ORN

look at that, a run report. short, because I have to get dressed (er, actually, I have to pull myself away from Mike & Mike in the Morning and hop into the shower first...), but a run report anyway.

So, yesterday morning was the first day waking up in the corporate apartment. I had thoughts of a 3-miler to start off with, and the Hudson River Park was calling my name. But I got out there and it was eerie and spooky and nearly deserted. The sun wasn't up yet, but it wasn't quite pitch black still, but it was still too dark out. The thing with this stretch near my building is that there is a lot of construction going on, so large sections of the path are bordered by scaffolding and wooden walls and black screens on the fences. So you could be in the path, underneath the highway and nobody can really see you. Not too much of an issue if the path is busy, but very uncomfortable to a solo woman in the early morning. I got about 400 yards down the path, saw only one cyclist a long away, and decided that it just didn't feel right. So I headed back to the building and did a 5K on the treadmill.

So last night, I decided to try it again, in the light of day. A colleague who lives in the same building had said it was bustling in the evenings; I had a few minutes to burn before an 8:00 PM conference call, so I headed out for a couple of miles. The verdict after seeing the trail in the light of day? Meh. Long stretches under construction, not a lot of views, along the busy, busy street. Views of the piers and the NY dept of sanitation. Not particularly scenic. Sad to say, the East River had more picturesque scenery. Hudson River smelled better, but just a hair, and not enough to overcome the general lack of safety. It was OK when it was crowded, but as it got darker, there are still lots of areas that feel very vulnerable. So, I don't think I'll be going that way in the morning alone again.

Tonight I'm meeting someone at Columbus Circle and we'll run to the park together. That should be more fun, and I'll get to see the south end of Central Park as opposed to the north end and the reservoir that I got used to seeing when I was at the hotel.

Total mileage for the day: 7
Total time elapsed: 73 minutes (33 in the morning; 40 minutes (negative splits on the out and back) in the afternoon)

Gotta dash -- there is no hair dryer here at the apartment, so I've got to spend extra time arranging the wet hair in the clip so I don't look like I just rolled out of bed and ran through the sprinklers... even if I did...