Believe it or not -- I actually got my butt outside yesterday to do my long run! Usually I have no motivation to do this and push it off until Sunday. This week I was motivated by three things: the fact that if I ran on Saturday instead of Sunday I would get a bonus point in my motivation plan for doing 5 workouts this week, the fact that I could have a super lazy day on Sunday with no plans if I ran on Saturday instead, and the fact that I could pig out on bad food with little guilt at the board game party I was hosting later that night. Besides that though, I really had a hard time wanting to get out there.
It was a rather uneventful run except for the fact that in the first six miles I had this immense urge to pee and was pretty sure the public bathrooms were closed. I realized this as I ran by the Boathouse and noticed a white piece of paper on the door (which I assumed said they were closed for the season). Not really sure what to do about this since I had a whole 12 miles to do. When I got to 72nd street, completing my first loop I figured I could run across the transverse to see if Bethesda Fountain bathrooms were open or wait until I finished the lower loop and cross to the Bethesda Fountain on the east side. I really didn't want to add on the extra .5 miles it would take to do this if I opted to go right then, but I felt like I didn't really have a choice. So I ran to the plaza only to find a big sign saying they were closed for the season and I should try the Boathouse. Grrrrrr. So I ran another .2 or so miles and once again noticed the sign. Freakout! But before a total meltdown I decided I should probably get closer and READ the sign before I assumed what it said. And lo and behold, it was only telling me to keep the door closed because the restrooms were heated. YES!
Now I had another dilemma. Do I do the lower loop? Backwards or forwards? I didn't think I could add on anything to my 12 miles because my legs were already feeling tired. And I HATE the lower loop. I will do anything to avoid it. So I ran back and forth on the transverse until I got to 7 miles. Crazy boring, I know, but better than that lower loop. I don't even know why I hate it that much. It's fairly flat compared to the rest of the park, it's definitely very scenic, and it is only 1.6 miles.
Anyway, this meant that I had miscalculated and at the end of my run I still had .21 miles to go. I know, I know, just skip it, right? But no, I didn't feel like I could say I ran 12 miles unless I actually did. So I ran down .1 miles across the transverse and .1 miles back (again avoiding the lower loop completely.)
Afterwards I felt SO SORE...like running a half marathon sore. This is kind of crazy since I was keeping kind of an easy pace (according to my watch 10:42, but that was wrong since I kind of forgot to stop the watch during the whole bathroom debaucle.)
At any rate, I feel like I'm totally in for it now. So I did what I have been avoiding for a month and a half...I signed up for my first post-pregnancy marathon: the Flying Pig.
It makes me nervous to think about committing to this, but here I am!
Showing posts with label bathrooms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bathrooms. Show all posts
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Bathrooms, Please!
Today I had my 16 miler. I must say, it was SO much better than last week's run. After a bad run like that I was sort of unsure about running this week. Especially since my run involved loops. I hate repeating anything, but it especially stinks since I basically run the same route every weekend.
I started out with Bill but then he was too fast for me so he took off right before the bottom of the park (which is where we usually split up). He only had 4 miles today, so he was going to catch the 97th street Traverse back home while I continued the loop. I was happy to see him waiting for me. Especially since I had to pee...really badly. And I wasn't really up to going into any of the park bathrooms without someone waiting outside. (I've seen way too many movies about serial killers). So we looked on the map, and conveniently, there was one right by East Meadow, which was right by where we were.
It was closed.
I had to go really really badly. Bill and I weighed the options. There was another one close by, but on the other side of the park. The trees around us didn't offer much cover and besides, being a girl, it is not all that easy...plus there are tons of cops in the park. I could run across the traverse and go home, but that would mean I had to reconfigure my route, since I was adding some odd-miles on by doing that, and cutting out others. I was about 4 minutes away from the hockey rink, and I was pretty sure they would have an operating bathroom. I said goodbye to Bill and headed uphill. Unfortunately, you had to pay to get beyond the gates of the hockey rink. So plan B...I headed back to my apartment. The running was making it worse and I had like 30 minutes to go.
I did have to reconfigure my run, but luckily I didn't have to run all the way up to 120th like I thought I would have to.
I had a pretty good run after that, though by mile 14 I was pretty exhausted. I was exhausted in the way that I used to be exhausted on my long runs (like "26.2? Are you kidding! That's like 10.2 more miles, there's no way I could do that!").
I ended up somewhere in the neighborhood of a 10:20 mile pace (which is what my watch said), although it could have been a little faster. I don't know because my watch didn't stop on my bathroom and Gu break like it was supposed to :(
I am very tired, so I'm looking forward to a nice night of doing nothing!
I started out with Bill but then he was too fast for me so he took off right before the bottom of the park (which is where we usually split up). He only had 4 miles today, so he was going to catch the 97th street Traverse back home while I continued the loop. I was happy to see him waiting for me. Especially since I had to pee...really badly. And I wasn't really up to going into any of the park bathrooms without someone waiting outside. (I've seen way too many movies about serial killers). So we looked on the map, and conveniently, there was one right by East Meadow, which was right by where we were.
It was closed.
I had to go really really badly. Bill and I weighed the options. There was another one close by, but on the other side of the park. The trees around us didn't offer much cover and besides, being a girl, it is not all that easy...plus there are tons of cops in the park. I could run across the traverse and go home, but that would mean I had to reconfigure my route, since I was adding some odd-miles on by doing that, and cutting out others. I was about 4 minutes away from the hockey rink, and I was pretty sure they would have an operating bathroom. I said goodbye to Bill and headed uphill. Unfortunately, you had to pay to get beyond the gates of the hockey rink. So plan B...I headed back to my apartment. The running was making it worse and I had like 30 minutes to go.
I did have to reconfigure my run, but luckily I didn't have to run all the way up to 120th like I thought I would have to.
I had a pretty good run after that, though by mile 14 I was pretty exhausted. I was exhausted in the way that I used to be exhausted on my long runs (like "26.2? Are you kidding! That's like 10.2 more miles, there's no way I could do that!").
I ended up somewhere in the neighborhood of a 10:20 mile pace (which is what my watch said), although it could have been a little faster. I don't know because my watch didn't stop on my bathroom and Gu break like it was supposed to :(
I am very tired, so I'm looking forward to a nice night of doing nothing!
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