To the beach

The thermometer has been creeping up recently. It's been hovering around 20º but over this weekend it was up to 26º. Difficult to get up early this weekend to run in slightly cooler weather as I played soccer on Friday night and kick off wasn't until 10.45pm therefore I didn't get home until around 1am! Plus we were a player short so I ended up running a lot more than normal.

Saturday I did a 7M run with a 5M tempo in the middle, sticking near the cemetery and then the park perimeter. That was hard going especially the last mile being slightly uphill and I was laid out on the couch later that day.

This morning was an easy 8M-ish and for a change I decided to run somewhere different, the beach!
We are about 6 1/2 M from Coney Island and the last stop on the F train runs there so I could just take the train home.

Ran over to the park and then down through some streets with really nice big houses. Then onto Ocean Parkway where the Brooklyn Half route goes. The downside is it's just one long straight blast all the way, counting off the lettered Avenues from about K through to Z. The plus point was for most of the route there was an element of shade from the trees and I even started running on the grass for a while.

I perked up a little when I could feel the ocean breeze and the thought of seeing some new-ish scenery. Plus I got to top up on water and soak my cap.

In the end I did just short of 8.5M and because it was going to take 30mins to get home I thought I better get a little food in me.

When in Rome....

That was a nice change for a run, I spent about 20 minutes hanging out on the boardwalk while watching the people piling off the trains headed for the beach. When we start marathon training I'm going to need some new routes for the long runs. As much as I love Prospect Park I need a change especially if I'm running there during most of the week.

And now I'm on the couch again, trying to keep my eyes open but so far we are resisting turning the air conditioner (money burner) on as it's not really humid yet.

This will be our newest cats first summer and she is already finding it getting warmer in the house. At night we find her lying in the dark on the mat in the bathroom and probably not connected but we recently found that she finds the bathroom tap intriguing. She tries to drink out of the tap but it runs down her face as she chases the water stream.

Another new PB

Wednesday night was the 2nd of the PPTC 5K series. I went off faster than the previous one to see if I could improve on last times 18.24 effort. I guess these little midweek events on the same course let you try and approach the race differently to see what best works.
So it was a 5.57 opening mile up the hill, then a 6.04 2nd mile followed by a 5.44 downhill and 33 sec slog where I had nothing left.
The clock came into focus right on 17.59 and I really was hanging on as it was a bit warmer that night too. 18.21! A few seconds shaved off I guess although I get the feeling that going off a little slower and trying to finish faster feels the way to go but you just get carried along with who you're racing alongside too.
Trouble is, it's only going to get warmer and more humid here as the weeks go by!

Walkabout

After I got a glimpse of the area near the top of Central Park when I walked to the Riverside run a couple of weeks ago I thought it looked like a nice place to go back for a better look.
We haven't done this for a while but Heather and I went back on Saturday for a wander around the neighbourhood.

We got the subway up into Harlem then walked over to Morningside Heights which then leads down into the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We had a little wander through Columbia University grounds which were open as it was the end of graduation so they had a tents up and people taking photos, the immaculate grounds and imposing libraries show why it costs $100,000 a year in tuition.

Just a block away, the Cathedral Church of St John the Devine was impressive.

 
We had lunch in the little park next door which had a children's sculpture garden with an undersea theme.

It started to rain on and off and Heather needed to collect stuff from work so we took the bus all the way down from 99th to 42nd street. In amongst the tourist throng in Times Square there was a couple getting their wedding photograph taken.

Then on the way home we stopped off in Brooklyn Bridge Park where there were at least two other wedding parties including one beside the carousel with a large contingent of men in kilts. We got a bit of Scotland the Brave on the bagpipes as we walked around them. 

Maximo Park storm it.

Friday night I came home from work, ate, got my stuff ready to run into work on Sunday and then went back off out. There were thunderstorm warnings for all evening but when I left it looked a little dark but was fine in Brooklyn. I got out at REI to dump my Sunday stuff and it was a lot darker in Manhattan, almost like the sun had set already. I was only in 5minutes but when I exited it was torrential rain with everyone sheltering from the thunder and lightning.

Luckily the Maximo Park concert we were going to was moved to the Gramercy Theatre so I could immediately duck down into the subway outside work and the venue was a 1/2 block walk from the other train I transferred to so I didn't get too wet. Unlike Heather, who went for a run after work and got absolutely soaked. She met me in the venue and shivered her way through the concert for me.

Maximo Park were superb despite a couple of venue electrical problems where they had to leave the stage for 5 minutes! They were late in starting so it was a late night finish, luckily I was off Saturday so I could have sleep in before going off for a run and then enduring the Champions League final with the American commentators.

Wednesday night racing

Later that day, after I'd had a very tired one hour nap on the sofa, I downed a plate of oatmeal and put on my shorts and vest for the first in this years Al Goldstein Prospect Park Track Club 5K series of races.

I initially didn't feel that great, but it was more just tiredness and I managed a good couple of mile jog, mainly to the registration area at the bottom of the park and then another 1/2 mile looking for a toilet 3 minutes before the start! I would've had plenty time but they couldn't find my pre-entry. Turns out I hadn't entered as I thought, it was only the Roosevelt and Riverside Series I had entered, oops.

It was a mildly humid night so I was well warmed up even though it meant running the whole race with annoyingly dry lips. Due to the building work around the new centre there was a slight course alteration where the start was moved further down the hill to the bottom. This meant the first mile, luckily when you're fresh, was a gradual incline all the way before hitting the hill.
The second mile is along the top of the park rolling down into the completely downhill third mile, turning the corner into a nice flat run in to the finish.

It was a little difficult to pace yourself from the start immediately heading uphill but knowing it was just a 5K. I ended up with splits of 6.08, 6.05 and then a 5.41, pulling away from the couple of guys I'd been pacing with thanks to my new found strength, ha ha and finishing in a PB smashing time of 18.24 (@5.56 pace).

The better quality of the 231 runners meant that was good for 9th overall but only 3rd in my age group! Indeed, I ran side by side with an 11 year old for the first mile then watched him finish in 18.59!

Attorney at law

On Wednesday I worked until 11.30am then headed back into Brooklyn to meet Heather who was getting sworn in, the final act before becoming a fully fledged attorney. The process from her starting law school, passing bar exams, character assessments, various other interviews and now this seems almost as drawn out as me getting my US visa!

The courthouse had typical security screening to get in and then that feeling of there being many rules that you didn't want to get pulled up on by the many court officers present.
The lawyers were led into the court while all the family members and friends, the majority all suited and dressed up, sat or stood around the court.

There was a little opening statement on the procedures involved, a roll call and then it was "all rise" for the five sitting judges that entered. Then came the weirdest part. They mentioned something about the flag and everyone pledging allegiance to the flag. Almost instantly everyone, EVERYONE, except me which I felt very conscious of, raised their hand to their heart and said the pledge thing.
I almost expected one of the court officers to come over and ask why I hadn't taken part bearing in mind how they warned everyone about not using flash photgraphy.
The officers had to come over and tell a couple of people to stop taking photos when they couldn't work their camera to turn the flash off. This was before the judges came in and while waiting, one officer told us the judge wouldn't want a flash going off in his face while he was giving his speech, all very very strict.

After the speech all the family members were sent to the lounge to wait while the lawyers took their seats then were called up to sign a book and get their paperwork. We could see a little on the screen but no sound.

The room was quite cool with all the pictures of each years sitting judges. Funny to see how it was all white old men, then when it hit the seventies, some younger looking men, then it looked like the 90's before you seen a female, then the recent photos had more members of both sexes and all ethnicities.

Then I met Heather outside where she displayed her certificate copy, the real one she gets in one year, ha ha. The first benefit she gets is an instant pay increase in any legal job now that she's an attorney.
Indeed, I learned that a lawyer is anyone who has gone through law school but to be an attorney you have to then pass the bar exam! So all attorneys are lawyers but not all lawyers are attorneys, although most people just say lawyer as a general term I guess.

Gig time

On Friday I finished off Bike to Work Week (12th - 16th) by biking into work and making it about 56 miles for the week made up of a 7 mile each-way commute and Monday's couple of laps of the park before home.
On the last day the Transportation Alternatives people had various stations around the city such as on the exit of the Manhattan Bridge where as well as trying to sign people up they dished out free coffee, apples, Kind bars and coconut water.

This picture was obviously taken last year as my Friday, although warm, was cloudy with the prospect of torrential rain later. They also organised a bike party under the Brooklyn Bridge later that night but we had a concert to go to!

We went to Webster Hall on the east side of Manhattan to see Elbow supported by John Grant. Both were really good and the crowd had quite a few British, well English, voices along with some older couples complete with shouts of Manchester and occasionally flying their Lancashire rose flag.

When you see on the forecast is supposed to be 100% chance of rain and it's classed as "thunderstorms" you know you'll get wet at some point.
Around 10.45pm everyone exited the venue anxious to see what it was like outside. Yup, absolutely pissing down with water running down the streets!
Still warm enough for shorts though and now that mild humidity has broken and the weekend forecast is for 20 degrees and sunny. Great for running to work on Sunday to pick up my bike and bag from Friday!