Saturday in the Park

I think this weekend was the first truly nice weekend that we've had since about October. It was very warm AND sunny! I was looking forward to spending the whole weekend outside and just being sort of lazy.

So, in the whole "being lazy" vein, I decided to not set my alarm to get up and run, but sleep in instead. Normally this would be okay, but I kind of forgot about the heat being more intense as it gets later. I also kind of forgot that every single person in New York City would want to spend time in Central Park. Whoops.

Oh well. :)

Bill and I set off for the park around noon (yeah, the hottest time of the day) for our 8-miler. The plan was one full loop (ACK! Harlem Hill!) and one more lower loop (ACK! Tourist-city!). The plan was also to take it easy since it was in the mid-70s for the first time and also since it was our longest run so far by 2 miles.

Matters were not made easier by the fact that my fuel belt doesn't really fit anymore. It is a small, and it seems in the off-season I have gained a few inches around my middle. Whoops. So I was relying on the myriad of water fountains around the park as well as Bill, who was carrying Gatorade in his fuel belt.

As we rounded the first lower loop I was actually feeling pretty good. I was right on pace at a 9:22 mile and I was feeling pretty hydrated. Maybe too hydrated...so we stopped at the Boat Basin, which is only about 1.5 miles into the run. Embarassing. :) I noticed when I was standing in line for the Women's room (why is there ALWAYS a line?) that I was also sweating profusely. So I took some of Bill's Gatorade too, and we started up Cat Hill, which was kind of cheating I guess, since we had such a long break before it.

We seemed to be able to keep pace, until we reached Harlem Hill. I did have every intention of running it without stopping, but it was just too hot. So I took a mid-way stop at the water fountain (good excuse) and had some of the best and coldest water ever.

After that there really wasn't too much stopping. I just kept telling myself that the first hot run of the year is torture, and you have to listen to your body. I think I ran it smart, and as such, I was pretty happy with myself. We even finished under a 10-minute pace (which includes all of that walking, because I didn't stop my watch)!

Even though it seemed to take forever I was so glad that I did it and glad that I got to spend the pretty spring day doing something that I love anyway :)