Sunday, August 17, 2008

Pier Side Paranoia


So normally long runs are on Saturdays but there are so many non-profits and so little time that this Saturday, I had to skip group training. I got to play on the playground with a bunch of the kids from the mentor program I'm a part of through NY Youth At Risk. Their moms are the mentees and it's really amazing so please check it out if you're interested in learning about yourself and helping to shape a younger person's life.


Anyway, since I missed training on Saturday and was dead tired after playing with kids all day, I decided I would run on Sunday night. The run was only for 10 miles so it shouldn't take me too long and I figured it didn't get dark that early, right? Well, sort of right.


I mapped the run out so I knew I would run from my apartment west to Riverside, up to 91st and back down to 14th street. I started at about 8pm and the sun was still up. I got to about 21st when it really started to set and I began to question if I would complete my run. I decided that I was determined (though not very smart) and that I would be able to finish the run in no time. After all, there were plenty of people around, even though it was dark. I get to the 60's or 70's and I realize it's not just a little dark, it's very dark and there are no lights. I'm under the west side highway and it's just me and one other runner on the trail. I pass this other runner and realize it's probably not smart to run in front of some strange guy at night with my headphones on so I take them off. That scares the hell out of me though because now I can hear him breathing and running behind me. NOT GOOD>I should tell you that I'm a Law & Order addict and was raised by an extremely paranoid mother and grandmother so I'm basically freaking out at this point. I find an escape down a better lit path and realize that there's a concert going on up ahead. At this point I'm out of breath because I've picked up the pace quite a bit.


A few blocks later, my phone rings (I sometimes run with my iphone/ipod) and it's my grandmother. Why I answer, I'm not sure because I'm sure she'll rattle off all of the news stories about females found dead or raped in the park and I begin to have visions of some kayaker finding my floating corpse during their free lesson. (Again a very "Law & Order" opening scene). I hang up w/ her and continue my run...is that Police tape I see? My imagination is running pretty wild by the time I'm finished and at 14th street at 10PM! At least I'm back to civilization by the time I hit 10th Ave. Oh yeah and I'm alive. From now on, I think I'll stick to running with the group :)

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