Rather than run in Worcester again (which I didn't enjoy much the first day), I decided to save the run until later. I figured I'd be stuck in traffic in NYC anyways, so why not run at historic Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. It is one of the most famous cross country courses in the country and has hosted numerous championships.
So I headed from Worcester to Wellesley (where I planned to watch the marathon). I stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts and it was packed. I thought it was because of the race, apparently not. On the highway to Wellesley, I saw bus after bus taking the runners to the start. That got me a little watery eyed.
I started driving toward the center of town, and quickly found the road blocked. I parked at a nearby shopping center and walked over. I wandered around the course a bit. It was before 9 AM and the race didn't even start until 9:22. There was plenty of real estate still available.
I took some photos, including one of the halfway point. I was surprised that they didn't have a timer there. Maybe they put one up later on. I realized that I would be better off setting up on the other side of the street, so I didn't have to cross the street during the race. That proved to be a good strategy. I found a section of curb that jutted out. It was perfect for photos. It turned out that I was actually in front of the park that they suggested setting up at on one of the webpages that I read.
It took awhile for the first wheelchairs to come through. They really fly and the lead pack was all together. They were there in around 40 minutes. They are so inspiring. I'm not sure I would be able to do the same if I was in their position. Seeing a few mentally handicapped people being pushed in wheelchairs was pretty cool too. I did miss Dick Hoyt pushing his son. That's too bad.
The elite women had a bit of a breakaway when they came through. The men were altogether with Ryan Hall leading the way. He eventually took 4th and Meb was 5th. Not what we were hoping for, but still a great showing by the Americans.
The marathon was fun. The crowd support was amazing. I can't even imagine running all 26.2 miles with that many people watching. It has to be astounding. I can't wait to run it. Hopefully I won't get too emotional. That might be tough for me though.
I got to Van Cortlandt before 4:30. I didn't have a second set of running clothes, so I used some of my stuff from yesterday. I started off walking through the paved trail. Once I walked over the pedestrian bridge over the highway, I began to run. It started with a tough run uphill on the cinder surface. As soon as I could, I found a dirt trail and ran on it. I was hoping to find the cross country course. I also wanted to give my legs some nice recovery.
The trail ended after a mile or so and I had to backtrack. It was good though because some of the sections were getting muddy and I didn't have the shoes for that. I ran around the stadium and pool, this time on pavement. The pool was beautiful. I then looped back near the start.
Most of the rest of the run was on the looped paths in the northern side of the park. They are a mixture of stone and old pavement. The inclines have wooden boards every so often. They are quite annoying and slowed me down. I wasn't very fast anyways though, as my legs hadn't fully recovered from yesterday's run and today's long drive.
A lot of high school teams were doing workouts on the trails. I came up behind a fairly fast male runner. It was annoying though because he wasn't pushing much. After following him for a bit, I blew by him. I was glad he didn't follow. I didn't really want to have to go fast, I just didn't like his pace. I quickly cut off the main path anyways.
For awhile I was getting worried. I didn't have a clue where I actually was. The sun was my only compass. I figured I wouldn't get lost in such a small park. At that point, I still had well over a mile and a half to go anyways. I didn't want to go too far north though.
Around the five mile mark, I finally got my bearings. I did a couple loops of the areas that I knew, so that I wouldn't get lost. I ran back over the bridge and flew by the high school teams and their coach. I might've opened up my stride a little bit then. I'd never actually show off though. I finally finished up at my car near the horse stables.
The park wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either. Some parts are nice and others are run down. It won't win park of the year or worst park either. The history of the place is impressive, it is ashame it isn't in better condition all throughout. It sure has a lot of options and challenging hills. I didn't run any hill sprints after the workout, because the run was hilly enough. Even though it wasn't overly impressive, I'm still glad I ran there.
Tomorrow I have some ladder intervals scheduled. I will get out and run them early in the morning. I work from 12-7 tomorrow. It'll be great to have the workout out of the way first. It should take me about an hour to complete.
6 miles - 50:06 (8:21 pace)
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