If I Were A Loud Runner

The schedule this morning was for a 7 mile run. I decided to tackle Central Park, since I haven't done a long run there in quite a while. I've been a sissy and been running on the flat Westside Path and avoiding the hilly Park. I'm not entirely sure what the hill situation is like in Philadelphia, but running up hills makes you a stronger runner, so I can't avoid it forever.

The run started off fine. I was thinking about what to wear to work and what to have for breakfast. Normally breakfast is a smoothie (courtesy of Drew), but today is Drew's birthday, so I suggested that we go out to eat for a fancier breakfast before work.

I ended up taking two quick drinking fountain stops for a sip of water at miles 2.5 and 4.5. For some reason today, I really noticed how loud a lot of runners are. There are some that are really stealthy and can sneak up next to you without you even realizing it (and I don't normally wear headphones while running). But there are also really loud runners!

I heard someone coming up behind me and it was one of the loudest runners I've ever heard. It practically sounded like a horse was coming up behind me, that's how loud it was and it definitely sounded like "clomp, clomp, clomp". It ended up being a girl who was pretty tiny. I don't know how she made so much noise. I actually tried to run loudly and it was uncomfortable and I think that if I was that loud all the time, I'd drive myself crazy. I'd probably have to listen to an iPod to drown out that noise!

Apparently there is some sort of movie shooting on the north end of the Park. There were orange-vested production assistants all over the place. One girl was really odd because she was standing in the forest-y part of the Harlem Hill staring into the woods. I kept trying to tell if she was looking at something in particular, but it looked like she was just staring off into space.

Everything was just going along swimmingly until just before 72nd Street. When it happened. A bathroom emergency. Which meant that I absolutely could not keep running without getting to a bathroom ASAP. I remembered that there are bathrooms near the Bethesda Fountain, but after walking over there, I found out that they were locked.

Eek. By this point, I was honestly looking at every single bush thinking, "could I?". I thought about collecting leaves off the trees to wipe. It was horrible. Then it came to me that there were other bathrooms nearby at the Le Pain Quotidien in the Park. Luckily, those were open and clean! The emergency was avoided, but there were definitely a few tense moments there where I actually wasn't sure.

After that, I still had about a mile to go to finish up the run and get the rest of the way home. I still couldn't decide what to wear to work or have for breakfast, so I didn't get a lot accomplished on this run today!

I ended up doing a bit more than Hal Higdon calls for, both yesterday and today. I think that's okay. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do tomorrow. I think the Terrier brick is canceled for the long weekend, so I'll probably just go for a quick run.

I also just wanted to share this quote that was on my tea bag today:
"Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing." - Abraham Lincoln

That seemed like a good thing to remember when training for a marathon!

Running
Time: 1:17:17
Distance: 7.25 miles
Pace: 10:39/mile
Calories: 673
Maximum HR: 179 (84%)
Average HR: 163 (77%)