Bike ride/run/ow!

So today I was sort of lazy. I slept in and justified it becuase I was feeling some strange pain in my outside calf. I iced, stretched and then went out for a bike ride. I meant to ride about 10 miles, but due to the gorgeous day it turned in 25 miles, all of which were nail biting because I almost took out a good number of tourists and idiot in Central Park. Some pieces of advice to any of you visitng Central Park sometime soon...(1) If every other cyclist you see is riding counterclockwise...it might a good idea to do the same; (2) if you can't manage your child, it might not be the best idea to let him loose on West Drive where bikers are going 15-20 miles and hour; (3) DON'T STOP in the middle of the road in Central Park; (4)if you don't speak English, chances are if someone is screaming at you, you should get out of the way.

I really tried to be patient, and to be honest, the lower loop and Harlem Hill was no problem, it was just the mid 72nd to 102nd portion that was dangerous to be on.

Anyway I did my ride, was supposed to meet some people in Sheep's Meadow, that didn't work out so I went home on the ferry....and maybe took some time off...watched some tv, stretched and did soem laundry, and then got a three mile run in.

When I came home my leg started hurting more. I think it is just some mild perenoel tendonitis caused by a strange foot position due to those socks yesterday....figners crossed that I am right. I am taking it easy, skipped boot camp this morning and in lieu of yoga will have dinner with my dad tonight.

Summer Streets

So Saturday was supposed to be an eleven mile run down summer streets and into the park. Summer Streets is this fabulous thing NYC does the first three saturdays in August. They close down Park Avenue and a route into the park (and I think a route from the park to the west side highway) and open it to bikers, walkers, runners, rollerbladers, skateboarders, scooterers and some other contraptions I could not identify. I am pretty sure there was an ATV going along and some weird bike with really long handlbars and lots of random wheels.

We (meaning TNT) started at 52nd street went down to the Brooklyn Bridge (downhill) and back up to 52nd Street (uphill). Isn't it funny how downtown goes downhill !!! Seems appropriate to me. Then past 52nd Street, into the Park and back. I was supposed to do 11.25 miles, but due to an unfortunate sock situation (I bought new socks that didn't mesh well with my orthotics) my feet were slipping around in my shoes and I was getting cramping and doing weird things with my feet to run. I stopped after ten miles. It was a great and fun run though. NYC had water stations, rollerblade rentals, they were giving out free bike helmets and my personal favorite....the dumpster pools...I am seriously thinking about heading out there next Saturday to check one out. They had pools made out of what looked like dumpsters...so creative and fun!!!

After the run, and a shower, we had a Team In Training bonding event at the Boat Basin....great way to end your training day!

Tuesday Night GTS and the Secret Hill

Tonight we did hill repeats near the W 72nd Street Entramce. But after years of running in the park I learned that there was actually a road doing north and coming out on West Drive near 74th Street. How funny! It is one way and sort of hidden, but I have passed it at least twice a week for the last 7 months and never realized it was there. That is what I love about Central Park, no matter how much time I spend in it, I am always discovering new things!

The Mission Moment Tonight was a really terrific one. One of the women who is not only an honored teammate, but a participant in tons of Team in Training Events told us about her fight with Leukemia and three time relapse and how being part of the endurance team helped her fight as her fight got harder and harder, not only what she learned about enduring, but through the friends she made the support she recievd. How AMAZING! It's nice to be reminded why we run, especially before those grueling hill workouts! It definitely gave me goosebumps!

Lots of early mornings!

So this weekend started out with a nice 8 mile run in the park on Saturday followed by my very first Sprint Triathon on Saturday. For those that don't know a Sprint Triathon is a "not quite as long as a normal triathlon" Triathlon. They vary in distances, but this particular one was a 400 meter swim, 13 miles bike ride and 5K run. It was quite an experience.
First, the swim was not a normal one as it was in a pool in single file, with participants starting every ten seconds. I was standing around waiting to start for about an hour, but the swim went relatively well. Next was the 13 mile bikeride, which would not have been complete without a flat tire. Then the run, which may have been my worst 5K ever. My legs (particularly my it bands) did not transition from the bike to the run very well. I have to work on that. But overall it was super fun and I will completely do another one...in fact I am comtemplating one next weekend. (Just working out the logistics).

Then this morning I did Jaz's bootcamp at 6:15. The problem is apparenlty no one from Hoboken actually needs to get into teh city that early. My building shuttled doesn't start running until 6:00, nor do the buses, so I had to walk the mile to the path (someone suggested taking a cab, which I didn't think of at the time, might have to do that on Thursday). The class was awesome. I am expecting to be REALLy sore tomorrow. I am really hoping the class does something for my abs and upper body, which have really been suffering lately. Jaz is AWESOME, a great motivator. So happy Katy Sorkin talked me into taking the class :).