NYC is amazing in Spring.  The gorgeous weather is short-lived but it makes one of the most wonderful cities on Earth even more spectacular.  NYC in Spring makes you feel like you can do things you wouldn’t (or couldn’t) normally achieve – both Frank Sinatra and Alicia Keys didn’t lie in their anthems.    It even helped me run a 5K today after over 4 months of injury.  Yup, I ran a glorious 5K today in my favorite city in the world!   Being back (pun intended) in NY always makes me want to run but today I ran for Abby at Run Stronger Every Day’s Kick Ass 5K for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.  A run for a good cause always gets me motivated! The universe was telling me that I needed to run today when it woke me at 6:45am (well, maybe it was that ambulance) but I’m so glad that I did because I got to see sights like these at my favorite place to run, the Brooklyn Bridge:

I was nervous that my back wouldn’t be happy but I worked hard to stay conscious of my core muscles, went slowly and smiled while listening to great music – a little Ryan Adams “New York, New York”, Duran Duran “Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile), Billy Joel “Miami 2017” and Foster The People “Pumped Up Kicks” certainly helped.

Since the Brooklyn Bridge span is only 1 mile long, the remaining 2 miles got me to Battery Park City with sights like these:

The World Financial Center

Hello New Jersey!

The run was so glorious in every way that I couldn’t hold back the tears.  The sunshine, blue skies and the temperature were perfect and the city not yet in full swing to start the day that conditions couldn’t be more ideal for a first run after an injury.  I even got a salute from Lady Liberty and her torch (I took a picture but Lady Liberty was so small it wasn’t worth sharing) to give me an extra helping of “Go Girl”!

4 months of exercise and Pilates therapy has been tough and sometimes very frustrating but this run made the work all worth it.  I was so blissed out after the run that I had coffee with a friend and then walked the entire way home (over the bridge again likely another 3 miles).

I made sure to take my anti-inflammatory medication and iced my back as soon as I got home to prevent any pain on the flight home but wow, what a wonderful way to end my mini-vacation in the city that is home in my heart.

Click the link if you want to help Abby reach her goal of $20K for Team Challenge/Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.