i might be wrong

Last week, Coach Shelly ran us up to 105th Street and Fifth Avenue to show us this lovely park. This week I took Clay up to see it. He never travels above 42nd Street these days so it was good of him to indulge me in this surprise field trip to the upper east side. I didn't tell him where we were going. I just told him to be sure to bring his camera. I think he had a good time. It's so serene there. After we checked out the Conservatory, we walked over to the Harlem Meer and then had dinner at Amy Ruth's on 116th and Lenox Ave. I cheated on my diet and had a biscuit. You can't blame me for having a biscuit at a soul food restaurant. It was worth every calorie. I had half of my smothered pork chop, some collard greens and yams for dinner. Did I say it was worth every calorie.

I'm running in my 10th race this year tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to do this 10K race through Central Park in an hour or less. I have never been faster than 1:09 in a 10K and was really disappointed in my performance in the Scotland Run. I hope to redeem myself tomorrow morning.

Joining me for this race will be Alex and Deb. Alex has really been training. He's been at sub-8-minute pace and hopes to do this race in 50 minutes. I really hope he meets his goal. I'm not sure if Deb has a goal for this one. She's a veteran marathoner and is pretty fast. She beat me in the last 5K we ran together.

I really hope I don't just give up out there. There is always a point in 10K races that I just think to myself that it's just too long and it's never going to be over. I slow down and eventually stop to walk. Then I get frustrated and tell myself I don't care about that time — that I just want to finish. But then I'm demoralized and pissed at myself when I don't meet the time goal I had in my head. I really hope I can keep my head in the game, run fast, fill the spaces and just go as fast as I can for 6.2 miles. One hour or less!