Some Runs I've Done

This morning I met the Professor for a run in Central Park. Today might be the first time he and I have ever done a weekday morning run come to think of it. It was a casual combination of road and the reservoir and we cut out onto the pavement at Columbus Circle.

Since I haven't posted a lot of my recent running photos and I just upgraded my picmonkey account, I made you some collages.

Running From the White Car

This morning I woke up to drizzle and grey - perfect morning for a run. I headed left on North Cartwright Road and just kept going towards South Ferry. We take the North Ferry to get to Shelter Island so I've actually never been near the South Ferry until today.

I got my hair cut on Friday and I have a lot of short layers. One has decided to stick up Alfalfa-style. Cute...

My mother was attacked in close proximity to wild turkey hens on Saturday. I've never seen her move so fast and I'll admit that they were ugly and frightening. This morning I found their husbands.

When I turned back from the ferry landing, I saw a white car slow down and pull over, giving the car behind it very little warning and almost causing an accident. I was a little ticked off that they stopped the car right in front of me, but I moved over to the middle of the lane and kept running. Then I noticed that some idiot in the passenger seat had been shaking her hand at me and it crossed my mind that they thought blocking my path would make me stop. Since I don't live on Shelter Island and can't really answer questions, I went on my merry way.

Less than a mile later, the white car makes a left in front of me into a driveway and stops. I figure that perhaps this is their destination. As the car doors open, I focus on the road ahead of me and keep my pace steady.

About a quarter mile after that, the white car pulls to the side of the road and this elderly woman gets out and tells me she has to ask me something. She's dressed vaguely Amish and has a frayed leather book, and my first thought is, "Shit, the Jehovah's Witnesses found me," but then she says she's lost. I tell her that I don't live on Shelter Island but ask what she's look for anyway. I don't know where South Thompson is and tell her so. Her passengers and she are creeping me out enough as it is so I don't offer to look up South Thompson on my iPhone. I apologize for not being able to help and keep running.

And then they pull up behind me again. That's when I got over my 9+ minute mile pace and started trucking at around 7s. By this time it's pouring, and while I normally enjoy running in the rain, I can't help but tell myself that if someone is going to cut me up in little pieces and play with my liver, I'd rather it be the gastroenterologist than some ugly old woman in ugly old shoes.

I made it home in one wet piece and made a beeline for the shower.

Sunday Funday: Hiking with the Parents

The first rule of taking your parents anywhere is making sure they are dressed appropriately and otherwise prepared. Try as I may to get them covered in bug spray and wearing suitable footwear, they chose to disregard my warnings.

Garmin, seltzer, Keen hiking sandals

Shelter Island Run

Greetings from Shelter Island! The Echeverria Family (minus my sister) Summer Vacation has begun!

My dad rented a house on North Cartwright Road and the view of Coecles Harbor is beautiful. My parents foolishly chose to an upstairs bedroom in an upside down house and I capitalized on their folly by quickly moving into the master bedroom downstairs.

view from the deck

Sunday Funday: Bike Boat Bike

My friend Alyssa decided we needed to spend a Sunday Funday casually riding a 50 mile bike ride out east. Turns out it was a typo and we had signed up for a fifty-EIGHT mile bike ride called Bike Boat Bike. It ended up being a lot of fun (I think?) and we both survived (kind of.)

We spent Saturday night at my parents' house because they live an hour away from the starting line. Alyssa, bless her heart, picked my drunken hungover ass up at the New Rochelle train station and then babied me as I cried about my impending death, struggled to swallow water, and analyzed minute details of a conversation I had had with the 23 year-old man-child. Remember the 34 year-old? Some people just must be known by their age.

Anyway, so Alyssa and I drove the bikes down to Long Island to enjoy a surf and turf feast with my folks. Alyssa's awesome dad loaned me his mountain bike, put air in the tires, showed us what to do if we had mechanical issues, and wished us luck. And he loaned us the Wrangler so we could be mistaken for cool surfer dudes on the highway. Have you ever noticed the number of women who will slow down and look over to check out who is in a Wrangler?

I obviously overslept the next morning, but we managed to be on the road with gas, iced coffees, and breakfast sandwiches by 8 AM.

Alyssa got us set up at Strawberry Fields and we were on the bikes by 9:25 AM.

And then I started to panic because I had ridden a bike ONCE in the past decade (on Shelter Island last summer) and it was not on a major highway with trucks. I also realized that the bike was too big for me to put my foot down at red lights. Can't stop, won't stop.

Alyssa ended up much farther ahead of me and I was silently cursing her for thinking this was a good idea. We met back up at the first rest stop and by then I felt a little more confident on the roads.

Bike Boat Bike has multiple distances that allow you to visit either Shelter Island or Orient Point. I love Shelter Island and demanded that we go there.

on the ferry from Greenport to Shelter Island

view from the ferry

My dad and sister and I went to Shelter Island on vacation last summer and went on a 13 mile bike ride on one speed bikes that were lying around the Pridwin Hotel. Turns out our ride was a good part of this course. It's a heck of a lot easier to ride when you have a few gears with which to work.

We rode along Shore Road, back around the other side of the island, and then went to Ram Island. I love Ram Island, hills and all.

Alyssa passing the Ram Island Inn and telling me not to Instagram her butt

The volunteers were awesome and the aid stations were well stocked with snacks. I enjoyed peanut butter, honey, and Nutella sandwiches and scarfed bananas and Fritos and blue Gatorade. And then my teeth started to ache.

Somehow I ended up ahead for the Shelter Island portion of the bike ride. It was probably the lack of traffic and risk of being taken out by a tractor trailer.

peonies

We felt pretty great on the ferry back to Greenport. Seventeen more miles couldn't be that difficult, could it?

my fuschia sports bra decided to run all over my yellow tank, again.

It could and it was. The wind was brutal and the dust was blowing everywhere. After hours on the bike, my pikachu was really over being squashed into the saddle.

Pikachu on the average day, "Hooray! Let's invite a boy, preferably one who was in middle school when you graduated high school, over to play!"

Pikachu after bajillion mile bike ride, "No sex for you."

It took like 6 hours, but I finally got back to Strawberry Fields. And then I couldn't find Alyssa. I ate a watermelon while I waited.

And then I went to look for her.

And then I started to call people because I was bored.

And then I made small talk with other riders. Apparently the mountain bike was significantly heavier and more difficult to ride than a road bike. As one man told me, since I did so well on the mountain bike, I could have been to Manhattan by then if I had ridden a road bike. I don't actually know how to ride a bike besides for the purpose of staying up right, so I had no idea if this was challenging or not.

Alyssa finally appeared after being sent on a 2 mile detour by some well-meaning riders. (Or so she claims.)

As Sunday Fundays go, this one was pretty sick and I don't even have a hangover. Instead I got a sunburn. I didn't even know I could get sunburned. You live, you learn. Who's riding with us next year?