City without (My) Love

Update from CKL:

We were still without Jennifer on our East Coast trip. After the wedding and family weekend, my brother and I went to Manhattan from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning. The time went quickly, but we did enjoy some highlights. We watched Chicago the Musical on Broadway. It was really good and even better than we expected, though it reminded me nothing of home. We were hosted by Paula, a close friend who has known Jennifer and me as long as we have known each other. She took us around while juggling her work schedule. She introduced us to the best New York-style pizza we have ever had at Joe's Pizza, near Washington Square. She took us by Pinkberry and the potentially even better Red Mango. I had the frozen treat (tasting like cream cheese frozen yogurt) with wonderfully sweet blackberries. K.C. had his with Cap'n Crunch, and Paula had one with pieces of mango, though they were not actually red. They were quite refreshing in the hot and humid weather in the mid-90s.

Monday morning, K.C. and I went to Central Park and ran the full loop of the running path. We started and ended at Columbus Circle (pictured here). We took some detours and ended up running seven (7) miles. The weather warmed up quickly but there was a decent amount of shade from the trees. With the hills and winding roads, it was just the variety to give the mid-point of our training a good spark. We were further challenged by all of the stuff we were carrying, without pockets. We passed the time chatting, while playing deejay for the other and announcing the playlist songs that each of us was listening to. I also carried a camera so everyone could enjoy the short excursion. We ran around all of the major sites within the park and see why it is such a jewel of the city.

K.C. (a.k.a. Brother Philip Neri) and I had a good run, although I again had difficulty in figuring out what my proper pace is. I ran my brother and myself too fast for the first two miles, but we enjoyed a smooth run for the remainder. Even with us carrying 2 liters of water and other items, we had some gas left in the tank to sprint at the end.

After the run, we enjoyed a pleasant stretch and I participated in a couple of conference calls on a rock on the southern end of the park, a calm oasis from the city of cities. Overall, the run was a wonderful way to fend off a case of the Mondays.

Statistics:

Distance: 7.0 miles

Start Time: 8:13 a.m. (EDT)

Time: 1:18:49

Temperature at Start: 81 degrees

Location: New York, New York

Maximum HR: Unknown

Average HR: Unknown

Money Raised to Date: $4,135

Days until Race: 85

Following the run, we had all sorts of good food to refuel. First we went to Bouchon Bakery at Columbus Circle, a small outpost of Thomas Keller, whose French Laundry is the Napa Valley is one of the country's most famous restaurants. (Jennifer and I prefer Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery, located in both Napa and Vegas, as casual and better valued alternatives.) K.C. and I both shared an incredible cherry marscapone danish and an excellent chocolate almond croissant. Because we did not want to scare the urban patrons in our present state, we decided to eat outside. On the way home, we ate at Gray's Papaya and each ordered a recession special (two dogs and coconut juice).

After a shower and change, we fueled our minds by going to the Museum of Modern Art. Although I would have enjoyed some soup despite the heat, we could only observe. photographed a number of other paintings and even our single celebrity sighting (Leann Rimes). Pictures and even the story of our interaction with her can be supplied upon request.

For the rest of the day we had some specialty brews at the Ginger Man, the New York outpost of a Dallas favorite, http://www.gingerman-ny.com/.

Following a good dinner at Buddakan, apparently the site of the rehearsal dinner in the Sex and the City movie, we finished the evening at a favorite place, Billy's Bakery http://www.billysbakerynyc.com/. Although the red velvet cupcake was not as good as the first time (in Fall 2006), the vanilla was even better than I remembered. Three cupcakes and some milk (just for me) was the perfect end to a wonderful trip. Let's pretend it was necessary carbo-loading for the sixteen (16) miles on the coming Sunday.