Should have brought my ice skates

Still totally jazzed after yesterday's incredible run, I woke up early this morning and headed out with high hopes. Today's goal was to explore my way through Inwood Hill Park to the northern most tip of Manhattan. That dream was ridiculously short lived.

The Hudson River Greenway was even WORSE than yesterday!!! Unbelievable. The sun was shining and the temps were pushing 40 degrees, so I mistakenly thought most of the ice would be gone. No such luck. All the sun succeeded in doing was to melt the existing ice into a giant skating rink. The entire path was just one solid sheet of smooth, slick ice. Less than 10 minutes into the run, I actually fell on black ice and probably screwed up my knee. It was literally impossible to run. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. Even when I stopped to walk I could barely keep my balance. There were actually other runners out today, and none of them seemed to be having trouble. They were all cruising along without a care in the world, while I was slip-sliding around petrified of loosing my balance and breaking my neck. I only made it as far as 168th street before desperately searching for dry, solid ground. Feeling thoroughly dejected, I made my way back home.

If I plan on running in weather like this more often, I might need to look into chains for my shoes. For some reason none of the other runners seemed to have a problem, and they were all wearing regular sneakers. What is their secret!? I would have killed for some extra traction on that ice. Maybe it was my shoes? Perhaps my Sauconys (which I wore today) just don't have an much friction as my New Balance 1225 (which I wore yesterday). Regardless, today's run clocked in at 45 minutes for about 2.1 miles; it was an all-around disaster and I was thoroughly disappointed.

New Sneakers!

new shoes arrived yesterday! yay! can't wait to use them. I have no idea how far I'll go today, but it's Saturday so it's going to be a long run, I'm excited to go, and it's a beautiful day outside =)

Thanks to the guys at New Balance Cherry Hill for sending them so quickly! I've been a loyal NB customer since I bought my very first pair of running sneakers wayyyy back in '02 at the Haddonfield Running Company (At the time, my cross-country coach knew the owner and sent our entire team there, because it was pretty much the only place you could go to at the time and get a proper gait analysis, expert advice, and get properly fitted with speciatly running shoes. I ended up with the NB 764's and through the years, have grown with the shoe... 765, 766, 767... and on to the most recent upgrade: 768. I still have that very first pair of 764's, and it's amazing too see how rapidly technology and cushioning has advanced in such a short period of time.) Which brings up another interesting topic: the benfits of modern cushioning and support technology vs the "barefoot revolution," but that will have to wait until another day. Right now, I am going for a run!

15.2 miles later.....

that's right! I just ran 15.2 miles! that's farther than I've EVER run in my ENTIRE life. It's farther than my typical average weekly mileage. I ran through Rye, Harrison, and Purchase, NY and into Greenwich, CT. And it only took me 2 hours 40 minutes total (I had to walk up a couple of hills, plus I stopped once to ask the mailman for directions, and a few times to check my heart rate). Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful run. Very peaceful areas. I went down tons of residential roads lined with private estates and gated driveways, the kind of roads that twist & turn every which way, that wind in & out of trees, up & down hills, and alongside brooks & fancy golf courses. Don't get me wrong, it was not the most amazingly scenic route, but it was very peaceful being out on those roads... since there's no businesses for miles, no intersections or stoplights and practically no cars on the road... it's just you and the road, except for the occassional car or cyclist.

This is only week 2 of training and I already ran 15 miles. woah. Maybe this won't be as tough as I thought. Then again, I am probably diving in head-first way too soon, and it will probably end up being even tougher than I imagined. I probably won't even be able to walk tomorrow.