ou might have heard that we’ve been having a crazy heat wave and record temperatures around here… So, OF COURSE, after Saturday’s hot pikermi, I would go up to Rockefeller State Park Preserve with some team members for a “few hours” of trail running. That was as much as I knew about what was about to happen. This park is about 30 miles N of NYC:

There were a total of 8 of us, but I only knew one of them. We were split in two cars, so after I sat down, we picked up the last girl. During our conversation on the ride there, she goes –where are you from?– Argentina –I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!. My secret MsRitz identity was out!! The two guys in the front were a little surprised (We have a celebrity in the car!!! Are you going to blog about this???). Strange and pretty INTENSE. 
There’s nowhere to hide now. I felt bad for Angelina Jolie. It’s probably the exact same thing, riiiight?
But they were all very normal and nice and we had an amazing time up there. The park doesn’t have any water fountains or ANYTHING, so we had to carry everything we would need. I had 3 bottles of Gatorade that were all empty after one hour! Two were stuck in the back of my bra, yes, it really works, and I had frozen the G overnight so I felt a nice constant dripping in my back: heaven!

Most of the trails were really dense and shaded, the trees were tall, lots of birds, it smelled of delicious nature, and there some intense inclines. Weirdly enough: no bugs. We all loved it, there’s us, the sweaty people:

For a little bit I dreamed about moving there. Then I dreamed of an ice bath and realized I had used up all my ice the day before!! GGRRR. My first 6 miles were fine, the other 7 got a little rougher. I was tired and by the last two I had to walk some of the inclines, even the downhills. We ended up doing 13 miles, with major help from a map. It’s very easy to get lost there:



As much trail running as I do, I had never been in such a dense “forest”. I really liked it. I might have to plot a way to get up there for my long runs, or make friends with people in the area. It was just so GORGEOUS, and quiet. At some point we were running right by the Hudson (and trying to jump), see it in the back?

As soon as we got back to the cars, I knew I needed my flips flops urgently. Hot weather + two big runs two days in a row = blisters.

We had a picnic after the run (thanks Jeff, you’re the man!). A little bit after, I felt nauseous, dizzy, and had a thumping headache. JohannaTS’s blog saved me. Two glasses of Gatorade a nap later I was fine. Dead tired but fine.

My feet, that’s another story… I might really need to move to a place with more trails like this SOON. Oregon, maybe?? Ah, one day!!