Making Time for Hills

Yesterday Woody and I shook up our Sunday morning routine a bit by taking the subway up to Central Park for a run. I mentioned in my 5 for Friday post that we were going to do this because Woody has only run hills a handful of times, I've gotten out of practice since moving downtown and there will definitely be hills along the Turkey Trot course in Prospect Park on Thursday.

The annual Race to Deliver was also in the park Sunday morning, so we had to contend with that, but we just went with the flow. I was amazed by all the people still arriving at the park with only a few minutes to go before the start. I get anxious if I'm not at a race at least 20 minutes before the gun, so seeing people walking leisurely up to the corrals as the announcements were being made had me nervous for them! The race course was the 4 mile inside loop but we had the 5 mile southern loop on our agenda, which meant we'd be running with the racers for a great deal of the time. It was odd to stay on the outside of the cones instead of the inside!

Overall, it was a pretty good run, but a bit annoying for me. Ever since my surgery in 2009 I've had to deal with a runny nose whenever I run. (If this is too much info for you, feel free to skip ahead.) A lot of runners deal with runny noses, especially when the weather turns colder, but for me, it's year round. This is definitely a new thing for me since my surgery; I can't leave for a run without Kleenex, even in the heat of August. Last Fall I didn't run too many times in very cold temperatures before the marathon, and then I didn't run again till Spring because of injury, so the effect of the cold weather on my sinuses during runs is new and very frustrating. Over the course of a 5 mile run I have to stop at least three times to blow my nose. During the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff (4 miles) I didn't want to stop and lose time but the pressure in the corner of my eyes got so bad that a headache started and I literally felt the sensation of heat around my sinuses. This also affects my breathing and adds a burden to my lungs. I always breathe in and out through my mouth while I run, but having your nose so congested and runny at the same time really hinders the amount of oxygen I'm able to take in. And it's worse, of course, when running into a strong wind. This whole thing makes me a bit self conscious when running in the cold, especially with others, but I'm not going to let it stop me from running. I did, however, make two decisions after yesterday's run: 1) I'm going to wait until warmer weather before I race again after Thursday, and 2) I really need to see my ENT. (unfortunately he doesn't take insurance, but that's a whole different thing we don't need to get into!)

Other than the whole sinus issue, we had a great run and Woody easily conquered the hills! He is naturally very athletic, the absolute opposite of me, and I'm pretty sure he could take on just about any athletic challenge and succeed without a problem. Running hills requires different muscles and pacing than running flat routes, so we're both very glad we made the effort to go uptown and run the hills before the race on Thursday. Now, we just have to hope the rain holds off!!

We capped off our run with breakfast at the Boathouse and then walked through our old neighborhood to head home.

 After refueling at the Boathouse!

Gorgeous Fall colors of Central Park!

If you missed it, check out my trip to the market yesterday!

How did you enjoy the weekend?

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today's workout -
45min (5.15mile) elliptical
3x10 bent side arm lifts
2x40sec planks
stretching