Confidence Booster

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"

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.

Pretty!

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.

Not my photo — we were there during daylight

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).

Nice, right?

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

Love the furniture

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.

Ali

Ali

0 Responses

  1. 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!

  2. 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!

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about ali

I’m the creator of the Ali on the Run blog and the host of the Ali on the Run Show podcast. I’m also a freelance writer and editor, a race announcer, a runner and marathoner, a mom, and a huge fan of Peanut M&Ms, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (way better than the first one!), and reliving my glory days as a competition dancer in the early 2000s. I’m really happy you’re here.
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