Day 52: The Jog

Photo of the Day: Conservatory Pond

Today I brought my jogging attire to go for a run in Central Park after work. After all, my 5K is now less than a week away. (By the way, if you want to sponsor me and support cancer research, you can donate here.) It wasn't a very successful training session, however, because I came straight from the office and was forced to haul around my backpack and camera bag the whole time (one of the disadvantages of not having a car where you can store your stuff). In addition, my phone, which I use to track my mileage and time, was acting up, so without any way of knowing how far or long I'd run, I quit prematurely. I'd say I did about a mile, which isn't bad considering the weight on my back, and I wound up taking photos in the park as I strolled out.

I was having a case of the Mondays, so I strolled down to my two pick-me-up standbys: the halal cart and Magnolia Bakery. I hate that I'm spending money so readily, but sometimes it's those little things that you just need to survive. To make matter worse, it started to rain pretty heavily while I was in line in front of the food cart, but fortunately I had the foresight to bring an umbrella with me this morning.

In truth, my workday was actually pretty phenomenal. As part of a leadership series that my office hosts, we had author Courtney Martin come in and speak with us. If the name sounds familiar, it's because I've raved about her latest book Do It Anyway on my blog (see Day 34: The Book). She's an amazing and insightful writer and reporter, and I only barely managed not to geek out in front of her. My boss invited three of us from the external affairs team to have a private lunch with her, which allowed us to ask more nuanced questions before we joined the rest of the organization for a national conference call. She offered great perspective and insight into the collective mindset of the Millennial generation and confirmed a lot of my ideas on how to approach story-based marketing for Taproot. I consider meeting her one of the professional highlights of my year thus far.

Scuplture of José Martí, a Cuban national hero and Latin American literary icon, at the gateway to Central Park at 6th Avenue.

A lonely old lady waiting on a bench in the light of a lamppost.

My fellow joggers (who are much more diligent than I) on the road in Central Park.

The famous Apple store right outside Central Park on 5th Avenue.

My delectable cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. The one on the left is orange flavored, and the one on the right is S'mores flavored.