A Bronx Weekend: Part I

Okay, so my posting has been a little off lately. I promise you I have a good reason, and one I'll go into detail on a little later. For now, I'm trying to get back into a posting routine and promise and least two posts per week.

I may live in Manhattan, but his weekend my running life was really all about a different borough--the Bronx. On Friday after work I hopped my usual train home, the 7th Avenue Express, but instead of continuing into Harlem I transferred at 96th Street. My destination? Van Cortlandt Park. Usually I head to VCP when I want to get in trail running but on this particular day I was there to take advantage of their track.

Runners warming up under ominous skies. Photo from MM.

The Metropolitan Milers, a group founded by Central Park Track Club member and USATF-certified coach Neil Fitzgerald, holds a "Friday Night Miles" series in the weeks leading up to the 5th Avenue Mile. Neil leads runners through a series of warm-ups, offers great advice on how to race the distance, and then gives runners a chance to put that advice to good use. The women's race went off around 6:40pm and then the men went in two heats of around 10 guys each.

The whole thing was a ton of fun! I was in the second heat with one of my teammates and in spite of having run Yasso 800s the night before, I ran a respectable 5:32 (my teammate ran a 5:23!). Hopefully in two weeks time when I toe the line on 5th Avenue, I can put that experience to good use.

There's one more Friday Night Miles event schedule for this week and if you live in the 5 boroughs (or Westchester) and: (a) love racing miles; (b) hate racing miles; or (c) have never raced a mile, I really recommend it.  For just $10 you get a great opportunity to learn something and race with a bunch of really fun people.

Stay tuned for Part II of my oh-so-exciting Bronx-centric weekend.