Friday April 24

Well, today is d-day for my big run. I got up early, having left my running gear in the living room the night before so as not to wake Sugar and Sassy (they need their recovery sleep) and headed off from our hotel on East 50th Street in NYC towards Central Park. The first KM or so was a bit slow going since it involved crossing streets and weaving through people. Fortunately at this hour (6.45am) there aren't too many people or cars to manoeuvre so I wasn't slowed down too much. I reached the park after about 1.5km and began to pick up the pace. I weaved my way through the park and soon found the running path that circles the centre of the park. For most of the run, I stuck to that, stopping a couple of times for water and gels (a little more logistically difficult than in a race situation, but doable). I was very happy with the pace - 5.30 minute pace for 28km of the 32km. The last 2.5km were slowed by the fact that I had no idea where I was and had to stop frequently to ask directions to get me back to the south east end of the park where I entered, and then when I got to that point having to weave through the now busy corner of the park and even busier streets. Frequent stops for traffic meant the last KM was less than perfect, but overall this was a fantastic run. New Yorkers are lucky to have such a lovely place to run. It's very hilly, so my hills running really came in handy, but so pretty and very runner-friendly. I felt I'd earned a day (or make that 3 since we're travelling home Saturday night and won't get in until Monday afternoon) off.