Latest Running Route: Riverside Park on down..

USATR Route: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=207984

We were lucky enough to have fantastic weather for a jog on Saturday so we made the most of it. In anticipation of an upcoming 5k in Riverside Park, and based on a friend's recommendation, we decided to give it a try (and to take advantage of park in additional to Prospect).

We got off the 1 line on 125th and walked a few blocks West. Our path technically started on St. Clair Place. The path itself is narrow, but as is customary, people are good about following the standard pass to the left, then move to the right procedures. Additionally, we got there maybe around 10am and it wasn't extremely populated.

Running alongside the river means we got great views of the water, the GW Bridge and Jersey. The first 3 miles or so the view was fantastic. There was a slight detour where the promenade was closed for construction so you're re-routed into I believe Hudson River Park which features paths closed off nicely from the street. After rejoining the river path we quickly hit around 76th. I started to lose energy around that point. Whenever the energy lull hits, I tell myself that there is nothing wrong with jogging just above a walk (probably an equivalent of a 4.5 on the treadmill) - as long as I keep my heart rate up. Going at the slow steady clip proved helpful. I didn't feel the pain much more until the 40s. Along the way it should be mentioned, the riverside has welcome interruptions from the 70s down with some interesting sites. Anything from decaying docks and terminals to thriving ports for Cruiseliners. The most boring portion was probably from the 60s - 30ths where the riverview is somewhat obscured.

We finally finished our slow jog (slog?) just past 14th for a stretch in one of the nice westside piers. By the way, the public restroom was oddly clean. In total the slog was just over 6 miles. Not a bad way to spend the morning/early afternoon.

And as is becoming traditional, we made our way to Thai on Two for a celebration lunch.

New York Awesome: Day 1

Saturday was the best day ever on several levels.

-The evil weathermen consortium predicted rain but it ended up a gorgeous day. It's well known that movies are attended much more or rented more often when it rains so perhaps they're being bribed by the MPAA? (You heard it here first).

-We had planned an outside jog for the weekend so we used Saturday's weather windfall (pun intended) to do it. Our route was basically a run across the beautiful brooklyn bridge, alongside the westside walking path up to 14th street.

Our first time running across the bridge was well worth it, tourists notwithstanding. We then made our way westward through lower manhattan. I've never been a fan of the area except the few times we were around to do tourist stuff such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. For locals though I assumed it was more or less to be passed over. I was too quick to judge however. Running along the lower part of the city, I got to take in fantastic views of the water and the piers. As we inched our way up (5 miles is a lot of jogging/walking for novices) up we also took in the westside piers and views of the jersey water front). Because of the heavy breeze, you couldn't break a sweat if you tried. An unexpected surprise was that our run ended with Chelsea market - a great place for snacking.