Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured

Ran in NY today.  I ran from our hotel up to Central Park and then ran the big loop.  It ended up being a little farther than I had expected.  I was excited to get out running this afternoon and started out to fast and the the heat and humidity got to me about mile 4.  I stopped, stretched and walked for a couple of minutes and then returned to running.  It was much more hilly than I had expected but I passed more peopled than I was passed by.  I finished what I thought would be my run at 6.3 but then and started to walk back to the hotel and then realized how long it would take and so I ended up running back.  I probably had a total of .5 miles of the walking and did not include those in my running miles.  

We arrived in NYC on Saturday morning and check into our hotel and then went to Ground Zero and then to the Mets game. Yesterday, we rode the bus up to Boston and went to see the Red Sox play at Fenway.  That was amazing!   Tonight my husband is at the home run derby and I am sitting at the hotel working.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring but sometimes those are the best vacations.

 Ave Pace 8:49

Happy Running!

 

Ran back up to Central Park today. I took it much easier starting out and just really tried to enjoy today. The first mile up to the park is insane - stopping at every block (less than 1/10th a mile) and weaving through all the people (good race practice). I decided to run outside the park today on the east side up to the Guggenheim Museum. I have really wanted to see it from the outside because of the history of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was much smaller that what I expected and the are doing renovations to the exterior so it was difficult to appreciate it with scaffolding everywhere. I then turned into the park and followed the road back south. The park was completely insane! I was two hrs later than yesterday and there were people everywhere!! There must have been a concert tonight becuase there were tons of people going to the concert area. And then there were runners galore. It felt like a race in all directions!! I have never been someplace with so many runners and it was not a race. There were literally hundreds. Some in groups and some solo but hundreds. I enjoyed watching all the people but soon reached the end and then head back to the hotel and a Jamba Juice for a treat. I did not have my link to my ipod so no ave pace today - kind of nice just to enjoy and run for the love of running.

We went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island today. What an amazing experience. The statue is amazing up close. We did not get the chance to go inside the base but the awe and presence was amazing. We then went to Ellis Island and toured the buildings. It was very humbling to see what people went through to live in this great country of ours and how badly they wanted a better life for their families. It makes you so grateful to live in a nation that believes in freedom. They have a "family history" center there and the LDS church is a sponsor. We were able to search my husbands great grandmother who came to the US in 1916 and see her imigration papers and ship's manifest and find out a little bit more about her when she arrived in the US. It was an incredible experience. 

Happy Running!

Oh, so good to be home!  While I loved NYC, I am so grateful to be where there is fresh air, fewer people, less profanity and less smoking.  We had a great time but as soon as you are away from your kids you miss them terribly.  

I got up to run today and realized that I left a lot my  running clothes at the hotel.   I am a compulsive over packer and packed extra "just incase"  I thought that my husband checked all the drawers but he just checked his.  The Marriott people are wonderful and are shipping them home today.  I do not want to know how much it is costing me, but I will be happy when they arrive.  

I did manage to run today anyways with Paula.  It was great to catch up with her and have a running partner again.  I brought "legs of lead" back with me so the pace was slow, even though they felt like they were working hard. 

Ave Pace 9:00

 Happy Running!

 

I just realized I put yesterday's run on Wednesday - OOPS!  Not sure how to fix it :(

 Paula has gone camping so I ran with our neighbor Renee today.  She is the mom of "super fast Dallen"  She was great to come along and pace me on a slow recovery run.  I am not good at doing this on my own.  We had a great time chatting and visiting.  She is doing a great job running and will continue to improve with more time.  Finished the 3 with her and was feeling like adding on a little more and so went another mile on my own.  I did okay keeping it slow for about the first half and then continued to battle the legs desire to go faster.   Now I am mentally gearing up for a long solo run tomorrow.

Happy Running!
 

I am finally getting around to blogging my run this morning - busy day with softball, swimming, baseball, cello concert.......to much.  

I got up early and headed out.  The weather was perfect!  The first couple of miles were rough as I adjusted to wearing my fuel belt.  I have only run with it one other time and it took a few minutes to find the most comfortable spot.    The first half the run was so slow.   No matter how hard I tried I could not get under 9 min miles.  I had thought that the route would be flat, flat, flat, but it ended up pretty rolling from 4.5 - 7.  Something happened about mile 6 and I finally kicked it into gear.  I was able to pick up the pace the remainder of the run and feel really good. It was good to see that I ran the second half faster than the first and that I still felt good at the end.   I ended up with 3 stops - mile 4 for a bathroom break (thank you Carl's Jr.), mile 8 for water and GU and then mile 10 for water.  I only had 3 stop light stops and for me and the area I run in, that is pretty dang good.  

Ave Pace 8:54 

Happy Running!