11.7 down the west side

Yesterday's run was a step down, only 11.7 miles. I felt like I had really improved my endurance, and not only because I can now place an only before that many miles. My legs felt fresh all the way from Columbus Circle, down the west side highway to Chambers Street. It helped a great deal that I started running with the slowest group of women,  and then,  kept running with them. I used the group to hold me back in the beginning and keep my pace steady. Today was the first day that I really got to know the other runners, and it was worth giving up my walking and slowing down my pace a bit to do that.

Right after turning around to head back up to the park, our running group gained a hanger-on. Jimmy found his running group couldn't get its act together for morning training runs, so he was out on his own. We invited him to smush into formation. At some point half way up, the group separated, and the coach, Jimmy and I ended up in the front pack for the last fourish miles. In a city as diverse in potential experiences as ours, the impressive common ground it presents to its resident strangers strikes me hard in moments like these, through exchanges over traffic patterns, running paths, neighborhoods' best spicy foods and coffee. Overt friendliness and encouragement pour out between strangers. It's what happens when we crave a boost, distraction, and a validation of the exercise; when our energy is funneled into the exertion and none is reserved for wondering whether the stranger friends want to bond and run with us right back.

Back at Columbus Circle, the coach hit the bathroom and Jimmy's run went in the direction of his home. Since I was on my own anyway and had three miles more to cover, I did my a bigger than planned but not completed loop of the park, hitting the final mileage mark just at my park exit.

I was up and about for most of the late morning and afternoon, including for an hour long walk. I ran well, my legs felt great, nothing hurt, and I quite enjoyed gorging on leftover pasta from the night before. I did, however, fall asleep by 10:30.  On Saturday night.