Official Training Starts!

Saturday marked the beginning of our official training season. The directions were to meet with our coaches and the rest of the Team for Kids team at the 72nd street entrance of Central Park, at 7:30 am, for a quick warm-up and a five-mile timed run.

We roused from our beds at the break of dawn, shook off the booze from the night before, rubbed the sleep from our eyes, and ventured forth into the city to meet up with our team. We traveled far and wide through New York's underground public transportation network. Two transfers and three trains later we were at the park... 30 minutes late.

So, we attempted to find the group, which undoubtedly had took off already, and after walking for a while through and around the park, we resigned to running without them. We ran a loop around the bridle path, and then had to quickly depart for the BREATH NYC: Asthma Walk 2007. Two trains and a half-mile walk later (due to the construction downtown) we arrived at Battery Park.

It was really nice to see so many people come out on a Saturday morning to support the cause. There were all kinds of people there, and it was especially pleasing to see the amount of youth representing. My favorite part of the morning was walking behind a group of girls singing: "This why I'm HOT! This is why I'm HOT! This is why, this is why, this is why I'm HOT! I'm hot cuz I'm FLY, you ain't cuz you NOT. This is why, this is why, this is why I'm HOT!" Good times.

One of the speakers gave the statistic that one out of every eight New Yorkers suffers from asthma, and that lung disease is the third leading cause of death in America. Do you know what the first is? Heart disease, most commonly in the form of heart attacks. Do you know what the best way to prevent heart disease is? To exercise regularly, like going for a run!

After walking the three mile loop with the crowd, and eating the healthy snackies provided by the walk's organizers, we began our trek home. All of the train stations below Brooklyn Bridge were closed due to the construction, so once we got to the bridge we decided to just go ahead and walk across, enjoying the lovely day outside. There was a Mr. Softee conveniently parked at the bridge entrance, and I spent the first part of the walk frantically licking vanilla flavored ice creamy matter and gobs of dripping chocolate sprinkles before it melted all over my arms. I was successful for the most part, but my shoe did get a taste of it every now and then. (Whoever said that Mr. Softee never melts, you lie!)

The plan was to take the bus on the other side back home, but that didn't happen. Instead of waiting for the bus, which would have NEVER come on a Saturday, we opted to walk home from the bridge, passing by a store that sold Moo-Moo's for $1.99!!! I was so excited!! I think we're going to have to have a Moo-Moo party.

We finally arrived at the Myrtle Turtle palatial abode, where we kicked off our shoes, washed off my arms, and ate leftovers from last week's barbecue.

All in all, we clocked a good 12 miles on foot that day. Not too bad for day one of our training season.