Tulips and Raccoons and Friends, Oh My!

It's April 19th and the Brooklyn Half Marathon is officially 1 month away!  It's been dawning on me that with the race nearing so quickly my mileage should really be looking a lot better than it has been lately.  I also realize that you can't try to push yourself during every single workout, or else you'll risk burning out, injury, or just not being able to get through the workout.  With all of that in mind, I headed to Central Park on this gorgeous night and decided to let my legs decide the workout.  I wasn't too optimistic, given that they were still feeling pretty tight from Monday's Leg workout and Wednesday' hill workout.



It was another beautiful night in Central Park with spring blossoms abound, and at 57 degrees it was pretty much the perfect running weather.

Pretty tulips at 72nd street!  Such an unusual color...

James and I took off together, which naturally pushed my pace.  But then I got mad at him.  When I told him I couldn't keep up he told me he was going to push me tonight and I snapped at him because I had already told him I wasn't interested in pushing too hard tonight.  It might not have been my finest moment...an apology might have been issued once I got home...so....who wants to be my running buddy?

How could I get mad at such a handsome one?  Sorry, Jamesy :(

anyway...we parted ways and I continued on my own trying to pay attention to what I thought I could reasonably do.

Who knew that I'd feel "reasonably" up to 8 miles?  I guess having a race on the horizon (and blog readers to answer to?) is really helpful!

Hmm...We'll have to work on getting the speed up on those last miles...

And at a an average pace of 10:15 / mile, the workout wasn't half bad for me!  It seems like I might need some extra juice to get through those last 5.1 miles come May given the drop in pace those last two miles, huh?

Around mile 4.5 I saw a raccoon and then two at mile 5.5!  They were huge - and SO fluffy looking!  It almost looked like they wanted a hug.  Almost.  Okay, so they were cute, but I'd be lying if I said I said I wasn't freaked out.  I suppose it was "safe" because they were minding their own business and it was already dark, but fyi other night time Central Park runners -[doo doo do do doo doo do do]- we're not alone!

On a more fun note - right after finishing the Great Hill I was treated to a nice little excuse for a break.  I was proud of myself for doing the full loop because I really wasn't sure that I wanted to do the Great Hill and just as I got over the top I saw a slightly familiar blur headed toward me.  Despite her insane speed, I was still able to identify in a glimpse that this speed demon was none other than a college friend of mine, Christy.  I'm not kidding when I say she's fast - she was on the track team there!  Normally I don't stop when I see people, but rather get a ridiculously giddy look on my face and wave - I don't want to ruin anyone's workout - especially not a top notch athlete like her.  But Christy stopped for me and it was such a nice surprise to catch up (and have a great excuse to reward my hill climb with a mini break)!

Just two miles later I was nearing the turn off for James's house and coaxing myself to skip it in favor of an additional pass at CP's lower loop when lo and behold I ran into a friend of mine from volunteering, Marie.  She and her roommate are both running the Brooklyn half, too, so we naturally easily hit it off this spring and bonded over our various running stories, aspirations, and pointers in between preparing taxes for New Yorkers at free sites throughout the city.  Think it's a small world/park just from that?  I ran [literally] into her roommate Sasha in BOTH of the races I ran in April.  What are the chances?  And what a perfect distraction to keep me from heading back home at the 6 mile point!  Marie and I ran a bit and caught up to Sasha - these girls are rockstars.  Doing a 10 miler on a Thursday night in preparation for a half that's a month away?  I'm impressed!  And motivated to keep working at upping those miles - thanks girls for making the end of my run so enjoyable :)

Now if only I could find a way to not feel nauseous post-run I'd really be on a running high.  On the bright side, I didn't actually get sick tonight, but it was still not a fun post-run night.  Any suggestions welcome!