Bronx 10 Miler, Tunnel to Towers and time with friends

If you missed it – and I don’t blame you, because it was a #TravelTuesday on a Friday!, I posted about my trip to Italy.

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for a Weekly-ish Run Down: ETA: missed the linkup, but posting anyway. Double ETA: and then I was offline and missed it entirely so now it’s two weeks.

Last Sunday Two weeks ago, I ran the Bronx 10 Miler for the first time since 2018. Rereading the recap was fun, so much of it remains true.

• I don’t like commuting to races (and haven’t done either the Queens 10K or that Brooklyn Half since, ‘tho the latter is schedule too)
• It still takes forever to cross the start. We were in the first mile when the lead runners came back through 8/9. No resentment that they’re fast, all the resentment that they were done and we were just starting.
• I do not like out and backs, especially on a boring course.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it – we had picture perfect weather and despite a non existent training block, I was slightly ahead of my Cherry Blossom time, although CUCB was longer than the Bronx. It’s easier to run the tangents when the course was almost a literal T. The 11:00 pacers from my 2018 recap were in my corral again and while I knew that’s not something I can do right now, it was fun to keep a good number of miles in the 11s. I also loved that one of the pacers was Jo – my pacer from my first Lebow. She’s a true breath of fresh air in the corrals and it was wonderful to see and again thank her for turning me into a half marathoner. I also got a great pep talk at mile 9 from Coach J, who I met during the Juneteenth group run. He asked me if I was hurt (no) and then asked why I was walking and to go run, so I did: result, my fastest mile.

While I always believe that not matching makes me go faster, this really was next level but I do not see myself doing a race longer than 10K without sleeves. They make such a difference. And really, life is too short to be boring.

Nothing new on race day, except choosing to listen to an audio book for the first time. Enter: XOXO, Cody. I don’t think I’ll ever be an audio book person, but having a fitness-ish memoir was a great soundtrack for a race. I’m out of race “shape” in that I didn’t confirm whether my iPod, which I still use for music, was home before the race. Audible was a good stop gap, but I think I’ll always be a music on the run person.

I ran this because two friends were talking about it at brunch. That tends to be how races happen with me. Not peer pressure, just “well why not?!” and in this case, I also used it as a fundraiser for Team for Kids, so win win. Will I rush to sign up for this race again next year? Probably not, but I didn’t dislike it enough to wait another five years. It’s a good way to keep running through summer, and ten miles or 15K is just the best distance. Looking forward to another in Ted Corbett in December.

 

• I wasn’t going to run anyway on Monday with the Sunday race, and then it was pouring. Luckily my day began at the Met for the Manet/Degas show and ended with a quick train hop to meet Darlene after her day with a friend. Sunsets, chit chat and chicken tenders. Life is good.
• Tuesday:  didn’t get out until after work due to schedule and when I did, I ran headlong into the UNGA attendees at the Met. Made for an interesting run route but motion is lotion, especially after the race and a long day sitting in meetings.

• Wednesday: it’s a good day when it’s a two museum day! Add in a sunset ferry ride and lunch chat with Deborah? Life is great. Lots of walking as knee wasn’t feeling great after the race, but walking felt fine.

• Thursday: MoMA morning meeting in the sculpture garden, office run/walk group after work. The knee was not having Cat Hill, but otherwise held up for our usual 3ish miles. I was very grateful not to have to do more in this recovery week.

• Friday: Flu and COVID vaccines and bib pickup for Tunnel to Towers, a race I’ve wanted to do for years. It was also the last dry day for the next millennia so I enjoyed walking around Tribeca between errands.
• Saturday: vaccine recovery, but it was “cold” and pouring so why do anything else but read? I feel mostly fine from the vaccines but I was tired, so I let the naps happen. I had 800 steps on the day and regret nothing.

• Sunday: Tunnel to Towers honors the life, memory and final footsteps of Stephen Siller, a member of FDNY who was off duty and reported to the Towers following the first plane. When he wasn’t allowed to drive through the tunnel into Manhattan, he parked and ran the ~3 miles to the burning Towers in full turnout gear. More on Stephen is here. Now tell me, when faced with that legacy, do you stay in bed on a rainy Sunday morning? I think we all know the answer. This run (there is an option to have a chip, but it’s really just a charity run/walk) has logistics up there with the marathon, although thankfully you’re only running ~3.5 miles after getting to the start in Red Hook. While metal detectors have become standard-ish for the larger NYC runs, this one had other elements of TSA security because the first ~1.5 miles+ are in the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel: no bags of any kind, no water bottles, no phone use. Annoying, but Siller’s life and death puts it all in perspective, as does the site of many first responders running in full turnout gear. We crossed the sart about 40m after the start as it was rolling waves, and some rain inspired tech issues.  It was cool to run through the tunnel and see the spot where you cross between Brooklyn and Manhattan, but it was humid and a surface made for cars and not feet. It was cool to be passed by a Navy training group. When you emerge from the tunnel you’re greeted with a powerful sight — men and women holding portraits of the first responders who died, as well a those killed in the military since 9/11. As I said on Facebook – it’s almost fitting that One World Trade isn’t fully visible, as it would be much better if it didn’t need to exist. AKA if the Towers still stood. The only thing I can even come close to comparing this with is the Blue Mile in Marine Corps, which I’ve heard about. Like the 9/11 Museum’s run, which starts abut where this finishes, there are a lot of pinch points, but does it really matter?

Anything tied to 9/11 is a good reminder to treasure time with your people, so was grateful to enjoy this with two friends and, after drip drying, cap the day with dinner and a delicious cookie with Coco, who was in the city for work.

 

Week of 9/25: Kim and Deborah linkup properly!

• never miss a Monday: cross training edition. Also, apt metaphor for the weather.
• Tuesday: wet run to the dentist, dryer dinner with Darlene and Elizabeth.

• Wednesday: I haven’t done a lot of theater in the last few years, but when you say John Slattery and Brooke Shields in an Off Broadway space (and from the second row!) the answer is YES. Heartbreaking, beautiful staged reading.

• Thursday: when home during the week, you jump on the chance to run the trail for a break for the knees. Later, Mom and I got into an attic clean out and I found all my cabbage patch kids! I kept the one whose name I remember and another that looked like me, but otherwise they’re on their way to a new home. It was fun going through the attic to find some old treasures but equally confusing to wonder why I saved certain things, like a babysitting training guide. I guess I was closer to the events.

• Friday-Saturday: the monsoons rolled in and I was grateful to be safe and drier at Mom & Bob’s. I’d brought my laptop so could easily work from there and wait out the water receding. Rummikub and other shenanigans ensued.

• Sunday Funday: from 50s and 5+ inches of rain to nearly 80 and full sun. Zero complaints. I’m not a huge beer drinker, but this was a really fun day with friends and I learned a little more about what beers I do like. Dessert was a walk to and feast on Arthur Avenue and a roll home to the train. Hug your people. Always.