I drove into NYC today, Laur and I had tickets to see The Hush Sound, Phantom Planet, Motion City Soundtrack, and Panic! at the Disco there at 6. I was mostly excited to see her, to see The Hush Sound, and thirdly to run in Central Park. I got in early enough to go next door with her and watch her eat the most delish looking smac (mac& cheese) ever. Which is big for me to say, bc as a rule, I tend to hate mac & cheese and have only had it once in my life, a few weeks ago at her parents house. Maybe it was because I was hungry, or maybe because this was "gourmet-ish" mac& cheese. Afterwards, I got changed into running attire and headed to Central Park to do an easy outer loop of the park, very much like the first time I went there, only without being too shy to see Laur afterwards. Central Park running is always good for knocking you down a peg or two if you're getting a bit too full of yourself, because there is always people there that look like they've been at it for much longer and are much faster/talented. Instead of being discouraged by seeing this, it gives me something to aspire to now (new Mark outlook :]). The weather was bee-ee-ay-you-tiful, my only regret is not getting to share it with Laur. I got into a rhythm of heel striking the downhills as that seemed to put less stress on everything and midfoot striking everything else. I love that it's hilly, it helped change up things from the mostly flat running I've been doing, and gave me enough feeling of pushing myself, even on an easy run. Here's the damage:

6 gorgeous miles in 49:40 (8:13 pace)

and a ROCKIN' GREAT TIME with the darling girlfriend afterwards! :)