Running in Central Park - New York

Today I ran around the 10k loop of Central Park. How beautiful it is and so different to any of my other training runs. There was some unusually warm weather last week and the trees have begun to blossom, there are lakes and recreational fields and forest areas and people everywhere!

It was great to get out on a lovely blue sky but cool day as I am still feeling jetlag after only arriving in New York City on Tuesday.

I entered the park at 6th Ave which it turns out is the most popular tourist entrance to the park and where you find the ice skating rink and the horse drawn carriages (with naff fake flowers decorating them). When I entered, for the first 10 mins as I walked through the crowds I didn't see anyone else exercising. I felt too self conscious to strip the outer layer and start running so I just wandered further to explore. I thought to myself, surely there will be some runners some where - and then I saw them. Not only runners, but rollerbladers and cyclists as well on the 'recreational path' which is the side of a road that loops the park.

It was a really enjoyable run. I didn't stretch myself, just stuck to 6min/k pace and felt comfortable throughout.