NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon

It definitely felt like a summer day once again. Two lovely weekends in a row~~no one would've guessed it after the awful gloom we had this week. The beautifully blue sky, warm day and cooling breeze were perfect for today's Half-Marathon through Brooklyn. The course took us through two loops of Prospect Park, which I'd never been in before. It's definitely smaller than Central Park, and the hills did challenge me. I got bored w/ the park though, after the first loop around. One more loop, though, then we got to move on to better things! We finally exited the park and went onto the road. We ran maybe 6 miles down what seemed like a never ending long, flat stretch. A flat road can never be complained about, and while the buildings and tree lined streets were appealing to look at, the stretch of road was a bit boring. I truly thought it was never going to end. But, like all things, it did, and we ended the race by running, maybe half a mile, into Coney Island. The crowd that lined the boardwalk was amazing. Cheers at the end of a race, heading towards the finish, is always motivational! I did well, and I'm proud of myself. I still have to work on not shutting down at the last mile.
I was lucky to meet two ladies, Lyda and Katie, who are also teachers, at the race. We took the train together from Coney Island to Prospect park, and got to know each other a bit. I ran w/ Katie for nearly the entire race. At the end, I let her go~I didn't have any gas left to push myself. But, running w/ Katie for a good portion of the run helped me push myself, and I was able to help push Katie a bit, or so she said. :) Lyda fished about 10 minutes before Katie and I did. It was nice to meet these two people! We are going to run the Mini 10K next weekend! It'll be good to see them again!
Another half completed! Definitely enjoyable!!

Bronx Girl rides over the Brooklyn Bridge...for Ice Cream

Well, not quite sure what to say about today's biking experience... I feel like the biggest bike riding spaz that ever lived! ha! Sounds very dramatic, but goodness, that's how I felt!

At Binu's wedding (a few weeks ago), I met one of his friends, Thom. He was just as nice, friendly, and fun as Binu's other friends that I had met, so it was truly a pleasure meeting him. Since then, we've chatted it up a bit, and decided to get together and go for a bike in Manhattan. Outdoors, Manhattan, something exercise related, and hanging w/ a new friend~~I couldn't have asked for more!! He threw out the idea of bike riding, and so we did! We took a ride from the South Street Seaport, over the Brooklyn Bridge to an ice cream shop called Blue Marble. It's a farm-fresh, eco-friendly, organic ice cream & coffee shop. It was delicious and well known in the area! When we first arrived, the line was out the door...when we left, the line went down towards the neighboring Brownstone. I got one scoop of yummy Blackberry ice cream and Thom got a scoop of Chocolate and something else! He tried to convince me to get two scoops, but I had to save room for all the food I was going to eat @ my aunt's bbq! : )

I have to say~the ride OVER the bridge was STRESSSSSFUL!! One would think I'd never been on a bike before. I imagined that the people walking towards me took one look @ the expressions on my face and thought, "Oh my! That poor girl!" I was quietly freaking out! I was sure I was going to run into someone. There were a few times I rode right into the side and JUST stopped! I am shaking my head as I replay it in my mind! ha! Thom said that I was swaying back and forth and that he was kinda laughing @ me. Special! haha! I suppose like anything, if you don't use it, you lose it! My performance definitely humbled me in my small athletic world. However, on the way back, I felt confident in myself and actually had more fun! I didn't want the excursion to end, but like all things, it did.

Today wound up being the perfect end to the weekend! I got to spend time with a new friend ~ who is a very interesting & fun person, and I got to be ME. Who could ask for more?

Yankee Stadium

Although I haven't been blogging as regularly as I should be, I'm going to throw this one in, and update on everything else at a later time. I know that if I don't write about last night NOW, I won't...just as I haven't been doing with anything.
Jen and Mike offered me a pair of tickets to a Yankee Game for Friday night. I happily took Natalie with me. She and I don't have many chances to spend time alone, so for me, this was special! We did everything from singing in the car together to taking playful jabs @ each other. I have to say~Natalie is one funny kid! Besides being funny, she's INCREDIBLY smart, sensitive, beautiful and so much fun to be around.
The new stadium was absolutely BEAUTIFUL inside and out! The field could be seen from pretty much anywhere we were walking! Of course I was SO hungry (and tired!) when we arrived, so I made Nat wait on line for food for what seemed like FOREVER! But, once we got food and walked to our seats, everything fell into place! We had great laughs w/ Jen and Mike, and a truly enjoyable night. Sadly, the Yankees lost and ended their winning streak...I'm wondering if I was a jinx....hmmm..they DID hit two home runs after we left out seats...Yikes!
I'm definitely thankful to Jen and Mike for the tickets, and for the sisterly bonding Nat and I were able to do.