Riverside Park Run

So, as predicted, my alarm went off Sunday morning and I did NOT want to get up to run. Luckily though, the weather had warmed up considerably so it was not as painful as it could have been. Needless to say, I didn't get to try out my gloves or headband because of this. :)

I was being lazy and decided NOT to walk to Central Park and do the loop like I had planned. The thing was, I wasn't sure how long of a walk it was to Central Park, and this being my first run in about a month I didn't want to add on any miles. So I checked mapmyrun.com and figured out that looping around Riverside Park (much closer, only half a block away) is also 6 miles.

My run actually went a LOT faster than I thought it would. This is probably because I was site-seeing the whole time. Plus I wanted to check out the park a little more. We take our dog, Benvy, there every daybut she can only take it about 5 blocks and then has to turn around (about a 1/2 mile walk).

The coolest part was when I got to the top of the park. I was just coming out of the park actually, onto the street, heading towards Harlem when I saw this HUGE building. Judging by where I was, I figured this had to be Grant's Tomb.I don't know if it's just the building or the building in its surroundings, but the whole thing is rather magnificent.

I also realized that I really don't have to be concerned about lack of hills in NYC. Riverside Park has PLENTY. Plus a ton of steps. I tried running up these but they took my breath away so I had to walk. It made me reconsider doing the Empire State Run-Up. Bill said "good" after I told him this. I think he thinks I am going to have a heart attack some day. :)

I finished my 6 miles at a 10:30 pace, so I was pretty happy with myself. Tomorrow I am going to try and meet up with the Reservoir Dogs, so we'll see how that goes.

I am only a little sore today, which I take as a good sign. I think it is also more due to about the 5 miles I walked around the city and IKEA rather than my 6 mile morning run.