On Running and Reading…

Like a lot of people, I made a bit of a New Years resolution this year, only in my case I posted my goals for the world to see.  My resolutions were simple and sweet: my focus this year is on Running and Reading, due in large part to the awesome Will Smith video of the same name.

The bad news about resolutions is that they’re not easy to keep, though I have to admit that by sharing my thoughts publicly, I’ve had a bit more motivation this year to keep my goals alive.  Things have been good on the reading front, with 7 books down through February, as seen in the Shelfari widget on the left side of the blog.

Running, on the other hand, has been a bit less consistent - which I guess is understandable considering the discipline that it takes to run in sub 30 degree weather (discipline, it turns out, that I only seem to have once or twice a week).

But yesterday it was 60 degrees in New York, which meant there was little in the way of excuses for yours truly.  So I laced up the ol’ kicks, fired up the Nike Plus on the iPod, and set out for Central Park along with what seemed like half of Manhattan.  Despite my lack of consistency in training, I was able to trudge through a very long run (for me) of more than 7 miles (or 11+ kilometers according to the trusty Nike Plus).

I tell you this update not to pat my own back about how great my resolutions are going (because the truth of the matter is this run was an anomaly, and was still 1.5 miles shorter than Tracy and Hannah ran on Friday!).  Rather, it’s more of an attempt to continue to challenge myself - now that you all know that a 7 mile run is possible, I hope I’ll find it a bit harder to skip out on running after a busy day.

Besides, 7 miles isn’t only the start of a real challenge - the New York City Marathon.  I signed up for the lottery last week and if I get picked I will be running on November 1st.  Anyone else up for the challenge?  I’d love to run it with a friend…