rockefeller state park preserve

the alarm went off the stroke of 6am and we were at grand central on the 6:43am metronorth hudson line on our way to tarrytown to meet our friend and wedding officiant, ken, for a run at rockefeller state park preserve. 

the hudson line runs on a beautiful route, following the southern coastline of the bronx and north along the east side of the hudson river. if you snag a seat on the left side of the northbound train, you get an exquisite view of inwood hill park along the harlem river and palisades park along the hudson river.

for our run, ken took us through the rockefeller state preserve park. it was 75F with a humidity of 75%, but slightly overcast and parts of the route were protected by the coverage of the park canopy. we started running around swan lake, running right up and along the edge of blue hill stone barns, lots of private areas marked "no trespassing", and part of the rockwood trail at sleepyhollow. ken was the most amazing tour guide, not to mention, an amazing runner.

the first few miles were truly painful, as we started the first half mile of the run with an ascension, and i realized i had no idea how far we were planning to run that morning. saw lots of cows and recently sheared lambs marked with giant black X's around stone barns. around mile 4, i thought i saw the road again, and breathed a sign of relief as i imagined returning to the car (my pace hastened as well ha), but nope, it was just a tease. more hills. around mile 7, i think kevin started feeling the pain as well and politely asked ken - how much you think we have left? i don't recall ken's reply, but he did not indicate that the end of in sight. ha.

with that said, miles 8 & 9 were stunning, and not too hilly either. we were at an elevation of about 150 feet just overlooking the hudson! around this point, kev had to step off to take care of some business, and ken assured me we had just a couple miles left. those couple miles turned out to be 3.5 more as we made a slightly wrong turn and ended up doing an extra loop, but when we finished, it felt SO GOOD!!

moral of the story: we need more hills practice more often!

the big apple bbq was in town again so we stopped by madison square park  for some spare ribs and beans at memphis bbq and pappy's. LOVE LOVE the pappy's!!!