Runners have no common sense

"Runners have no common Sense", those are the words that came from Coach Sid as we ran two weeks ago on a cold, rainy, early Saturday morning. We had no real reason to be out there just our love for the sport. As we ran with this awesome 70 year phenomenon, it made me think that I wanted to be like him when I get old. I absolutely love running with Coach Sid and his wife Asteria. They are the best coaching duo out there.

This past weekend was no different. Vane, Stephy and I all slept over Vane's house so that we could get our run in before vacations, errands etc. Did I mention this run was scheduled at 5:15 in the morning….Saturday morning?! We all hung out in Vane's apartment and all slept in one queen size bed. Her alarm went off at 5 and we were all wide awake. It was still so dark and cold when we hit the pavement running---I was happy to start right away. The sooner we started running, the sooner I got warm. As we ran up 80th to the park we kept hearing Vane saying "pull it back". I don’t know why but the three of us get so excited about running that we get carried away. It’s a good thing that she has that handy Garmin watch to keep us in check. Now if only Santa could get that for me I would be such a happy camper. For anyone reading this please tell Santa either one will do :)

That way I could learn to pace myself, which is one of the things I will be working on with Crazy Coach Brian once he gets back from his marathon in Hawaii. Incidentally, his time…3 hours and 5 minutes!! He is a machine I tell you.

I have to admit I would never ever run in the park by myself at 5:30 in the morning, there is no one out there which can be kind of creepy, but with my girls by my side we were good to go. I must admit it is a pretty awesome feeling being the only three women out there running the park because in NYC when do you ever have Central Park to yourself. We ran down Cathill and we saw another runner. This was nice because we all said good morning and truth be told when do you hear a Good Morning from a runner in Central Park? Probably never but he was a runner like us...someone who does it for the love of the sport.

Our run was great! We did the 6.2 mile loop of the park and then headed over to the Bridle Path, which I used to despise but now I love it. I love how running on it makes my knee feel great. The difference is remarkable from the pavement. By the time we hit the path we had seen many of the runners that we saw on the road. As a safety measure no one wanted to run on the path when it was still dark. One loop of the reservoir was the count. Again having the reservoir to yourself is an experience within itself. I have realized how important running is to me now. The fact that I am willing to get up and run on a Saturday morning, freezing my tail off, proves that the love for the sport has not, and probably will not, go away.

Running has changed my life. It has made me 100 times better. Not only was I able to run a marathon this year but I did so in under five hours…ok barely, but still like coach Frank says 4:54 is way better than 5:00.

Next week I will be in Chicago looking for runner partners so if you're up for a run let me know… :)
As we ran back down 80th to H&H Bagel's our count was 9 miles... and all before 7:30 in the morning…I guess it is true, runners really have no common sense.