Praying to the Lamppost Gods

I wonder if these guys feel stupid putting these hats on as middle-aged men:


While that may seem random I thought it would be appropriate since the TNT coaches decided to crack the whip last night. We had to run effort levels E1 and E4, if you recall from my description E4=near death. And it really was. The beginner group had to run 4 lampposts on E4, which means you count four lampposts at a near sprint, then 2 lampposts for recovery, for two lower loops. Yesterday was brutally humid, the air just kind of hung there. Along with the stench of horse sh*t, which the lovely Central Park horses decided to share in excess last night.

It sounds crazy but I kinda liked taking off into a near full sprint, it felt good. For about two lampposts per interval. And then my legs started to burn. And then I wanted to die. The worst part is some of the traffic lights were on lampposts but some weren't, and the ones that weren't don't count. I almost continued my run to the Central Park offices to find out who I could punch for making it that way.

Oddly until now I feel like I rarely see coaches during the workouts, but yesterday they were everywhere, just waiting for someone in the group to start choking them. Judging by the way everyone looked at the end while we were stretching, we all came pretty close.

Mike and I were corpses when we got home last night. I also had a pretty bad headache at the end, which apparently means I'm either dehydrated or too hydrated. Um, right.

Next up, 4-mile Central Park Conservancy race on Saturday, which I'm excited about. I haven't done a race since the infamous St. Patty's day 5k with Liz, Nick and Kristine in a complete torrential downpour. Too bad there won't be free beer after this one.