MCP: Did I hear that you brought running shoes?
Me: Yeah, I need to run tomorrow.
MCP: Do you want to run with me?
Me: Yes!
What do you do on the first morning of a 3-day vacation weekend? Well, I go for a marathon-style long run with someone I just met at still-dark-o'clock in the a.m.
We started running at 6:30. MCP had mapped out a route for himself in advance - 20 miles for him, and a couple bail-point options for me (there is absolutely NO NEED for me to run 20 miles!).
I honestly have no idea where we were running. It felt like a Brooklyn meander - mostly through neighborhoods. We ran to Coney Island, which I was kind of excited about, just because that's a place you hear about in movies or whatever. Coney Island is not actually an island in itself (it is the tip of Brooklyn, which is an island). There's a real beach with sand, and a boardwalk (I don't know why I was surprised that there was a beach...I guess because I don't think of NY as a beach place). Though overall it feels pretty depressing - picture running through an abandoned amusement park in the fog of a Saturday morning.
Anywho, one of the many things I love about running with other people is it makes the running part so much easier. When you have good company, running is just something you happen to be doing while getting to know someone. There's a reason I know my running friends better than anyone else - spend multiple hours with people when the only diversion is the movement of your feet, and very close very fast!
We talked the whole time about anything/everything - running, racing, food/cooking (YES - I love when I find a fellow-foodie), blogging, family, jobs, careers, Africa, life-goals, high school experiences, theater...the list goes on and on. I ran for 2 hours and 10 minutes! FOURTEEN miles! And only about the last 20 minutes, when I split off from MPC to head home, felt hard. (By that point I was like mmmkthanksI'mdone.)
Follow it up with a hot shower, a cup of South American coffee, and a delicious omelette (I LOVE when other people cook for me, especially when I'm post-run tired). And my leftover Magnolia chocolate cake from the nigh before (don't judge). YES - good morning.
