Ok, so I'm a bad blogger. I missed a week or two in there between our 20 miler right before the hurricane and yesterday's 23 miler. In my defense, I've had a fair amount going on. (New job, whee!) Anyway, I got up at 4:15am to be in Manhattan for 6:15. I have a routine in the morning before a long run that includes a full breakfast. I am not one of those runners who can do so without eating. Plus, it takes an hour to get into the city at that time of day. Anyway...
Our route started at Columbus Circle, went down the West Side Highway, down to Chambers Street, over the Brooklyn Bridge and into my favorite borough. We were a small group, since there was another crew who started at 5:30. It was good, though. We kept a nice pace and we were all feeling really strong throughout most of the run. The weather was spectacular, sunny but cool. I always love going over the bridge, and it was fairly quiet because it was so early. I'll never get tired of the view from up there, even if it was a little obstructed by construction.
We arrived in the BK and ran through the borough hall farmers' market, which was pretty empty at 8:00. Everybody immediately began commenting on the cute babies and dogs that Brooklyn is so well known for. We continued down Court St, to Union and through Gowanus and Park Slope to Prospect Park, where we encountered a fantastic aid stop. (Thanks, guys!) I stocked up on m&ms, my fuel of choice this season. I don't know why, but they seem to be working. I also grabbed a couple of mini- candy bars to put in my pocket, since I contemplated finishing the run in Brooklyn rather than coming all the way back into Manhattan and taking the subway home. I never eat that much sugar in my daily life, but for some reason, my body was craving it. I figured I'd better listen and oblige it.
We did a loop of the park together as a group (going clockwise to avoid going up the big hill). I saw my former roommate (hi, mar!) which was a great surprise. I did decide to finish the remaining 10 miles in the park on my own, rather than reversing the route. (I absolutely hate the WSH because I know exactly what street I'm on and how much farther I have to go, which is terrible at the end of a run. Also, I live two blocks from the park, so this made much more sense). I was sad to see the group take off without me, but I was feeling much, much better after 13 miles yesterday than I was after 13 miles a few weeks ago during the 20. I had my ipod with me, so I listened to podcasts to make the last 3 loops of the park go faster. It was monotonous, but between the podcasts and the candy, I was doing ok. Overall, 23 miles took about 6 hours (with a few stops thrown in). I really want to break 6 hours at the MCM, which is only 6 weeks away. Scary!
We have one more long run between now and the end of October. It's supposed to be the full 26, but I think I need a month to recover from that, and I only have 3 weeks this year, since MCM is the week before the NYC marathon. I haven't decided if I'm going to do the whole thing, since I'm not signed up for another race. If I'm going to run 26 miles, I may as well get a medal for it! For now, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing (lots and lots of yoga, strength training, etc). It seems to be working. My training this year has actually been quite pleasant. No wall yet!
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