Saturday morning dawned clear and cold, in the high 30's. This is, for the record, my very favorite kind of weather - when it is crisp and crystal clear, chilly enough to brighten sharpen everything but not windy or frigid enough to make humans miserable. Cold enough for a coat and scarf. I may be in the minority on this, but I love winter. I'm a cold weather kind of girl. Summer is gross and humid and sweaty and makes the city sidewalks smell like steamed garbage and cooked dog pee.
I needed to run 9-10 miles that day, so, before the race, I took the subway down to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall. I ran over the bridge, through downtown Brooklyn, and then south in the general direction of Prospect Park. This worked out perfectly, because when I arrived I had run about 5.5 miles, so with the race added on I would be right on target for my mileage.
One thing that struck me on this run was that running down Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn on a random day is not all that pleasant. There were some dodgy heckling characters hanging around, and there are lots of empty lots and gas stations. Contrast this to running up it on the day of the marathon, which is an entirely pleasant memory for me - then, it was packed with enthusiastic spectators, which I guess disguised the unlovely scenery.
B did great during the race! Like last year, it was crowded and there were tons of little kids alternatively dead-stopping and darting in front of the runners, but the mood was fantastic. We stuck to an approximate 11 minute/mile pace, and she felt good about her finish and is already thinking about tackling a 10K or a half-marathon.
On average over the 9.3 miles, I tried to stay on pace for my upcoming 15K goal (10:30, or 1:37), and I did. I'm really going to try to come in under that this weekend.
Afterward, we headed into Manhattan for brunch at Essex, which was great. I had potato pancakes with poached eggs and a side of bacon, and brunch there comes with 3 cocktails (yum, post-run bloody mary), which possibly contributed to the strange string of decisions made next. The day took an unexpected turn, but hey, this is New York. It happens.
At Essex we bumped into a bunch of folks dressed up for Santacon (and we fit right in - I had worn a Santa hat for the Jingle Bell Jog, B had on an amazing elf hat complete with huge ears, and her friend S wore a headband with little snowmen on it), so I decided that it would be a GREAT idea to head down to the South Street Seaport to meet up with my friends C and S, who were dressed in full-on Santa suits and already out and about. So, this happened:
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| B's friend S, me (I borrowed the beard from my friend to complete my "Runner Santa" outfit), and B. |
Keep in mind that it was COLD and I had no coat, no wallet, and was wearing my running clothes. Capri running pants, 2 layers of light long-sleeved tech tee shirts, race bib, sneakers, Santa hat. And yet, Runner Santa stayed out almost all day! The Seaport was crazy crowded with Santas, so we decided to head north to find a bar to await Santacon's next announced move.
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| NY Times photo. Santas at the Seaport. It was crazier than it looks from this far away. Trust me. |
The six of us got separated, and C, S (not the S in the picture above) and I ended up at Loreley. We were pretty comfortable there, so when Santacon went to City Hall Park and later to Grand Central Station, we stayed put. Loreley kept us warm and entertained by serving us lots of delicious Köstritzers and pretzels.
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| Runner Santa LOVES Loreley! She is running to the bar to get another beer! |
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| Trying to drink this beer through my righteous beard was tricky, but Runner Santa worked it out. |
The Jingle Bell Jog turned Santacon Saturday was a good one. Eventually I went home to take a shower and put on weather-appropriate clothing, and John and I went out for Chinese food.
It remains to be seen whether Runner Santa will make an appearance at next year's Santacon.
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