Forest Chaos.

Okay, so here's what the race course looks like. Or so I think, based on the voicemail I got at work from race director, Jack Berger.


Now as you probably have heard me rave about in past blogs, this is the park that I recently discovered a few months back. As you can see by my workouts, this park is to me what the 'Batcave' is to Batman, or what the 'Fortress of Solitude' is to Superman. Now all I need is the cape, and yes, some of those superhero powers too...

Most interesting about this race is that a good portion of this race goes through a horse trail. There are pretty few left in New York City (to say the least), and I've actually never run on them either. So far, I've been training along Forest Park Drive, so this should be a surprise.

I'm not only hoping for good weather, but I definitely need to be careful for the uneven ground, and for things that might lurch out at me during the race....Never a dull moment. But then again, that's part of my fascination of racing. The ability to try a new course, and see what it's all about. Stagnation is death! For example, I play a little bit of golf (or something that barely resembles it) now and then. I know people who have a yearly membership to a particular club. All these people ever do is to play golf on the same course every week, every time. No sense in switching with all the money they've coughed up for it, right? Well, I could never understand how someone could be content in sticking to one course all the time. I think the same applies to me and my running. I am always looking forward to a new challenge!


Anyway, it appears that Forest Park's four-mile equestrian path meanders through 165 acres of oak forest. Recently renovated, the path offers a quiet refuge from the normal city goings-on. I've never
run through the equestrian path. Willlllburrrrrr?
I must be careful for the stallion droppings along the
way. The last thing I need is to spend the rest of my
Sunday, picking the last stages of digested hay, off the waffle of my sneakers. Just one of my challenges...


My biggest challenge that day however, wont be the fact that my left leg still hurts a little, or that I have my kids this weekend either. This Sunday my company has an IT cutover. The data services group are upgrading their core network infrastructure, which is going to temporarily affect EVERYTHING, including my 400 or so VoIP phones, and IP access to several Voicemail & Video Systems. They envision to be finished at 8am, whereby either myself or my coworker (who is equally unavailable) is required to do post-migration testing. I have people at one of our remote locations who are planing to be in by around 11am, to test the IP phones. Problem? My race starts at 10am. It's 4 miles. If I run too slow, I'll barely make it back in time to host my own conferenced bridge call with my workers, and if I run too fast (yeah, right) I might have to stick around to receive an award (super yeah, super right). Sunday is going to prove to be a complicated endeavor to say the least.

Fortunately, my girlfriend will be onhand to watch the kids at the start/finish line, and that will help a bunch. Either way, I am looking at a possibly stressful race......ugh....