What To Do On A Thursday Night In NYC?

Run, of course!  I slept in this morning, but it ended up working out just fine.  I got out of work on time, went home, changed clothes and then went for a run.  I was planning on running about 7 miles today, which is the distance from my apartment, once around the Park loop and then back home again.  The weather was just perfect tonight for a great run.

I guess I wasn't the only person who thought that!  I saw lots and lots of other runners out tonight.  It seemed like there were lots of groups of people, but I saw a couple I know who are training for the NYC marathon out running.  Thinking about how close the NYC marathon is just reminds me how close my marathon is.  Which makes me a little bit nervous, if I'm being totally honest.  I'm also 99% sure I saw Megan out running with her CPTC buddies. 

I felt pretty good, but my feet and my Achilles felt a little bit off today.  I actually thought that it might have had something to do with my socks (I was wearing some new ones that I've never worn before), but then I realized it wasn't my socks, it was my shoes.  Traditionally, I never get as many miles out of them as some other people do, but I'm actually at the higher end of the miles, so I'm actually a bit surprised I didn't have any other twinges over the past few runs. 

The worst part about all this is, well, two things.  First, the new shoes are pink.  REALLY pink.  Embarrassingly pink.  A little bit fluorescent pink.  I will admit, there might have been a stage of my life where I really liked pink, but not any more.  I'm hoping to get these shoes really dirty really quickly to take some of the edge off.  Second, I was planning on taking tomorrow off and then doing a long run this weekend and I'm not sure I want to do that in my new shoes.  I don't really have any concerns about the shoes not being broken in or anything like that, but I'm also not sure I want to spend the first several miles out of my long run adjusting my speed laces.

Today's run was really great.  I don't know if it was that I saw so many other people out there running.  Some running group was obviously doing Harlem Hill repeats and as they passed each other they were calling out "great job" to everyone else they passed, including me.  So that was a nice little boost!  The weather was perfect and aside from my shoe issues I felt great. 

As I got towards the end of the run, I really tried to pick up the pace.  In fact, I ran the last half mile (in the Park)at a 8:14/mile pace.  Not too shabby, I think!  I actually wore my heart rate monitor again tonight for the first time in about three weeks.  My heart rate was definitely highest toward the end of the run, a good sign that I was pushing myself with just about everything I had left in the tank for the night. 

I know that running at night isn't always the right option for me, especially since I feel like it's hanging over my head all day and I worry about getting out of work in time, but sometimes it's just a really nice change! 


Running
Time: 1:12:53
Distance: 7.20 miles
Pace: 10:07/mile
Calories: 683
Average HR: 193
Maximum HR: 170