Two posts for the price of one!

Well, I was out of town last week, so I'm going to combine my run Thursday with this morning's run. Thursday's run was in Central Park, in New York City, and I was backin Chicago for this morning's...attempt.

Statistics:
Thursday Distance: 4 miles
Thursday Time: 43:17

Sunday Distance: 2.3 miles
Sunday Time: 26:20


Observations:

I was in New York all week last week, and I brought along my running gear because I really want to run through Central Park. Also my cousin, Ashley, brought her running gear so we ran together on Thursday morning. Our hotel was on York and 62nd, so we basically ran west along 62nd to the park, which was about a mile, then we just picked a path through the park, aiming to do four miles and end up back at the park entrance, which we did. The GPS says we did 3.68 miles, though with the clouds, trees, and curvy path, I imagine it clipped a fair amount of the run. I think it was pretty close to 4 miles.

The park surprised me a bit because I wasn't expecting it to be as hilly as it was. the streets of New York are pretty flat, so I assumed the park would be as well, but no. Hilly. So that was a new challenge, and I felt a bit sore, but not horribly so. My foot was fine, which is a good sign. All in all it I was really happy with the run and glad that I got the chance to run through the famous Central Park!


Today (Sunday) though, was a different story. I wanted to do the CES group long run yesterday (12 miles) but when I woke up Saturday morning, I felt really stiff and my legs felt pretty tired. I'd been walking and running around New York all week, spending a LOT of time on my feet. I didn't think my legs were ready yesterday, so I decided to postpone for today. I felt a lot better today when I woke up. No soreness or stiffness. The weather report called for rain this morning, so I was looking forward to that.

However, it didn't work out like I'd hoped. First, there was cloud cover but no rain, and I'd woken up later than I planned, so it was hotter than I expected. Nevertheless, I started out at about 9:30. After a half mile in, my legs felt fairly sore, but they normally do during the first mile or so. After the second mile, though, it was pretty clear that my legs weren't yet recovered from New York. There was no way I was going to be able to do anywhere near 12 miles this morning. Then, the sun came out, and I knew I should stop. I could have pressed on for a few more miles, but I decided to conserve my legs and make another attempt at a longer distance on Tuesday or Wednesday, somewhere between 10 and 12 miles.

My next group long run will only be 6 miles on Saturday, so I'm not too worried about doing the 10 to 12-mile long run with only a few days until Saturday.

So, I'm bummed out that I wasn't ready today for a long run, but I feel confident that a couple more days rest will leave my legs refreshed and ready for the last long run before the Rock N Roll Half Marathon on August 1st.


Next:
Tuesday - 10 to 12 miles