My Longest Run

So this is my life now…

Staying in on Friday nights, eating lots of food.

Waking up early on Saturday mornings.

Running for what seems like most of the day on Saturday.

Maybe showering.

Then plopping my butt on the couch until someone forces me to move.

I’m oddly excited for this. Marathon training is going to be awesome.

I didn’t set an alarm to wake up this morning, but at 7 am my body was apparently ready to get started.

I won’t start an official training plan for the Hamptons Marathon until Monday when Coach Cane sends it to me. The plan for today was to “run.” I’m running the Brooklyn Half Marathon in mid-May, so technically the plan was to “run long, maybe 11 miles.”

But then I thought, “Hey Ali, what if you ran even longer? What if you just tried it out, to see what you’re capable of?”

Up until today, my longest run was 13.3 miles, the day I started this blog in October.

So I set out this morning in beautiful 50-degree weather, thinking maybe I’d just try to do a little more than that.

I started by running to Central Park.

Then I ran a loop in the park.

The first loop, which covered about six miles, felt great. No shin pain, no leg pain, just a beautiful morning to be outside running.

On my second time around, I ran into the Revlon Run/Walk for Women.

Great cause.

Bad crowd control.

The road got way too packed for my liking, so this was my cue to exit the park.

Off to my old favorite stomping ground: the West Side Highway!

As I left the park, 8ish miles into my run, I was parched.

Unfortunately that little guy wasn’t up and running yet. Central Park shuts off all the water fountains during the winter, and you’d think they’d all be turned back on by now, but apparently not.

Bummer.

So I ran across Columbus Circle, one of my favorite spots in NYC, toward the Hudson River.

The West Side Highway was just the way I remembered it: quiet, not too crowded and oh-so-flat.

The west side also had its act together.

Yup. Working water fountains. Muy bueno. (I was a Spanish minor. See how I put that degree to such good use?)

I turned around at Christopher Street and ran back north, ending my run at Theodora‘s apartment in midtown.

Total mileage: 14.5.

Total amount of sweat and salt on my face by the end of the run: impossible to measure.

I’m so pumped about this run. I started out fast — probably too fast — and my stride definitely slowed for a while in the middle.

I was able to pick it back up in the last few miles, though, and I never felt like I had to stop or like I was going to die.

That’s probably a good thing.

I’m confident that I can add 11.7 more miles on to what I did today. I’m confident that I can run a marathon.

OK, so why did I go to Theodora’s apartment instead of my own, you ask? (If you didn’t ask, you can skip this part I guess. It involves puppies though.)

Theodora spent her day being a great citizen and volunteering downtown.

That meant someone needed to take this guy out!

Your life is so hard, Bailey.

I took him for a little walk, which was a good thing for both of us.

It was good for me because without this walk, I wouldn’t have properly cooled down and probably would have just gone home and sat on my couch without letting my legs recover.

It was good for Bailey because he got to pee on everything in sight and take a nice poop.

We walked around the area for a while and then my legs said, “Couch time. Now.”

Bailey didn’t care about me leaving.

He knows I’m not his mom. You can’t replace her.

Now I’m showered, fed and being super lazy until I head out for a big night tonight.

My dear friend Alex is getting married in a few weeks.

Tonight we’re celebrating her pending nuptials by taking a hip hop class, then doing other fun things that will involve more dancing, food and drinks.

I hope my legs can handle it.

Now who wants to make sure there’s a puppy for me to play with at the marathon finish line in September?

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!