running in the jungle

cold? who says its cold!? i love this weather for running.

okay, it is way colder than it has been. when i left the ny1 thermometer was rocking a whopping 29 degrees. i wore my gloves but forwent the hat, which i regretted for the first 10 minutes.

but wait - let me back up for a recap to the week...it won't take long.

sunday instead of running, the boy and i biked around the brooklyn and ended up riding about 15 miles, which is pretty much the equivalent of a 3-4 mile run (they say 4-5 bike miles "equals" 1 run mile). monday i had to travel to boston for the day which made that day pretty much a wash, and my plan was to run tuesday morning. but we got stuck in boston for HOURS and thus i did not get home until 1am monday night. i tried to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 to run but it simply wasn't happening. thursday morning i ran but had to cut my 4.4 miles short due to terrible stomach pains. blah.

so back to today. the team is running a race in the city tomorrow and i have a friend's bachelorette party tonight which meant i was on my own for the run. i am tired of the park for the long runs, and the flat flat route to coney island bores me to tears so i opted to hit the brooklyn bridge.

once i warmed up it was perfect out there. the first few miles as always were a little "clunky" as i worked out the kinks, but once i got to the bridge i felt a bit smoother. the tourist contingent wasn't too terrible yet, although why people feel the need to walk 7 PEOPLE ACROSS is beyond me. i crossed the bridge, turned around almost at the end, and headed back. i had my first gel of the season as i left the bridge (mmm double latte!), crossed paths with my coach from last season, jim, and waved hello, and suddenly noticed the REAL cruising had set in. that moment when you're running where you are just going...your don't notice your legs, or your breathing, you are just going and i smiled wide. it was the first run this season that i've gotten to that place and this made me very very happy.

i kept up the pace down 3rd avenue and the city scape on that avenue - construction, housing projects, garages, the gowanus canal - starkly contrasted the softness of the park. the sidewalk narrowed so i moved into the bike lane, running with the cars zooming by, and i felt a bit bad ass. my only regret was that i was ipod-less, for surely i would have been blasting welcome to the jungle, and only that could have made the run more perfect.

thursday's run: 3.7 miles
today's run: 9.1 miles
season mileage to date:73.9
up next:3 miles EZ