A Hot 10 Miles through the City

So far this weekend has been perfect!

Last night, Melissa and I enjoyed a relaxing dinner together over delicious food while catching up on life and summer travels. I can’t believe it’d been almost a month since we saw each other!

Posto, which happens to be one of our favorite delivery places, is even better in person.

We shared a the delicious arugula and bocconcini salad to start which included a light lemon vinaigrette dressing and chunks of mozzarella. Holy yum!

It was packed last night since no one opted to eat outside on their patio. I really wish the families had taken their crying children out their. I enjoyed four pieces of the personal Shroomtown pizza which is my all time favorite Posto pizza. If you’re a mushroom lover and you live in New York you have to enjoy this pizza! It comes topped with marinara sauce, cheese, Portobello, shitake, and button mushrooms!

By 9:30 I was in bed and resting my brain and legs with this week’s US Weekly. As I fell asleep, I also put together a new long run plan which switched things up a little bit.

Instead of sleeping until 6am, I was up at 5:30 in preparation for my long run.

For the first time ever, I filled out the important medical information section on the back of my bib. Based on the heat I thought the chance of collapsing mid run was higher than normal.

My pre-run breakfast was my normal slice of bread, almond butter, and banana sprinkled with a dash of salt. I also sipped on some G2 before heading out the door.

It as game time and regardless of the heat or humidity, I was ready to kick this run’s ass even if it was already 83 degrees with 69% humidity!

I decided to run straight to the NYRR Long Run start at 102nd street. The first four miles were slow and I focused on breathing and enjoying the morning sights rather than focus on the heat. Yesterday, when I asked Ali for suggestions she said not to think about the heat and she was right!

I reached the park five minutes before the start and was amazed how many people showed up for the run considering the running conditions.

  I lined up with the 10 minute pace group and planned to enjoy 6 slow and steady miles with them. The pacers kept telling us that they were going to keep more like a 10:30 pace due to the heat. I was fine with this but really questioned this as I experienced a similar story last year when I did a pace group training run before the marathon.

Regardless, my legs felt good having already racked a sweaty four miles and I was excited to conquer Harlem Hills in the first mile.

I stayed with the group for two miles, even though they were in no way keeping a 10:30 pace. Before my Garmin went into chirp overload and spazzed on me, it showed a 9:40 pace and others in the group were talking about the quick pace. I decided to slow my pace and hang out with my music for the next mile. Then, I heard someone calling my name from behind and finally met Meghan, one of my Twitter buddies who was rocking the long run. We chatted for a few minutes before I split off from the group and headed towards Columbus Circle.

Last night, I realized that if I ran the 4 miles to the park and then did 3 miles in the park, which would be a great hill workout, I could exit the park around Columbus Circle and run the final 3 towards Equinox for a foam rolling session.

I was hot, sweaty, and a little tired when I exited but more than anything ready to be done. My first mile out of the park was pretty slow, close to a 12 minute mile, as I was trying to lower my heart rate which was pretty high at this point.

But, the next two miles were flat and fast. My legs were heading home and they were ready!

I quickly made my way down Broadway past Times Square and Macy’s Herald Square (notice the Dolce&Gabbana Light Blue ad on the jumbotron?) in a little more than 20 minutes!

By the time I reached Equinox I was drenched and happy to be done but felt great overall!

Once I mapped my course, I discovered that I actually only did 9.76 miles, but I can’t complain! I finished in 1 hour and 39 minutes which is around a 10:10 pace; a huge improvement from last year!

Thirty minutes later I was clean, cool, and happy!

There is no better way to end a long run morning than sipping a banana, almond butter,  and Sun Warrior chocolate smoothie!

Have a great Saturday and congrats to everyone who completed long runs, triathlons, and awesome workouts this morning!