I gave it a good hard fight on my long run today, but I was beaten by Mother (and probably Father) Nature. Wind gusts of 25 mph whipped through most of NYC today, including my home away from home, Central Park. Forgive me as I anticipate this being a brief post or a really good one … not sure which yet.
The day started off well enough … sunny and 50*, but the elephant in the park was the wind. It introduced itself to me on 84th and 5th Ave. (right in front of the Metropolitan Museum) as I was crossing into the park. A quick 25 mph punch to the face. Bang! No alarm bells went off, but I was wary of how this run might play out. Still, I saw the normal complement of runners for Saturday mid-morning.
After stretching, I hit the asphalt in a measured way. I warmed up slow, but hit a nice rhythm around the mile 3 and kept it rolling. An annoying restroom break broke that rhythm, but I completed the first 5.14-mile loop in decent shape at a 8:30ish pace (a bit too fast for an LR, but okay). The second loop was slower than the first and my confidence was up as I felt better because I had actually slowed down to conserve energy. As I was starting off on the 3rd loop, I started feeling the after effects of the wind. That punch I received on the way into the park kept coming and coming and coming. I thought I had deflected the punches, but that doesn’t make any sense. I just powered thru them for 10+ miles at this point. What’s odd is that my legs felt great and lungs remained in my chest, but I was suddenly overcome with this general lethargy. I felt like I had been slowly tortured with no visible signs, but the damage was done. Imagine being in a boxing ring but covered up enough to hide any bruising, but still taking the beating of your life.
A sane creature would stop this self-imposed torture at 10+ miles, but that is not in my DNA. I kept it going. Since I repeated the first 2 loops, I thought that if I altered my route I might regain some energy in different surroundings. Did I hit the flat Reservoir Path? No. Did I hit the moderately hilly Bridle Path (which is shielded by trees)? No. Your hero headed for Harlem Hill … the scene of hill repeats and general destruction. I don’t know what I was thinking … at this point I thought I was lucid, but must have been absolutely delirious. To hit my goal mileage for the day I looped around Harlem Hill twice. The first loop was probably the best I felt the entire run. However, 3/4 through the second loop I bonked. Over the remaining mile back to the start of my run I alternated between jogging, running, walking and standing. I then realized that I stopped sweating. I wasn’t sure if it was caused by dehydration or the combo of the wind and dropping temps. I did hit the fountain hard twice and GU’d twice, so I am leaning toward colder weather. But who knows?
As I stretched out, I tried to dissect what just transpired over 14 miles (9:19 pace). My legs did not fail me. I did not run too fast as it turned out. I know! I got absolutely brutalized head to toe for over two hours by the forces of nature.
I am a long distance runner. I am stupid.