Life in the Big Apple - Part 3

On the morning of the 14^th we woke up at the normal time and headed out for our next adventure. As we had packed so much into our first few days we kind of felt like we had done everything but we were in New York and it always has more to offer.

Earlier in the week we had been offered a Boat Trip and as no Holiday is complete without going on a Boat that was very high on today’s agenda. We also had a few other things to find so once again we headed Downtown.

Our first stop was for breakfast and after unsuccessfully trying one or 2 places we decided to try Applebee’s.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing; if I lived this day over again then I’d go somewhere else.

Next on the list was The Ghostbusters firehouse, the Hook and Ladder.  We had already looked this up on the map and were convinced we’d walked past it a few days earlier but it had not jumped out at us so we set out to find it.  We knew from the Map it was in Tribecca so off we set.  

Our new trick of Starbucks Navigation came into play a few times (if you have a smart phone stand outside Starbuck and use the free WIFI to view your maps).  Eventually we found it.  Well, we found the location.  The maps were telling us we were right by it but we could not see it.  We ended up walking all the way around the block and back to the original spot before we noticed a sign outside the boarded up building telling us that Hook and Ladder was undergoing maintenance.  Someone had very kindly drawn some Ghostbusters type logo’s on the pavement for us though so at least we could say we’d been there.

We knew that our boat trip was still on the agenda and we realised that we were still a good distance away from South Quay so we decided to brave the Subway rather than try to walk again.  First we needed to find the right station.

We walked for a little while and on the way we found some more of the notifications for parking restrictions.  This time it was for filming of The Blacklist.  This was exciting news for 2 reasons, first because we had been fans of The Blacklist since the very first episode and secondly the filming was due to take place the following morning. 

After this little flurry of excitement we found our Subway station and eventually (after trying to work out the ticket machines and train routes) we made our way to South Quay to get our boat tickets.

The boat trip was brilliant; it took us from the Quay up the Hudson River and past the Statue of Liberty, I have never really seen the Status of Liberty properly, even when I did the helicopter trip many (many) years ago I didn’t see it as well as we saw it today.  We stopped for a decent photo session before heading uptown.  The views of Manhattan were spectacular and the commentary gave us some real insight into how New York has changed over the years.  They even pointed out the part of the Hudson where the Pilot had landed his plane in the River.  The only real problem was that it was so cold.  We decided that we would get off the boat at the 911 memorial rather than go all the way back to South Quay.

After another look around we headed uptown again for something to eat in Chinatown before heading back to the Subway.  That was the plan anyway.  We took so many little twists and turns through Chinatown that we didn’t really know where we were heading as we wandered uptown.  We found ourselves by the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge.  We had to take a moment to enjoy the spectacular image but we then decided that we needed to carry on and get our bearings again so we kept heading uptown until the streets started to have numbers instead of names.  Eventually we reached 2^nd Avenue and decided it was time for a beer or two.  Strange things happen in New York City.  As we sat enjoying our drinks we noticed that it was getting very busy outside.  There were Lorries pulling up opposite and people started to mingle just a few feet from the door to the bar and trolleys carrying equipment we dragged into view.  It turns out that we were watching a film crew setting up for a shooting of the TV drama Madam Secretary.

Feeling fully refreshed we braved the Subway and headed uptown again, this time we decided to exit the subterranean transport link at Times Square as we had a little time to kill before our appointment at the Top of the Rock.

One thing you learn on a visit to The Big Apple is that some New Yorkers can make being rude into an art form.  They obviously have a great deal of experience in doing this and can seamlessly integrate this into their working life.  I’d say that this unique skill must be a requirement if you wish to apply for a security position at the Rockefeller Centre.  The views are spectacular and it is well worth a visit but I came away feeling like a naughty child because I had not fully understood that we did not need to put our coats into the tray for the X-Ray machine or for wanting to stand in a certain place to get a picture of the Empire State Building. 

The Morning of the 15^th saw us preparing for our Journey home.  We were happy that we had crossed so many things of our list but there was still time for a few more so after we had packed our cases we headed out on the search for breakfast and for another Movie landmark that we had both spotted on the way back from the Airport after our Niagara visit.

Instead of heading downtown, this morning we were heading east.  After a quick photo of Bloomingdales we reached our target, East 60^th street, and the setting of one of my favourite Chick Flicks, Serendipity.  The shop is called Serendipity III and sadly we were too early to see it during opening hours but I was happy with a photograph.

As we had still not managed to get breakfast we decided to just pop into a Deli for something quick that we could eat on the go while we made our way to the next location on our list.  I think we must have hit the jackpot as we were faced with so much choice.  We opted for a bagel and if we had known how big they were going to be then we may have decided to share one.  This would have been a mistake as they were just too delicious to leave.

After a little bit of Starbucks navigation we found our way to the Subway station and headed to our next adventure.  Next stop was Tribecca where we hoped to find the spot where they were doing the filming for The Blacklist.  We had covered so much ground on the previous day that neither of us could remember exactly where we had seen the signs but as we approached yet another Starbucks we saw that some of the pavement have been blocked off and there were people stood around with camera equipment.  At first it looked like they were packing everything away but it turned out that they were just making adjustments so we decided to hang around for a little while to see if anything happened.  We decided to try to see if we could see any better from the other side of the road and it became apparent that they were filming inside a little bistro.  We could see a waiter stood in the window dressed in Black and White and sat at the table was what appeared to be the female lead but we could not see her face well enough to say for sure.

My wife started to get a little nervous about being there as the crew kept glancing over and she was certain we were going to be asked to move so we switched back to the other side of the road where we stayed for a few minutes just watching.  We were just about to leave when my wife pointed excitedly at a guy in a hat that was walking towards the building.  At first I wondered what I was looking for then I spotted James Spader walking towards the Bistro door, raising his hat in the trademark Raymond Reddington style.  These brief few seconds managed to add the final topping to an already amazing New York City experience.

Half Marathon Training part 2

After the illness and the holiday I returned to the training plan and really needed to buckle down and get back on track.  Tuesday saw us completing the normal short off plan run so that the old legs were ready for a longer stretch on the Wednesday but this was the day where the mild weather gave way to a real torrent.
We decided that going out for a run would be a really bad idea so decided to pay a visit to the gym instead. 
I have no idea how I used to spend so much time on a treadmill. 
This hour of my life was a hot, humid and incredibly unpleasant experience that I have no desire to repeat.  I only managed to do 10 of the 12 Kilometres I was supposed to complete on this run and I could easily have stopped after 8. 

Luckily the weekend was a much better prospect so my 16K run went according to plan.  My wife had decided that she was going to get a lift to work on the Saturday and then run home so I set off from home about 30 minutes before she was due to finish and ran to meet her.  By the time we met up I had done nearly 7k while she had clocked up nearly 3.  It all worked out perfectly.  By the time we got home I had completed my 16k run at a comfortable pace and Mrs B had clocked up another 12K.

The following week we took our off plan Tuesday run (now nicknamed BTRC, Beewell’s Tuesday Running Club) up a level and ran a 5k instead of the normal 3.  This gave my wife her second best time at this distance, I am sure we can accomplish a PB in the next few weeks.

Saturday saw me complete my greatest distance yet.  The plan said I was to complete a 12K comfortable paced run but I was feeling much more and ended up getting home with 18K behind me.  It felt good!!
After that it was kind of business as usual, planned runs with a couple of unplanned runs thrown in but noting to special worth writing about until one of our off plan runs occurred on a Monday.  On paper this run had disaster written all over it.

On the Sunday night / Monday morning we were rudely awoken by an alarm from a Van parked in our street.  In the space of the next 3 hours the alarm went off 4 times in total meaning very little sleep.

The Monday evening we were both really tired and a little grumpy but eventually made the decision to get the Tuesday run completed a day early so we had more time the following evening to get stuff done.  Neither of us really felt like a run and when we got outside it was starting to rain. Sometimes though good things happen when you least expect it.  I knew at about the 2K mark that we were making good time but didn’t say anything to Mrs B as I didn’t want to jinx it.  At the 2.5 marker she was struggling so we slowed down the pace and then gradually picked it up.  The 4k point showed that we were still having a good run despite the slowing pace earlier and we finished the 5K with another PB in the bag for Mrs B.

Actually, she has demolished her previous PB by taking over a minute off her 5K time.

Half Marathon Training - Part 1

In Early 2017 I was somehow talked into stepping up my running and tackling a greater distance than I had ever even considered previously.  At that point I had been running for a few years but had only recently converted to outdoor running from a treadmill.

At the time I had a few 5K events behind me but I was working up to my first official 10K event so quite why  thought that running 13.1 miles was something I could aspire to I will never really know, even though we are still a few months away from the registration of the event’s opening date I am committed nonetheless.  The event is in Malta and the flights and hotel are already booked so I went on line and found myself a training plan.

The training for my first half Marathon started on August 8th and the initial run just happened to fall while I was on holiday was in Portugal.  It started off fairly easily with a slow paced 5K run, hopefully this session will help me to acclimatise to running in the hot sun as I don’t really get much chance to do this in the UK.

I managed to get 3 runs completed in the hot Portuguese sun.  The first one was the steady 5K and I really enjoyed this run as I have had to drop the pace down during the Preconditioning phase.  This gave me the chance to run at the same pace as my wife so we completed the run together.  I really enjoyed having someone to run with so a couple of days later we did an off plan run together.  This was just a little 3K tootle though to keep the legs moving.

Run Number 3 was a 7k and the pace increased slightly so I was flying solo again after a short intro run together.  I actually ended up doing nearly 9K on this run.  The plan was to meet my wife at the end of the Marina but when I got there she wasn’t there so I did another lap of the Marina to check if she was OK.  When we finally met up it turned out that she had done the same thing.

The 4th run of the plan was the first actual run where I didn’t start off with my wife, this was a really tricky run as I had no idea how to manage my pace.  With the previous run I ran alongside my wife at first then slightly increased the speed, on this session I found I had started off too fast so dropping the pace proved to be tricky.

For our anniversary gifts this year we bought each other some new fitness trackers, I opted for the Garmin Forerunner 25 because this has the option for a virtual pacer but even with this set at my desired rate I still found it really hard to drop back after starting off.  I did manage to complete the distance and wasn’t too drastically over the desired rate.

The next few sessions introduced me to the world of Build ups.  The concept is quite simple.  Start off at a moderate pace then speed up and maintain that pace then take it up a little quicker to finish.  Initially I struggled.  I had set the magic watch at the lower pace and also changed my display so that I could track actual pace throughout the run and this did help but on my first build up run the first Kilometre was the fastest.  I soon got used to it after about the third session and I even managed to increase the distance and add in an extra increase in pace.


Everything was going so well that something had to go wrong.  This something came in the form of a chest infection and I was forced to rest and take antibiotics.  Luckily the tablets kicked in so I was only out of action for 6 days as on the Sunday I had entered a 10k event.
Right up to the morning of the even I wasn’t sure if taking part was a good idea so I decided to just take it easy and ended up dropping the pace and staying with my wife, who was also recovering from the same infection. This way we could look after each other.  I finished the run in 1hr 14 minutes, a far cry from my normal Sub hour 10K but I found it to be a really enjoyable run.

The following week saw another obstacle, another holiday.  The plan was to have a couple of good runs but the holiday turned out to be quite an active one as it was so we only managed one little 5K tootle around the bay. 
To Be Continued....