This morning was my first scheduled run of the sixteen week program. A short run, it was "only" three miles. It seemed much longer. Not because I couldn't do three miles - I just did that the other day, and could have gone more than that had time considerations not been a factor.
No, today was more difficult because of the weather - which, admittedly, I am going to have to get used to, as I've said before - with a heat index approaching 90 at a little after 0800, and because I screwed up on the way I went.
Today was a new route, right in the neighborhood of my firehouse. I chose this area since it would mean I could immediately go out after getting relief this morning, as well as a place to shower and change when I returned. My other option in Bayonne was to go to Stephen R. Gregg Hudson County Park, but that meant a delay in getting out on the road, and the way the day was heating up, I didn't want to wait.
Using the mapping option on Nike+, I figured from the firehouse, if I ran to Broadway, turned right and headed to 1st Street, made another right, taking me to John F. Kennedy Boulevard, then up to West 4th Street and back to the firehouse would be about 1.6 miles. I set the app on my phone to a distance of 3 miles and out I went. The plan was to go the way I did, since the decline (or going the other way, the incline) on Broadway from around 2nd Street to 1st Street would be and the gradual incline from 1st Street to the 4th Street on the Boulevard would be easier than the incline going up Broadway in the opposite direction.
Ah, no.
Not only was the climb about as tough going up the Boulevard as it would have been going north on Broadway, but it was longer. And being that it was just paved, I felt like I was baking on the fresh asphalt. And there was less shade, which I am finding out on days like today is a precious commodity. I find myself altering which side of the street I'm on, just to take advantage of the trees. To somebody who may be following me, I'm sure I looked quite confused.
Towards the end, right on the incline on the Boulevard, I got one of those meant-to-be-inspirational "go get 'em!" statements from one of Nike's sponsored athletes, this time from Sanya Richards-Ross, who implored me to give it a little extra over that last tenth of a mile, while simultaneously getting pumped by "Danger Zone", by Kenny Loggins. Maybe it helped, I don't know. I just wanted it to end, period.
Run completed, I got an attaboy from Tim Tebow...*sniff*
The details on today's run.
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