Enjoying the Concrete Jungle

The last time I ran in NYC I broke a rib and couldn't run for 5 weeks.Since I started running again in October, I've been doing early morning runs around my neighborhood in NJ. So you can imagine my excitement when the makings of a NYC Tweet-up run in Central Park started to take shape. For those of you not on Twitter, a Tweet-up is a get together of people you follow on Twitter. I'll digress for a minute by saying that if you have a hobby/passion/obsession etc... you should definitely check out Twitter. Whether you are a runner, knitter, chef, scotch drinker, etc.. there are plenty of like- minded Tweeters to share ideas with and get advice from.

We agreed that we would meet last Tuesday, Dec. 1 at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. Before heading over to the park I met up with some fellow Tweeters at the New York Sports Club on 73rd between Central Park West and Columbus to stash my stuff. nycbklyngirl, NYCe, bklynrunner, lady_southpaw, and myself headed over to Central Park to meet up with the others. Waiting for us were: pigtailsflying, agaliza, sclevine, speedysasquatch, mikejoconnor (who was in from MA on business). It was a clear and chilly night in the city. The city looked great, all decked out for the holidays. Running in Central Park is always a treat. It's a runners haven in the middle of the concrete jungle that is New York City. Since I don't live in the City, I forgot how tough CP is. Yes, there is Cat Hill on the East Side and Harlem Hill at the north end of the park, but I forgot about the rolling hills on the west side of the Park. For some strange reason these felt the toughest. I paid no attention to my Garmin, the point of the run was to meet new friends. During the run, we started talking about how much fun we were having and we need to do this more often.

Well, fast foward to Thursday morning. TK, AKA, pigtailsflying, and I met up at 48th and the West Side Highway for a morning run. While I was waiting, I took this picture of the Intrepid decked out in holiday lights.

It was an unusually warm December morning. So warm in fact that I was able to wear short sleeves abd shorts. The forecast was for rain and wind gusts of up to 40mph. I wore my rain jacket over my shirt. The rain never showed up but the wind certainly did. We were running south right into the wind which made the run feel harder than the actual pace. It was a fun run with good company and conversation. I dropped TK off at the subway station on Canal and Broadway and I ran down Broadway to my office in the Financial Distrcit. The West Side Greenway/Hudson River Park is another great place to run in the City. Running downtown towards my office is always a treat as there are great views of Lady Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

These 2 runs in the City made me realized how much I miss running in the City. With winter on the way, I have a feeling I'll be running in Central Park a lot more as it is usually clear of snow and ice. There aren't many safe place to run during the winter in my Neighborhood. Until the bad weather, I need to make an effort to run in the city more often.