The NYC Century is this Sunday! As I previously wrote, this will be my first bike tour and my first century ride, so I’m really excited for it. And now it’s less than 48 hours away!
Routes of the NYC Century. The orange route is the century loop.
Before I get into the run, I wanted to post a picture I took last night walking through Central Park. It’s a shot of the spotlights representing the World Trade Center towers in memory of 9/11/01. I took it from the top of the Great Lawn and, while the picture quality is mediocre, I recommend heading out there tonight (weather permitting!) for the view. It was truly breathtaking and reminded me of some painful times and gave me a boost of gratitude that I get to live a happy life doing so much of what I want to do on a daily basis in the greatest city in the world.
World Trade Center Spotlights as seen from the top of the Great Lawn. Mediocre picture of a breathtaking sight.
Head all the way to the eastest of the east side for NP_NYC!
I get all pumped up every Tuesday night before the 5:28 a.m. Wednesday morning November Project NYC workout. As a somewhat introverted person, I tend to enjoy solo activities, including training. I imagine this contributes to my interest in endurance sports: I like the mental battle as the body gets tired.
NP_NYC opens me up, and I feel comfortable hugging strangers and giving out high fives like air. The workouts are hard but manageable, and everyone’s encouraging words keep the group pushing forward. At the end, people tell you, “Thanks for the push back there!” and you tell them the same. Encouragement mixed with smiles and a non-judgmental attitude: I can’t think of a better way to spend a Wednesday morning before the sun rises.
A view of the John Finley Walk before the workout.
This morning’s workout was a RAD workout (“running and dancing”), and included the following:
Everyone partnered up. To start, one partner ran down the John Finley Walk to a wall approximately 200 yards from the start point, and back. The other partner ran a loop of the grotto, the area adjacent to 86th Street and below the Walk. Whichever partner arrived at the start first got into the plank position and waited for her partner to arrive. Once her partner arrived, the partners would do five hoistees (partners interlock hands, squat, and explode upward), five “fuck yeah!” pushups (partners face each other, do a pushup, slap five, and repeat with the opposite hand; yelling “fuck yeah!” optional but encouraged), and five “compliment squats” (partners face each other, hands touching, squat, and give each other a compliment). Then, the partners would run whichever loop they did not run before, and repeat the exercises.
East End Grotto of Doom!
Clearly a dance party, right? There was music playing and people were bouncing a bit, and we got sweaty really fast. So, basically the same thing as a club, minus Ed Hardy t-shirts and hair gel.
My partner and I did eight or nine loops, which equaled 40 to 45 hoistees, “fuck yeah!” pushups, and compliment squats. We ran out of compliments around loop 5, so we just high-fived a lot and encouraged each other to keep up the good work. Around loop six I started to feel the strain of the planks, as I did p90x ab ripper X the previous night and felt the burn. But, as the party don’t stop until the 35-minute workout ends, I grabbed some water every three to four loops and kept going, shouting encouragement at everyone else and nearly running people over to deliver high fives.
Overall, I enjoyed the workout, and feel good about incorporating some higher intensity days into my schedule as the TCS NYC Marathon approaches. As I wrote about yesterday, I have developed a strong aerobic base over the past few months, and am excited to keep building on that base.
The Sun is waking up at the end of the workout!
I also learned how to whip and nae nae, so yeah, a full morning for sure!
Happy running, everyone!
Time on My Feet 