Had an awesome weekend. Was off on Monday so spent almost 3 days down at my weekend house in New Jersey. Topped it off with a long 8.7 mile run Monday night – more on that below.
Friday, kicked things off with an early morning run to East River Park. It is notable that it was my 3rd early morning run in the last week and a half, not counting an early morning trip to the gym. Starting to make a habit of getting up at 5:30 to get a nice workout in before going to work. Friday morning was a little rough because of the humidity, still trying to get used to the warmer weather. My splits for the 4 mile run were 18:22 and 18:23, pretty darn consistent if you ask me! I think negative splits are too much to ask for in the humidity, so nice consistent efforts will have to do.
Friday night, went to Citi Field to watch my beloved Mets get pounded by the Yankees. Despite the score, I had a great time. Citi Field is such an upgrade over Shea. It was nice to experience batting practice from so many outfield vantage points, and to enjoy Blue Smoke and the other great food options, and just be able to wander around the stadium during the game. Was even very comfortable during the massive thunderstorm that blew through before the game. Plenty of under cover areas to stay dry. The place also just has so much more character than the old dump…
On Saturday, dragged all our stuff out to New Jersey (lots of laundry), including my bike. Had a simple BBQ (just burgers and hot dogs) and then went out to the beach. On Sunday, started my day with a 23 mile bike ride (see course here), followed by a more complicated BBQ (steak, chicken, corn and hot dogs) and then another trip to the beach. The bike ride was really fun. It is nice being able to leave my house in NJ, and immediately go into long ride mode as there are few traffic lights to stop at and the traffic is light. I’m preparing for the New York City Triathlon, so was aiming for a 24-25 mile ride to approximate the race distance, but turned around a little too early, and settled for 23 miles. This ride used to seem a little hard to me, but after recently biking in Vermont and then at Harriman State Park, where they have real hills, this ride seemed like a piece of cake!
Monday was also very relaxing. Was able to sleep in and take it easy until the drive back to the city in the early afternoon. Monday was a beautiful day, with low humidity.
I had already penciled in a run for Monday night. The decision was how far to go. With the nice weather, I decided to go a little long. Summer months are always lowest mileage for me, and my June monthly record was only 42 miles. I noticed that 8+ miles would break that record. My 6 and 6.5 mile runs would not be enough, and I really didn’t feel like my 10.3 mile 3 boro 3 bridge route. So, settled for a route that I rarely run, and haven’t done in almost 2 years. Down East River Path, up Hudson River Path, and across 14th St back home. That route is 8.7 miles, and flat, so perfect. Biggest problem is the trip across 14th St requires a lot of car dodging, and lots of stops at the avenues, but that is OK as I was not so concerned about time.
Even though the humidity was down, the direct sun bothers me and the heat bothers me, so I decided to wait until the sun was well on the way down before getting started. Got out around 7pm, and picked up a bottle of Powerade to help me stay hydrated. First part of the run was to and through East River Park. It was so crowded with runners. I typically run the park early in the morning or very late in the day when it is not that crowded. Not sure if it was extra crowded because of the nice weather, but there were dozens of runners in the park, which was really nice to see.
Tried to hold back a little in the first few miles, but the pace was about 9 minutes per mile. A little too fast. At about 1 mile, I drank from the water fountain in front of the track at East River Park, conserving my Powerade. Good thing because I felt like I needed to stop often to stay hydrated. In fact, the Powerade only lasted until about mile 4.5, heading back up the west side. It is still quite a ways up to 14th St from there and really wanted to find some water. Luckily, I thought, there was a detour around the construction site just past the World Financial Center and I passed the Pick-A-Bagel in Battery Park City. Perfect place to pick up a water. First though, they did not have the medium sized squeeze bottle, just the regular small size and giant size. I refuse to pay 1.35 for the small water, so kept going. The Runners Station was closed, as they are only open till 6pm, but salvation was found when I got to pier 40, where they have vending machines outside. Was able to buy a Gatorade and continue on my way.
While not overly hot or humid, it was hotter and more humid than I care for, and I was definitely starting to lose it as I neared 7 miles and 14th St. Caught the light and crossed over West St at the bottom portion of 10th Ave before 14th St, then up 10th, to the turn onto 14th St. I was quite suprised to see people standing on the high line tracks, as I forgot that it was open, and that it overlooked 14th St in that spot. I was starting to get a little delirious at that point and decided to have a little fun with the tourists staring down at 14th St by pointing and waving to them. I was also able to see the great improvements made to 9th and 8th Ave’s as well. So much easier to cross 9th Ave, now that most of the intersection is a pedestrian square and car free. On 8th Ave, there is now a protected bike lane.
Anyway, even though I was overheated and my belly full from too much Ade (Power and Gator varieties), I was aided by having to stop a couple of times at traffic lights across 14th St, and was able to finish strongly in just under 1 hour 26 minutes. For 8.7 miles, this is just under 10 min per mile pace. Not bad at all with all the stopping.
Yesterday, my groin injury was acting up so no running yesterday or today. The pain that I have (which I actually DO NOT experience while running) seems to be migrating now to the pelvis area. I think it is time to get it checked out by a professional! In the meantime, will continue to build in trips to the gym and off days, and continue treating with ice and stretching.
