I am a runner. I have been for a while. But I’ll be honest, it has been last on my list of ways to sweat lately. However, with the Marine Corps Marathon in 3 1/2 months (oh man!) it’s about time for me to become a runner again. What better way to do this than move to a big city with endless new running routes! After running the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge last week I ran through East Village on Friday morning. There was a lot of this to get used to.

I’m not sure how my legs and knees felt about stopping so much. But I also saw tons of great artwork.

In Charlotte I constantly ran in neighborhoods on the roads so the sidewalks wouldn’t kill my knees. I know there are many great place here in the City to run on paths not sidewalks, but every now and then I think I’ll enjoy short runs through the crowded streets. I also noticed the increase in cigarette smoke I had to run through. This is a HUGE increase from running in Charlotte and Atlanta, even through the downtown streets of those cities. Eww.

After my run I went up to Central Park and the New York Road Runners office to get my race bib for this morning’s race.

The NYRR office is gorgeous. Race bib pickup was a breeze. I relaxed for the rest of the day/night, which was very nice.

This morning I found my way by subway up to the Park for the Central Park Conservancy 4-miler. It was sunny and beautiful (warm) at race start but ended a bit overcast.