Before diving into today’s daily run, I must get something off of my chest. Please bear with me for a brief moment:
Dear August 2009:
Go away and never come back … especially do not make a surprise (and extended) visit at the end of September. I don’t like the weather you bring and would appreciate if you would go away forever. Don’t flip the script on me again!
Sincerely,
A Marathoner
69 degrees, 90% humidity, very little wind. All runners know that when you start perspiring heavily in the midst of pre-run stretching, it may be a challenging weather day. Ugh.
Like the weather, I flipped the script this morning and did a double 4-mile loop on the asphalt. I have not run this route in months. Since we are heading into the end of the September and I am sensing that very real runner’s wall, I need to change my routine. Runners are notorious creatures of habit (e.g., I NEVER leave home without popping in chewing gum for the walk to the park, but then discard it before I actually start running; I almost always take the same route to the park). Therefore, I left the comforts of the trails for the reality of the pavement.
My overall pace for the 8 miles was 9:32 … too aggressive given how I’m feeling and the conditions, but I’ll take it. Splits were okay with a couple of exceptions, when the “wall” reared its head …(9:39, 9:09, 9:27, 9:30, 9:54, 9:30, 10:07 and 8:58). I would be more annoyed, but for the nice last mile at 8:58 to finish off.
No celebrity or major political figure sightings this morning. I did notice the area surrounding the Metropolitan Museum was barricaded like most of NYC immediately after 9/11, which means dignitaries are in town. My hunch is that my good buddy Nicolas Sarkozy and President Obama (speaking at UN this morning) might be making an appearance at the Met.