A Tuesday Night in the Park

I knew I was going to be sore yesterday after my Monday long run--in a three day period I managed to run over 45 miles! Given this inevitable fact, I decided to take yesterday easy. I skipped my morning run and told myself that if I needed to, I could take a rest day.

Midtown from the Reservoir at Night--I wish this photo could do it justice.

 Well, by the time work was over, I was itching to get outside. The run I was supposed to do, 8 miles with 10x100 at the end sounded doable so as soon as I got home I laced up and headed out the door. My quads felt exhausted so I was a little worried about the strides, but I figured I just go by feel.

Tuesday night is a big night for team practices in the park so there were a fair number of people out on Park Drive. When I passed the Road Runners Kiosk there must have been 30 people milling around!

After a circuitous route by the Great Lawn, I made my way to the reservoir for some strides, all the while praying: Please don't be too crowded! Thankfully, the reservoir was pretty empty (though as usual, about half the folks using it were going the wrong way!).

My strides ended up feeling great with each one faster than my set last week. It just goes to show you that sometimes even tired legs can still get in a good workout. I'm glad I didn't blow yesterday off because now I still have an earned rest day that I use another day this week...or not.