I stopped my long distance run because of Spike Lee.
Posted in: Slice of Life, Tri Stuff on August 14, 2006 at 5:06 pm by Glenn.9:06 PM NEW YORK TIME
I did it! I ran Central Park! I made it my long run for the week and hit the 8 mile mark before a cool down walk. It was awesome.
It almost didn’t happen. No, not because of Spike Lee, but because I was too lazy to wake up at 6:00… then 6:30… then 7:00, 7:30 then finally I got up at 8:00 AM and headed my way out the hotel doors about 20 minutes later.
I started on 51st but my Garmin didn’t find a satellite till 60th street. So that’s when I started to run. 8:30 AM.
Point Six miles later I got to Central Park and started the trek around the 6 mile loop. There was 1/10 the amount of runners, bikers and walkers that there was on Saturday; probably because those people had to go to work. Which was fine. It made it a more peaceful jaunt around the park.
I made sure NOT to push it as I wanted to enjoy the run. I kept a very easy pace, around 10 min miles, and enjoyed the sights of the park. This park is huge; bigger than I ever expected with so many different things to do. There’s a swimming pool, several baseball diamonds, several playgrounds, and the Jaqueline Onassis Reservoir that I ran by, but not around.
The run was peaceful, quiet, and if I didn’t fall in love with New York already, this really was the topping on the cake. I can live here just for this park alone!
The music of choice: two albums that I bought prior to the trip; U2’s “Unforgettable Fire” and Yes’ “90125”.
Here’s a snapshot of my run from my Garmin.
Okay, not only did I run Central Park, I also managed to hit my Personal Best in distance. 8 miles! There were a few stops here and there for lights, a check on my iPod, and as I mentioned in my subject, Spike Lee!
At the 7 mile-ish mark around 5th and 59th Avenue (right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of 5th Avenue) I saw a film crew and lights. There were two chairs set up and they were wrapping on some morning show I believe. Spike Lee had stepped to the side to do another interview for some entertainment channel – I can’t remember the name – and I stopped dead in my tracks. He looked right at me and I smiled. I was about to shout, “KNICKS SUCK!” just to start conversation. I mean it would be stating the obvious so no offense to him and his reputation. They just suck and its Isaiah Thomas’ fault. Anyway, he was there, I was there, he shook hands with whoever was interviewing him then without smiles, talked to some big wigs in suits twice his size. I was tempted to say, “Hi Mr. Lee… I’m also an aspiring filmmaker and love your work!” But refrained and started back on my run.
One more mile left through traffic, lights and pedestrians on my way back to the hotel.
I had a lot of energy left, my legs NEVER felt any pain throughout the run, my water intake was good and I felt great!
So at least now I can say it… I saw Spike Lee… I mean, I RAN CENTRAL PARK!
Here are my splits:
Mile 1- 0:10:08
Mile 2- 0:10:18
Mile 3- 0:10:04
Mile 4- 0:10:19
Mile 5- 0:10:50
Mile 6- 0:10:55
Mile 6.22- 0:02:27
Mile 7.18- 0:10:56
Mile 8.01- 0:11:42
TOTAL 8.01 miles: 1:27:39
AVERAGE 10:57 min/mile
That’s how I started my day. Immediately after that we took a Bus Tour through Lower Downtown. We saw a ton of things. Too many to mention really. Times Square, some of Trumps Buildings, The Empire State Building, Jack Rabbits (where I bought my shoes yesterday), SoHo, and we took a ferry to Staten Island and back. Yes, there’s a lot more but too much to mention. We got on the bus around 11:15 PM and we got back to the hotel around 5:30 PM as we got off the bus a couple of times. I carried Jake to the hotel – he was whooped and I was the one that ran 8 miles!
So its time to go to bed and its only 8:45 Eastern Time.
Here’s some Phone Video of Jake on our trip to Staten Island.
Ferry Vid 1
Ferry Vid 2
Ferry Vid 3
Enjoy…
One more day of New York and we’ll be heading home.
