"Run, Forrest, Run!"

So, let's start at the end and work our way back, shall we?  Who says you have to always start at the beginning of a story anyway?!  I know those fans of Doctor Who out there would agree with me, "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff" (that's a quote from one of the best episodes of the series, "Blink").

Again, we're starting at the end, so here it is:

It all ended at 5th Ave and 59th St, in the midst of hundreds of tourists trying to get the perfect photo of their family in Central Park, riding in horse-drawn carriages, or being pulled along by human-drawn carts.  I could hardly believe I'd made it, but my rubbery-feeling legs kept reminding me.  All of my nerves and apprehension were gone and I was left with an exuberant feeling, not just because of what I'd just done, but where I had been fortunate enough to do it.

This was a run set up through work as part of a yearlong initiative to share our values with each other and connect on more personal levels outside of the work we do everyday.  Couldn't there be an easier way to bond with people?!  I mean, it's not like I even talked to the guy running next to me the whole time.  But, there was definitely a connection between us; he helped me keep a steady pace and even pushed me to work harder, all just by being there.  Plus, we had the shared experience of running, sweating, and dodging around pedestrians, bicyclists, and baby carriages.

So, to explain how I was approaching this, I should jump back a little.  I'm a beginning-level runner.  While I've gone to the gym off-and-on over the years, the last couple (really, since I moved to NYC), I've become more committed (obsessed?) about going regularly (everyday; again, obsessed?).  It's paid off in amazing ways, not the least of which is a desire to push myself, which is a fairly new thing for me.  I would have to say I used to feel (and still do at times) that sitting on the couch, watching a marathon of some show or movie was better than almost anything else I could imagine.  But running, NO WAY!  I would look at these people running in marathons and tell myself, even if I got in better shape, I would never do something like that; it looked painful and so not worth it.  While I'm nowhere near marathon level (yet), the thought started creeping in the last couple of months that I might like to try some smaller runs.  Why?!  I HAVE NO IDEA!  I think my obsession may have truly scrambled my brain.  But seriously, I think I wanted to try out these gym results and see if my going everyday had really paid off.  My biggest fear was that I would come off looking like Phoebe running through Central Park on Friends.

Fortunately, I don't think I ended up embarrassing myself too much.  At least, no one turned and laughed or looked horrified as I ran by them.  Plus, like I said, I had the benefit of running with someone who kept my motivation up.  He's a real runner, too.  He's already run 14 half-marathons this year alone and was going to be doing another one the very next day.  So, five miles?  That was no problem for him.  I felt bad for him at first, because I felt like I was holding him back from sprinting ahead with the other people in the group.  But, he didn't seem to mind and once we got going it seemed like this spontaneous partnership was working just fine.

But, like I said before, part of what made this a great experience was where I got to do this, Central Park.

I've always loved Central Park.  On every visit I made to NYC before I moved here and now that I live here, it's been one of my favorite spots.  The juxtaposition of the park's natural beauty and the skyscrapers all around it is fascinating to me.  It's a great place to watch people and see the interactions between tourists and residents in all sections of the park.  You can even find some areas where you can't see any of the buildings and can feel almost like you're in the middle of the woods.  I often joke, though, that areas like that are where we have to keep our eyes open for dead bodies (thanks, Law & Order).

While I was running, I got to see areas of the park I hadn't been to yet and since we weren't running at such a great speed, I could still enjoy the scenery.  It sure beat running on a treadmill, that's for sure.  I could use landmarks to check our progress and knew that once we got to Sheep's Meadow, we were almost done.  As we approached the end, I thought to myself, 'How New York is this?!  Running through Central Park!'  It was a great experience and one I'll be looking to repeat in the future.  I've already signed up for a 10K in October on Roosevelt Island, which lies between Manhattan and Queens, on the East River.  Maybe one day I'll be able to say, "I finished the New York Marathon!"  But, I think that'll be several years off......