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.

...and it begins with you.

This morning I did 9 miles in the park with 10x100yd strides (they should have been 100m strides, but I used the reservoir which has 20yd markers). The run wasn't anything exciting so I won't bore you with any more details. Instead, I'd like to bore you with something else--running related--that I've been thinking about the past couple of days: acknowledging other runners.

There has been plenty of ink spent on this topic already, I know, but it's one that never goes away. Here's the scenario. You are running and you see another runner approaching you going in the opposite direction. As he or she gets closer, you wonder to yourself, Do I say hi? Do I waive? Do I sheepishly smile? Do I nod? By the time you get to the end of this list you and the other runner are within inches of each other and you give a halfhearted Charlie-Brown look that falls somewhere between "I really need to use the bathroom" and "I spend my spare time memorizing dialogue from Silence of the Lambs." The other runner, however, just gazing in the opposite direction pretending not to see you (or maybe he or she really does need to use the bathroom and that internal struggle requires all of his or her concentration).

Anyway, the point of the above rambling is that, at least in New York, there is no real protocol for greeting other runners. Generally, there is little to no acknowledgment. I don't know why this is. I've noticed on my runs in Van Cortlandt Park that as soon as I cross the county line into Westchester, the number of hellos and waives I give and receive jumps exponentially. It must be something about city living. I guess it makes sense when you're running in Central Park at 7pm on a Tuesday when the roads are choked with runners, walkers, and even "joggers" moving in every direction. But what about at 5am on a Friday when there are four people on all of East Drive?

My theory: we city runners view these interactions as a game of chicken. No one wants to be the first person so say or do something polite in case the other person doesn't return the gesture. One of the announcements on the subway ends with the following, "Courtesy is contagious and it begins with you." Maybe I'll make that my goal for the rest of the week, spreading a little courtesy to other runners. It's possible nothing will change. But then again, who knows how many I may be able to infect?

An early 8, or why I love the Reservoir

Today my schedule called for an 8 miler with 10 x 100m strides (actually, the schedule called for this run yesterday, but I figured I would take advantage of the wamer temps–hello mid-40s!–for my 11).

In an ideal world, I would do strides barefoot on the grass, but in NYC in the middle of winter trying to find an open stretch of flat green space is like trying to find a nude beach in Dubai. I’ve found that the next best option is the Centeral Park Reservoir loop. It’s a dirt/gravel path with markers every 20 yds, so computing distance is easy, and it’s flat! The only downside is that for a day or two after any big rain, there are giant puddles everywhere (thankfully, it hasn’t rained since Monday).

The run itself wasn’t too eventful. My strides were pretty consistent, with the final 5 being about 1 second faster each than the first 5. The only weird thing was a pain I noticed in my right hamstring during my cool-down. Hopefully this is just one of those random aches that’ll go away after some quality time with the foam roller tonight!

Note: This entry was originally posted January 25, 2012.