Thankful (Run & NYC Daytrip)

Amazing Run Today, & an Amazing Day in NYC
Man, I've got it good...

Today, I had the best run of the year. This was not to be expected as I have taken 5 days off with my travels to visit meg.

On a side note, we had an amazing daytrip to NYC. I usually come to the city with a todo list. We hit most of them, and the rest I'm sure we will get to when we return for the weekend of July 4th.


Some of the highlights we're visiting the newly reopened CBGB. John Varvatos purchased this birthplace of punk rock in the past year and he totally did this world famous venue the justice it deserves. It was so inspiring to stand between the walls where bands like The Ramones, Television, The Stooges, and The Talking Heads changed the face of rock and roll.


Discoveries in the city of hidden gems are always fun, and we found a few. Le Pain Quotidien is a french cafe that we stumbled into early afternoon. Meg and I shared the most perfect open faced turkey sandwich. We had the cutest French waitress (Joanna), and hopefully we will see her again as I'm sure we will be back when we return for the 4th. Meg and I have already decided that we will order drinks with leaves in them.

The Cast Iron Historic District of SoHo is a beautiful escape from Broadway. I was on a mission to find a new pair of jeans, and found them at the Diesel Denim Gallery on Greene St. The streets in this district are stone and are for the most part clean and quiet.

On our way to The Spotted Pig for dinner, we hopped into the Whitehorse Tavern to catch the Belmont Stakes. Our beloved Big Brown finished dead last in his quest to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 30 years. My third roquefort cheese burger was amazing as ever.

Meg "let" me snag a couple photos in Grand Central Station!


It's not that scary is it?


Back to running...
Even though it is only June, the temperatures have been pushing mid to upper 90s! Good thing I like the heat. I waited until close to sunset to take my run. I ran mostly trails and a few streets I have never visited. This keeps my runs interesting for the most part. I also discovered a new trail I've never run.
Earlier today, I visited the Daniel Island library and found the audiobook for "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakaur. Though I have no desire to climb Everest, his book "Into the Wild" was an absolutely amazing book, and from reviews I've read, "Into Thin Air" promises to be equally amazing, so I uploaded it to my iPod and will listen to it over my next runs.
The fact that I can run close to 5 miles nonstop in this heat is motivating as I know it is a result of my training. These little accomplishments give me hope and even help me envision accomplishing the 26.2 mile marathon.

Today has been a great day all the way around.


Radiohead "Climbing Up the Walls"
Azure Ray "For No One"
Cut Copy "We Fight For Diamonds/Unforgettable Season"
Neil Young & Crazy Horse "Lotta Love"
Wilco "Pot Kettle Black"
Headlights "School Boys"

Born to Run

This past Sunday (yesterday morning @ 7 am) marked the beginning of my formal training for the Chicago Marathon.

I ran with a group of about 15 men and women. We started at Colonial Lake and ran up Lockwood Drive past Joe Riley Stadium to the Citadel gate and back. The run was 5 miles long, and it went very smooth. I've been running about 4 times a week for about a month, so I have a decent base.


Running is a challenge for me. I've always excelled at sports. Growing up, I was very successful in football, basketball, and baseball, but running is different from these sports. With running, you really have to build up and strengthen your oxygen capacity and that has really been tough for me. My body is fit and my muscles are strong, but I've always struggled with lung capacity. I don't know if that is genetic, but it makes running a challenge, and I'm not used to picking up a sport and not excelling at it quickly. But I like challenges, and therefore have decided to run a marathon.

Everything about the Sunday run was inspiring. It is inspiring to wake up with the sun, and run through the city you love. We ran a beautiful path right along the harbor. The sun rose over the harbor filled with sailboats and docks.


I spoke with a girl who is training with me and she informed me that this would be her tenth marathon. The thought of that is wild to me. I don't really know what my future holds for me, in terms of running. At first I wanted to run a marathon to check it off my list, but maybe I will love distance running and run many marathons like her. Running is amazing because you can do it nearly anytime and anywhere. All you need is a pair of running shoes.

When I'm on a run, I tend to always get a thought or song in my mind that won't let go. During this run, the song was "So Alive" by Ryan Adams. I think this song flooded my thoughts because of its opening lines of ships moving through the harbor. I like this song, which is nice, because sometimes I will get a song stuck in my head that I absolutely despise.


Another thing that I've really enjoyed doing is listening to an audio book as I run. Sometimes music gets me too excited and I begin running too fast and/or breathing to hard, but audio books keep me calm as well as keeping my mind off of running.

This weekend, I will travel north to visit Meg. We will go into the city on Saturday, which I am super excited about. It's been far to long and I have a list of new places to visit, as well as older places (The Spotted Pig).
Friday night we will have dinner at Capricio and do a movie afterwards. We love sitting outside at Capricio when the weather is warm enough.

I also purchased my flight tickets to NYC for the weekend of July 4th!
Tribeca Grand!