Denver Run with Matt aka The Dump Runner

In addition to Jeff and Diane, I was also looking forward to meeting and running with Matt, host of the Dump Runners Club podcast. We arranged to meet at my hotel after my meetings ended and Matt got off work. I didn't have any particular distance or pace in mind I simply looking forward to seeing the city. We past Coors Field (home of the Rockies) early on in the run. We then hit the Platte River Rec Path. There were plenty of runners out so I asked Matt if this was Denver's version of New York's Central Park. He said that this was a popular spot to run but Denver had many parks in which to run. He pointed out portions of the Colfax and Denver Marathon routes and took me past Pepsi Center (home of the Nuggets and Avalanche) and Invesco Field at Mile High (home of the Broncos). Passing the sports venues reminded me of my run to Yankee Stadium run in August of 2009.

I definitely noticed the thin air. We ended up running about 6.5 miles at 8:22 pace. This is the pace I ran my last marathon at and at which I've been doing my long runs. This pace at altitude felt hard. I had to ask Matt to slow it down more than once. By the end of the run I was sucking wind. It was great to meet Matt and to put a face to the tweets and to voice of the podcast.

I don't know about you, but I think the map on Garmin Connect from a new city run is a much better memento than any trinket I could buy in an overpriced souvenir shop. My Denver run provided an added bonus, usually I don't pay attention to the elevation because most of runs are run at this elevation:

but Tuesday's run definitely got my attention

National Mall Run

The Anskys were visiting friends in Rockville, MD for a few days last week and weekend. We saw a lot of cool things including going to to the top of the Washington Monument, touring the Supreme Court, and seeing the original flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. I did run while I was down there as well. Once in and around the National Zoo, once around my friend's neighborhood and on the last morning we there, around the National Mall. For those of you that don't know, the National Mall is not some sprawling structure in Washington, D.C. featuring a Sears, Best Buy, Macy's, etc.....The National Mall is the area in Washington that houses many of the famous monuments, memorials, and museums.

One of my favorite things to do when visiting new cities is run through them. It's a great way to explore the city you're visiting. The National Mall did not disappoint. In the interest of full disclosure, I did run the Mall once before, during the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon. For obvious reasons I did not take the time to appreciate all of the sites around me. This past Sunday, I brought my camera and played tourist. There were tons of other runners out, many of whom probably incorporate the Mall into their regular runs just as many New Yorkers run in Central Park or on its bridges.

Without further adieu, here is my run in pictures:

The run started at Smithsonian Metro station facing the Washington Monument:

The next stop on my tour was the World War II memorial

Next up: The Lincoln Memorial

I then followed some runners over the Arlington Memorial Bridge to Arlington National Cemetery

Back on the Mall, I stopped at the Federal Reserve

The Vietnam Memorial

Then it was time to tackle Capitol Hill

At the top of Capitol Hill is the Supreme Court

I saw many other sites along the after the Supreme Court but my camera malfunctioned until I ended the tour where I started at Smithsonian Metro Station. I like this shot because you can see both the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

Kansas City Part II

On my second day in Kansas City, Coach Jeff assigned me an "embarrassingly slow" run. Coach always says you need to teach the body to run slow before you can fast. Let me tell you something, running "embarrassingly slow" is not easy. These are the types of runs to work on form. It also afforded me the chance explore more of KC without having to worry about heart rate or pace.

My conference started at 8:15 so I didn't feel comfortable running in the dark in an unfamiliar city. After the conference, while most of my colleagues were rushing to the bars for happy hour, I rushed back to the hotel and changed into my running gear. Ryan couldn't meet up with me so I went to the 2nd best source of finding the safe and easy running routes, the hotel concierge. The Westin Crown Plaza was well prepared for my request. I didn't have to ask, the conceirge saw me dressed for a run and handed me this:

 Front

 Back

That's right, they handed me a handy dandy turn sheet with a 3 or 5 mile route. He then said, that I could also run through the Power and Light District and down to the banks of the Missouri River. It was an easy route, basically and out and back on Grand. The Power and Light District has a lot of nice sports bars and restaurants as well as the Sprint Center, which at one time was rumored to be the new home of the New York Islanders. Once past the Power and Light District, the run down to the rive was through a mainly industrial district with lots of warehouses. Once I reached the river, I turned around and ran back the same way towards my hotel. 

I still had about 20 minutes left on my run so I decided to run the paths around the National World War One Memorial.The Memorial itself sits up on a big hill and I saw several runners doing hill repeats up there. It was a beautiful setting to finish up the run. The sun was setting, the Memorial was lit up, and the view of KC was amazing from the top of the hill. 

This is what I love about running, you can do it just about anywhere. All you need are some shoes, a shirt and shorts/tights and you're set. It's a great way to explore a new city. Business travel is not a regular part of my job if I need to travel again, I will not hesitate to bring my running gear and use Twitter to reach out to my fellow runners.

Kansas City

Last week I was in Kansas City, Missouri for a 2 1/2 day conference. In addition to my business casual attire, I packed my running gear and was excited to explore a new city. Problem was, I had no idea where to run or where the "sketchy" neighborhoods were. The only thing I knew about KC was that is bordered Kansas. Since I have no idea when then next time I'll find my in KC, I got this idea into my head that it would be fun to run across the state line from Missouri to Kansas. The questioned remained, how do I do it?

This is where the power of Twitter came into play. Ryan lives in KC so I sent him a Tweet asking if he wanted to meet up and show me around. He gladly obliged and we decided that Tuesday morning would be the best time to meet up. Ryan was nice enough to pick me up at my hotel and we drove to the start of a popular KC running route. We started off by running through the Plaza district. The shops and cafes in this part of KC had a very Spanish look to them Ryan mentioned that The Plaza was modeled after Seville, Spain. I immediately noticed that we had the entire sidewalk to ourselves. Ryan mentioned two things 1) most people in KC drive everywhere and 2) The Plaza will be packed later since it is mostly a shopping district. I commented, that there are very neighborhoods in NYC where you can run on the sidewalk unimpeded at 7:00 a.m.

From there we picked up the Trolley Track Trail. Ryan mentioned that this is where most of the KC running community goes to get their miles in. I expected to see lots of runners getting their miles in before work. For the most part, Ryan and I had the trail to ourselves. Every so often we would see a fellow runner but for the most part it was pretty empty. Ryan mentioned that the trail is usually pretty crowded in the evening. During the run we chatted about running, race plans for 2011 (Ryan's are much more ambitious than mine), the New York City Marathon, Coach Jeff (we both train with him), and who knows what else.

After an out and back on the Trolley Trail, we hit some of KC's hills. Anyone who thought that KC was flat because it's in the Midwest and surrounded by prairies, is sorely mistaken. There are some serious hills in KC. After we crested the final hill and ran down the other side, we stopped and Ryan said, "here we are." "Where?" I asked. "Kansas" he replied. Really???? I was expecting one of those signs you see on the Interstate that said "Welcome to Kansas." No such luck, all I saw was this:

I was slightly disappointed that there was no sign. Ryan mentioned that since people travel between Kansas and Missouri almost every day, it's not a big deal. I travel to New York every day and there's a sign on the George Washington Bridge that says "Welcome to New York." Just today, Mrs. Ansky and I drove to Rockland County, NY and there was sign. No sign between Missouri and Kansas? WTF? At least I have this:

Anyway...we finished up our run and Ryan drove me back to my hotel. I thanked him for showing me around and we parted ways. Should you find yourself in a new city, I highly recommend trying to meet up with someone you may only know virtually. It's a fun experience and what better way to find the good running sport than from someone who lives there?

Question: How do you learn about the good running spots in a new city?