But anyway, for those who were interested in my running life (or to those who would be potentially interested), here's something I will share with you.
As you know, being in NY has its perks, especially for runners. Well, being in the US, generally, is a big perk for runners, actually! You could literally just go out and run, and not worry about things like traffic. Well, you would, but not as bad as Malaysia. I mean, back in KL, I would usually have to make scheduled trips to either Lake Gardens, or KLCC park, or it'll be the gym. At home, I'd just run outside, but I'd be running on the highway, which is pretty dangerous. Over here, you can just go and run ANYWHERE.. and at ANYTIME!
There's a fairly healthy running culture here. If you read enough running magazines, I'm sure you would've come across people saying that they go out during their lunchtime break to run, then go back to work. I mean, that will NEVER happen in Malaysia, or extremely rare. Well, the environment here is conducive to do things like that.
In terms of infrastructure, we're having it easy here. It's so easy to run outside. Pavements and walkways are a plenty, it's standard! And we're not even talking about PARKS yet! So far I've only managed to run around the immediate area from my Jackson Heights home. Of course, one drawback is usually the weather. Some days, it's just not conducive to run outside. I've encountered several days when I get psyched up to run, only to be disappointed by strong COLD winds, or snow, or even rain at some days. It would be really uncomfortable. I even began to take solace in checking Yahoo! Weather every day, especially if I plan to run the following morning.
On another note, my Polar S120 heart rate monitor got screwed up over a week ago. I dropped it accidentally, and the display screen screwed up! Talk about bad luck. So I sent it to the nearest Polar service center in NY. The process turned out to be a little more anal (but organized) than I'd like. At home, I would just go to the center (via car of course) and just pass it to somebody there, and if I'm lucky I could have it back the same day! Over here, I had to mail it. That's not before I had go the Polar USA website to register my watch for repair! So mah fan. Anyway, I thought it might have been a simple error to repair, and it wouldn't cost much. When I finally got a reply from them, I found out I was charged US$100 plus for it!!!!!!! CRAZY! But on the other hand, they also offered a Trade-up program, where I just buy another model (newer), at a 30% discount price, and they will keep my previous unit. So, I decided to get a new one. The price they were charging me was even worth a new unit! Anyway I decided on the RS200 model, which is definitely a better upgrade, for what it's worth. So great, I've got a newer, and better heart rate monitor!! (So much for saving money here!). I'm just waiting for it in the mail now.
My running life, however, is still rather slow. But at least I still manage to squeeze in a few runs every week. Max distance has only been 5+ km. That's about 3.5miles... their system of measuring distance. So mah fan. One of the things I've found when I came to NY was this site: MapMyRuns.com. You can search for various run routes at your area. Here's mine:
Well, I can't wait for the weather to spring up.. pun intended. Then I can start wearing my regular shorts and vests, and not have to layer up to run.
That's all for my running so far.
By the way, I would like to extend my congratulations to those who attempted the Ironman Langkawi last month late Feb. Real sports heroes!!
I still hope to be able to do triathlons someday.
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