Running Man

So I went for my first outdoor run today, down by the West Side Highway. I'm not sure why people on that path, panting and sweating through their clothes, seem to be enjoying themselves. All masochists, I'd guess.

During the run, I had no watch, so decided to judge myself on distance rather than time. I would look ahead and see a stop sign, or traffic cone, and use that as my goal. If nothing was hurting too much by the first goal, I would look for another goal. I felt my body deteriorating the further I ran. My shins were the first to feel it. Then the stomach. Then the heart. I decided my goal would be the public men's room up ahead, because by that time I felt like I needed to vomit. A little bit further past the men's room, was a crepe and dessert stand. That was enough to give me renewed energy to run just a little bit further. Luckily, I was too out of breath to be able to say "One crepe with extra whipped cream, please." So I walked off the rest of the way past the crepe stand and took in the fresh seawater scent of the Hudson River, mingling with the effervescent exhaust from the West Side Highway, before continuing my jog back.

I'm hoping to keep this up at least once a week for now, and when the weather gets cooler, twice a week. If all of a sudden you no longer see updates to the blog, then I probably didn't make it back from my last run.