Running
Last night, we had a GTS run in Central Park. We met around 6:15, just in time to see the sky darken ominously. We stowed our bags under Bethesda Terrace, and as Ross was instructing us to run along the bridle path (20 minutes out, 20 minutes back), it started to rain. And thunder. As we jogged to the Tavern on the Green to start the OAB, we had the first bolt of lightning.Practice went on, and we ran anyway. It was awesome.
The bridle path is noticeably easier on the joints for running. I settled into a good groove and knew from the beginning of the run that I'd be able to run the whole thing - no walking. I set my watch timer for 20 minutes, and enjoyed the rain. The park was beautiful last night - really green and lush, and the colours were super-saturated thanks to the overcast skies.
When my watch beeped at 20 minutes, I turned around and reset the timer. I was still in the groove, and knowing that I can run around Prospect Park without any walk breaks really helped keep me going. I checked the timer periodically and kicked it up a little when I was about 4 minutes from finishing.
Then, 4 minutes went by, and I wasn't back at Tavern on the Green. In fact, I had no idea where I was. That's right - I got lost, on the bridle path in Central Park, in the middle of a thunderstorm. And, I kept right on running.
I think I ran for another 15-20 minutes before I realized I was on the East side, at the South gate of the reservoir. That's about 15-18 blocks north of where I should have been, and on the wrong side of the park (we'd run up the West side). I still don't know where I ran. From this map, it looks like on my way back I continued running beside the reservoir at the W 86th St. Reservoir Bridge, instead of going straight. I eventually ended up at the E 86th St. Reservoir Bridge, where a nice woman gave me directions back to Bethesda Terrace (on the left side of this map).
I think I probably ran for about an hour, although I stopped timing after the first 40 minutes. I knew the bag watch would go until just after 7:30, and I had nothing with me - no money, no Metrocard, and no way to get home. I had already decided that if I got back and everyone had left, I would call David (collect) and ask him to have money ready to pay for my cab. But that would have sucked, and that was good motivation to keep running to get back!
Lessons learned:
- Pay attention to landmarks on the way out (or leave a trail of PowerBar crumbs)
- ALWAYS carry $20 on any training excursion
I arrived back at Bethesda at around 7:40, over an hour after we'd started. Lots of people were still around (I heard another girl got lost, too). At that point I mostly tried to sneak in unnoticed, as I was coming from exactly the wrong direction. I got home around 8:30, cold and wet and tired, and feeling completely awesome.
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