Coogan's 5K Wrap Up

Every year there is one race I really look forward to- the Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K in Washington Heights. I love it because its on my home turf which means I get to sleep in a little and the journey home is nice and quick! In the past few years Coogan's has been FREEZING and the quick jog home was appreciated. 2010 was a whole new experience however, with 37 degrees at the start, very little wind and bright, glorious sunshine! There was definitely excitement in the air at the prospect of spring being just around the proverbial corner.

I had a goal time of 21:00 for this year, which would have been a 30 sec PR from last June and the whole goal time got me a bit frazzled and nervous both SAt night and Sun morning. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to race hard, and I was excited but still jittery. I had a few kids from my running team meeting me at the start so I headed down early, warming up with a nice 3/4mi jog which helped calm the nerves. An encouraging morning text from EG helped as well. :) Once the first of my 5 kids arrived, the rest of my jitters melted away and her bubbly chatter made me smile. All of the kids arrived on time, I pinned on their bibs, clipped on the D-tags and wished them all a great race (they run with parents or other coaches, etc).

Once in my corral I hardly had time to get nervous again before the horn went off. In my head I had worked out what I needed my pace to be for each mile in order to hit my goal, but as usual I forgot about the 0.1 and ...well, I've never been that good at math and I goofed.

I had a really strong race, I cruised up those hills like they weren't even there and felt powerful and free. Was it the sunshine, the bands along the way, the knowledge that my hubby was waiting near the top of the first hill and the last hill? It was all of the above.

Here are the numbers:

Mi 1: 7:08 (i held back thinking I'd make it up. This was the weak point in my plan.)

Mi 2: 6:56 (felt awesome)

Mi 3: 6:41 (ran hard!)

0.1: 6:22 pace

3.1 mi, 21:39, 6:59 avg pace. (My bib pace will change now! used to be 7:10)

me!

NYRR says I was 101st female, 40th in my age group and 765 overall out of 5631. Oddly, I just double checked and now it says I was #102 female, 41 in my age group. Weird. Anyway, as bummed as I was for a whole 10 mins that I didn't PR, I felt like I raced smart, strong and felt great.

What came after my race was the truly awesome part of the day... as I stood shivering at the finish line waiting for my kids to cross, I was expecting to see 2 of my 3rd graders come in first until out of nowhere, one of my 2nd graders (7 yrs old!) came FLYING across at 31:53 with a HUGE grin on his face! He clocked a 10:17 pace after doing his last two races at a 14:40 pace!! Wow. I had to catch up to him after the finish because he'd run too fast for his mom to keep up. He was chattering uncontrollably about how awesome that was and how he flew past his mom and his teammates in mile 2! Man, that kid made everything I do so worth it. What a kid. His mom told me he's SO proud of himself and that he can't wait for the next race. He came to practice today with that smile still all over his face and pride beaming off of him like sunrays. I think I hooked one. Awesome. I'm the proudest coach in town today.

After the kids were finished, I headed back uptown to meet my hubby, MJ and SCL for a little brunch in our hood. We had a nice meal (pancakes, yum) and then took a stroll over to see the GWB in all of its glory. What a beautiful day on the Hudson.

Snurricane 2010

Hello George.

We finally got the Snopocalypse we were promised a few weeks ago. The snow started Thursday morning with snowball-sized flakes and continued all day in a slushy fashion before turning into heavy, real snow. It went on through Thursday night into Friday and just kept coming down!! In fact, its STILL snowing as I type this. Nuts. Anyhow, its beautiful and since I don't have any run to report (its knee deep out there people) I will share my favorite photos from my trek around the hood. Its sooo beautiful out there, they wouldn't let me in the park though because a tree fell and killed someone in Central Park because the snow is so heavy. I took a few shots from the entrance and around the perimeter of Fort Tryon Park, but most of these are just around the hood. Enjoy.

Pinehurst Ave apts

De Plane! De Plane!

Pinehurst looking south from 185th

Woah heavy snow

Snowy trees and Hudson View Gardens

Fort Tryon from the "outside looking in"

I was soo hoping to get down to the Arches to get some pics..

Looking across the river to the Palisades park

Cutest little snowman ever!

And his friends :)

Sticky snow and some stubborn leaves

Can't get in! (the man walking is the owner of the New Leaf Cafe in the pk)

And goodnight George.

Subway Elevator Art Installation

I noticed a postcard sized advertisement today at the Hilltop Pharmacy tucked in among the stuff at the pharmacy counter and realized it was an advertisement for an art show going on right nearby!

It seems that the "Artists Unite" organization is collaborating with NYC public transit to bring us the story of the subway elevator posters that can be seen in our very own 184th St A train elevators. Here is the info I found on the Artists Unite website about the installation. I hope to check it out this week and have more info for you....

Artists Unite

MTA Subway Elevator Poster Project

El Proyecto de los Posters de los Trenes Subterraneos

GOING UP!

Hacia Arriba!

An Installation: By Rosa Naparstek

Documents & Photos

November 29-December 6, 2009

Hebrew Tabernacle: 551 Fort Washington Ave @ 185th St.

(Entrance on Fort Washington Ave. Please Ring Bell. For More Info: 212-568-8304)

The Art In Your Subway Elevator And The Story Of How It Got There

La Historia del Arte del Ascensor de Tren y Como Llego Ahi.

This is the story of the Artists Unite-MTA Poster Project, an eight year collective effort to bring art into our subway elevators.

The original display of pictures and posters in the elevators at the 181st and 190th Street

A-train stations played a vital role in bringing our neighborhood together.

When they were removed in 2001, it was a profound loss to the community.

Residents of Washington Heights worked hard to express their dismay to the MTA

and collected more than 3,000 signatures in a few days advocating to maintain a

community presence in the elevators.

Installation: Photos and Documents,November 29-December 6, 2009

Opening Reception:Sunday, Nov.29, 2-6 PM

Installation Hours:Mon & Wed:Nov.30, Dec.2 9AM-6:30PMSat:Dec.5, 7-9PM Sun: Dec. 6, 10-1PM

And Creative Venues:

Outdoor Projection Slide Show: Exhibit of Poster Contest Entries

Saturday, Nov 28, 7-9 PM

(Fort Washington Ave &184th St. Nr. Subway Entrance.)

Around the hood

Big weekend ahead for Hudson Heights! In case you missed the flyers plastered all over town:

mmmm I remember the gorgeous looking pies sitting out there teasing me last year but we were there too early and the pies hadn't been judged yet so I couldn't have a slice... so sad. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Anyway, its a great, fun-filled day for those with kids and those of us without. Head over to Bennett Park (Ft Washington between 183rd and 185th Sts) between 1-4pm to join the fun.

Crane on 185th today

One heck of a crane filled up 185th St this afternoon, apparently moving multiple pieces of machinery onto the roof of 165 Pinehurst. Despite the 10 or so men and police officers at the corner, no one even attempted to stop me from wandering up 185th to take a few pictures!

Change is in the air for Bennett Park

A design plan has been made for Bennett Park Capital Reconstruction that I think sounds great! The fact that the lawn and rocks are fenced off merely makes them more appealing to the kids and many of the improvements mentioned will make it a more community friendly place to hang out. This is from the parent and me yahoo group:

About six weeks ago I wrote to this list about the scoping meeting for Bennett Park. The designer has since come up with a draft plan. It won't be possible to do everything needed within the budget currently allocated, so the first phase includes the following:

- paving over the asphalt on the south end with a soft poured surface, so that it's conducive to ball play and bike riding. The outline of the original fort will be re-emphasized. This would also be the area where performances could be held.

- reformatting the lawn so that the big rocks become a natural play feature, and are not fenced off.

- installing a small sprinker in the area behind the field house

- inclusion of a dog pit (not a dog run) in the southwest corner. (Parks is open to discussion of a dog run, but would need an organized dog assn that would be willing to maintain it *and* do the leg work to get buy-in from the surrounding buildings. So far no such group exists.)

The plans for this phase will be presented at the CB12 parks meeting on Tuesday.

Future plans call for re-doing the field house so that there's storage for things like Harvest Fest supplies, and locating it where it will provide bathroom access for seniors *and* improve sight lines within the playground. The playground area will be enlarged, and the hope is to get funding to have unique play euqipment installed (preferably with a fort theme, in keeping with the historic nature of the park).

For those who have a keen interest in how this all unfolds, perhaps it is time to revive Friends of Bennett Park. The equipment at Bennett is in relatively good shape, so that's not going to be the #1 priority for Parks (nor should it be, given the sad shape of some other parks). However, if we want to keep this *a* priority and moving along in the capital queue, we'll need to advocate for it. I've done Friends groups before, so if there are folks who want to work on this, email me. I'd be glad to facilitate an initial meeting, and introduce you to the people you need to know.

Julia

ajattaway@...


Does anyone know what a dog pit is? If so, please enlighten me! (I have cats.... we don't play in parks... and here's why: Cat Run )

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Bennett Park Water Main Break UPDATE!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago the water fountains and bathrooms in Bennett Park on Fort Washington Ave between W183rd and 185th streets have been out of commission for months and the neighborhood families were getting fed up. The port-o-potties were smelly and kids were peeing in the park (so gross.) and so I wrote a letter to the parks commissioner who gave me this response which I thought was reasonable. Well it looks like things are finally underway!! Woo hoo.

Some other shots of the work being done:

ugh i have a few more but blogger is having some issues and I need to head out for a run so I'll try them again later.

Bennett Park Facilities

A month or two ago I stopped in Bennett Park (located between 183rd and 185th streets along Fort Washington Ave) for a quick drink while out for a run and I was disappointed to find that the water fountains were off. It was especially surprising because it was during one of the really warm days last month and the park was full of kids. I thought "hmm they must be doing some work or something" and it slipped my mind until I made another stop yesterday and found that they were STILL off. Not only are the fountains in this busy park off, but I noticed a sign that the bathrooms have been closed since November! The sign (see the picture below) mentions that kids are using the park as their bathroom instead (oh parents, why?) which is of course unacceptable and unsanitary. The sign on the bathroom door mentions something about maintenance, but offers no end point or contact person. I didn't take a picture because its creepy when an adult enters a playground with a camera and no child of her own. :0)

Anyhow, I noticed that there were port-o-potties placed on the other side of the park and snapped a picture from across the sidewalk, but didn't dare get any closer because of the stench and the flies. Wow, this is a serious problem.

The parks dept last inspection was April 30th and it was deemed "Acceptable" but nowhere is there mention of the lack of facilities, fountains and handwashing sinks!

If you live and play in the area, please call 311 and report this issue ASAP. I submitted a

complaint to the parks commissioner and 311 and will keep on this! Til then... pack some water and plan on a trip to Starbucks to pee if you don't live close enough to run home.

yuck.

Weary

Note to self: Carry camera more often when wandering the hood. I always have my blackberry which has an okay camera (the pictures of the talk show filming were with the 'berry), but I see fun stuff all of the time that I need my real camera in order to fully capture. The problem is that most of my adventures in the hood are while running and I definitely don't carry it then! I'll try to get better at it when I'm wandering around at slower speeds.

The cats are snoring and I'm zonked from a run down the greenway to 145th to use the track at Riverbank State Park for a workout and then running home back along the greenway to my cozy abode. I don't have the mental capacity to figure out how far I ran, but any run that ends with me scrambling up those hills from the GWB to home is a tough one. Definitely time for bed!

Just a little picture from the hood from a day that I actually remembered my camera. It was taken along Fort Washington Ave around 190th St.