, 6:54.
LOTS of runners out today as the "trail" is a wonderfully groomed gravel/dirt bike path with little elevation gain (and unfortunately no bathrooms??) lined with AMAZING mansions. In fact, Stepahnie initially thought one was an apartment complex--it was really THAT big. She also got to enjoy the knwoledge that she was able to piddle in one of their backyards (guitly pleaseure of mine, due to the lack of public bathrooms anywhere along this route...
SO, besides the fact that Steph could have easily continued this workout faster for a longer duration, we noticed that anytime we were in the vicinity of MEN, our pace dropped dramatically! We even "good gamed" a hot trio from afar...sigh...Oh it is good to be a runner!
Movie Review:
Though, not about running, I highly encourage everyone to go see "The King's Speech". There is a bit of swearing (that is actually quite funny and pertinent to the story and not gratuitous), no real sexual stuff, and no violence. That being said (have I lost you Burt??), the movie is an inspirational account on one man overcoming his past through perseverance and support from his family. His "coach", wonderfully eccentric, seems to intuit ways to have his clients be forced through mini cathartic psychological breakthroughs that inevitably push the clients into a new realm of being.
Having not yet seen the other movies that are up for Oscars nor the other actor's performances, I would be surprised and a bit disappointed if Colin Firth does not take home the gold statue for his portrayal. It was also amusing to see Helena Bonham-Carter acting as aproper Englishwoman. She should get a prize of sorts for acting so completely different than what we have seen of her lately...
Just got a text from one of my runners (Painfully shy young man) that he is going for his first date! As this was a team effort to help him obtain a date prior to graduation, I will be giving the team a day off this week as promised! |