Sunday, December 13, 2009

When you own up to the label: hardcore

Today was brutal.

This is what I did:


You can click on the link above to get a larger map, but the total mileage today was 17.7. Ooof. I also ran apx 8-9 miles yesterday (I'll calculate later), which is a grand total of at least 25 miles this weekend.

To make things a tad more difficult, it rained today and was 38 degrees, and my iPod stopped working around the 6th mile. I ended up running about 2 hours without any music, which actually wasn't so bad.

It was brutal in the sense that it was fucking hard, but it wasn't brutal in the sense that it sucked. It didn't suck. It was one of those runs that made me feel hardcore, because I was getting drenched when it was cold enough to see my breath, and the whole experience was totally Rocky-like, when he was running up those stairs. (I won't criticize Rocky for wearing cotton sweats.) Everyone running around me were wearing leggings and shooting snot rockets, and were legit training runners.

There are 3 rules to abide by when running in the rain. They are:
1. Do NOT wear cotton, or sweats, because it will weigh a ton in 20 minutes.
2. Watch out for cars. You are not a horse. You CAN stop.
3. Don't give a flying fuck about anything else.

The last rule is crucial. You get to a certain point where you don't care that your shoes are wet, and you don't care that you are cold, because you're in a strange limbo of internal warm from accelerated heart rate and numbness because of the actual outside temperature. You look crazy, but you worked hard to look crazy and BE crazy to be running in said condition.

I ran from the QB bridge to Central Park, where I did a loop around the reservoir. I then went out of the park to the Upper West Side and went to Riverside Park. I at first regretted going out of the park because I had to stop and go according to traffic signals, and had to go through a tunnel. Tunnels = foul smell, because many people live and go to the bathroom there. However, once I got through that, I was met with a long clear and wide road, which was an absolute dream. I ran down with no one around, and it was so freeing. I could have gone forever. I reached the top of the park, turned around, and ran back to go back into Central Park and back home.

Needless to say, when I came home, I was chilled to the bone. I showered and ate, and I've been wrapped up in my Slanket for about an hour and a half now, but still feel cold. Here is a cameo of my Slanket (gift from Carmen - Thank you!!):

Trying to defrost and get on with the rest of the day.

FYI, totally underrated use of the Slanket: wearing it backwards, which just really means wearing it like a giant robe.

See you later, and HAPPY HANUKKAH!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh dude i wanted to get that for my mom. brookstone has a nap series for that thing. it looks soooo warm!!

Anonymous said...

underrated: wearing a robe backwards...slightly smaller slanket!!!

Lisa said...

Anonymous #2: touche. and more economical!

Peter said...

...You own a Snuggie? Oh my...this is for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05ZQ7WHw8Y

Lisa said...

Peter: SLANKET. not snuggie. get it right, or pay the price.

Lisa said...
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