Today’s run was everything I had hoped it would be: the weather was gorgeous, Central Park was filled with fit, beautiful people, and my body felt rested and ready to rock.
I got 8 hours of sleep last night, which has been pretty unheard of in my life lately. I woke up before my alarm and was thrilled to see that the temperature outside was already 40 degrees and rising quickly.
I ate my pre-run granola bar, stretched and suited up in capri pants, a tank top and a light jacket.
When I left the apartment, I wasn’t sure what type of distance I was hoping to cover. I mostly just wanted to run for the fun of it. I figured I’d do something like 10 miles, since it would be my last long run before the National 1/2 Marathon in two weeks (next week my long run will be 6 or 7 miles so as not to exhaust my body).
Central Park was great today. So great, in fact, that I felt like I was skipping along the road rather than running. I didn’t even stop to take many photos (sorry!) because I was so engrossed with how surprisingly good my legs felt.
Also, the running road was covered with this:

Become your dream? I’m not sure if it’s part of some campaign, but I love the message.
I ended up running 11 miles: one mile to the park, 8ish miles in the park, another mile back to the apartment, then ran up by the river for a bit to get to an even 11 miles.




When I returned to the apartment, I foam rolled my legs for a while, though they never got too tight. I maintained a solid pace, and finished 10 miles in 1 hour 26 minutes (I didn’t turn my Garmin on until after the first mile because I couldn’t get a satellite). I’m on track to hit my sub-2 hour goal time in DC!
After a fabulous shower, I headed downtown for brunch with my cousin, his girlfriend and my aunt and uncle who were in town from Philadelphia.




We went to Beauty & Essex on the Lower East Side, which opened earlier this month (I think?). It was great! The tapas-style menu was delicious, and I loved the fondue plate we got as well as the mac and cheese (obviously).




The decor was hip and luxurious, and I’m dying to go there for dinner sometime soon.




I walked around downtown for a while after brunch and enjoyed the sunshine. Now I’m ready to continue the weekend.
TELL ME: What major confidence booster have you experienced lately? I’ve had so many frustrating long runs lately, and it felt great today to have a good run again.
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Psst … the “Become Your Dream” messages in Central Park are the work of James De La Vega, a Soho artist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_De_La_Vega
I’ve been loving them during my Central Park runs this week! 🙂
I was at stanton social last weekend and it was soo good!! Reminds me a lot of this place but beauty and essex has way better interior design!! I might just have to check it out!
I could use a confidence booster right about now!
My best confidence booster was my long run last weekend. I did a “practice” half in 1:55. I’m feeling great about the half I’m running on 3/20.
Congrats on a great run today!
I hear they give free champagne in the bathroom there!
Have you been to Stanton Social??? LOVE. Haven’t tried Beauty & Essex yet though. Awesome run you had!
Yes, I have been — and it’s the same owners! Similar in that they’re both tapas style, too.