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? 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.