Riverside Park...welcome to the Hudson!

I awoke, reluctantly, this past Saturday morning at 7am... threw on my workout gear, tied up my shoes, forced in my contacts, and cranked up the IPOD. I was heading up and west, to Riverside Park at 72nd and Riverside. It was a schlep, but once i arrived, I was happy to be there.

I even waved hello, across the river, to Joe, Halley, Jacob and Dylan Dennis -- i could see their apartment complex down the river!

Hello Hudson! We were able to trace the race course - picture our transition area (now a muddy race track... ), look up the river at our Swim start, and even meet the hill that we will face on our bikes right out of transition (imagine starting a bike course... up hill with no momentum!!). The hudson looks so pretty at 8am... and i sure hope it tates just as good as it looks!!

After a short tour, we started our workout -- I have to say, running with a group sure beats running alone on a treadmill. I started meeting other participants, talking about past races, and coaxing each other on to make it through the session. We had to do 4x 10-minute runs, with squats in between. OUCH! I really felt great after, though.

It was hard to get there on Saturday, but I'm sure glad i did. It helped me with the motivation that I've been working so hard to find, and I started to enjoy running with the group again. It even introduced me to beautiful Riverside park... and of course, my new friend, the Hudson.