This weekend was full of inanities and insanities, as usual. Two of Reagan’s good friends from high school came to visit, beginning Thursday. One of them became very ill on Friday and headed home to DC. Reagan’s not-sick friend hung out with us until Saturday afternoon. Friday night, Reagan and Terrah (Reagan’s not-sick friend) came down to the Financial District to meet me after work, for dinner. Then we took a little stroll around the south end of the island. I had a good time practicing taking photos in low light. The shot above is on the top deck, behind the South Street Seaport Mall. The shot below is at the promenade in Battery Park City.

Saturday morning, we rose nice and early to catch the local running A train downtown to Central Park. Reagan and I had a 10k there. Terrah was a great sport, to tag along, and hang on to our bag, so that we didn’t have to check it. She also took some pretty good shots of us. Here we are with our friend Mike Cuomo before the race.

Here is a great shot of Reagan approaching the finish line.

Originally the race was called the “dash and splash” because there was going to be a huge pool party after the race, for all of the runners. Ultimately, it turns out that the pool doesn’t open to the public until July 1, so the race was changed to just “Dash 10K.” We definitely could have used the splash part though. It was 71 degrees and over 60% humidity. Lucky, the majority of the race was overcast. The race staff also had the foresight to provide frozen juice bars in the post finish area. I clocked a 43:11. I was fairly happy with my time, given that I haven’t really had time to run, for about 2 weeks leading up to the race. Now that the Chrysler thing is all wrapped up, I should have a bit more free time to log some miles.

Today started off great. The sun was shining through the curtains, when I woke up. The birds were chirping, etc. I went down to CP to shoot this race before church, and got an email, while I was there, that some stuff was going to be happening at work today.

The race was awesome. I wasn’t too stoked about having to go the rest of the way downtown afterward, to have to spend the rest of the day indoor. The biggest bummer is that a lot of what I’m doing today, involved a waiting around for things to happen. Since I had my camera with me, from this morning. Here are a few shots. The first one is the progress on the new 1 World Trade Center Tower:

The next one, is the view looking north, from one of the conference rooms that I’m working out of.

Not nearly as good as our southern views. But at least looking out this side doesn’t make me feel as bad about being inside today. It would be a different story, if I could see the promenade, and the water.

This weekend ended up being a lot better than I had initially anticipated. There was, of course the race on Saturday morning, which I was expecting to be the highlight of my weekend. I thought this because I was expecting to have to work, for the rest of the weekend. I did spend Saturday afternoon, in the office. But rumors began flying around Saturday night about things being pushed back, for the project that I’m currently working on. Anyway, Sunday morning I got up early and headed down town. I stopped at Central Park along the way, for NYRR Japan Day Race. While I was there, I received an email, stating that things had indeed been pushed back, and that the meetings etc., for Sunday, had also been postponed. I was pretty happy about that. So Reagan and I decided to make a day of it. We headed straight up to see Piper, after I got back. We had a great visit with her. She is really doing great. She tries to stand up, when ever possible. Since I hadn’t seen her on Saturday, Reagan deferred and let me hold her almost the whole visit. I was even able to sneak in a quick nap with PJ. Hahahah.

You can go here, for more photos of our visit with Piper on Sunday.

After the PJ visit, we headed back to the city, and broke out the bikes. We had a great ride, down to Central Park. We relaxed there for a while, then did a loop around the park. Reagan went incognito with her floppy hat and Ray Bans.

Apparently, Reagan wasn’t the only one with this idea, Sunday. Kate Hudson, obviously called Reagan in the morning, to see what she was planning to wear. I do that with the guys at work, some times.

Kate Hudson at the Manhattan Polo Classic

Reag, in her floppy hat

Here are a few more shots from our bike ride.

[Reagan, in front of the great lawn, before the race]

I thought it was great that the benefit for today’s race was for kidney health. Reagan and I were joking the entire time about that scene from 30 Rock this week, where Dr. Spogemen talks about how kidney transplantation is no laughing matter. Today was a weird race. First of all, we normally drive down to these things. But the last couple of times, we have had kind of close calls when it comes to parking. So we decided to take the train down today. As usual, the A line is doing it’s normal weekend shenanigans, so we took the 1 train. I wasn’t sure how much time to allow, so we ended up getting there totally early. It was kind of cool. There were really low clouds. In fact, where the 1 is above ground at 125th, we couldn’t even see half way across the Hudson. We met up with our friend Mike and one of his friends before the race and chatted it up until about 10 minutes before gun time. It was so foggy, I thought that there was no way it would rain. Whoops. As soon as the race started, so did the rain. By mile 3 it was a full on down pour. Then, suddenly, it stopped. So, the last half of the race was like running in a sauna. Everyone was steaming, there was steam coming off of the ground, etc. I am still feeling a bit under the weather, so I was really struggling with breathing on the hills. Of course my Ipod died again, as soon as it became waterlogged. On top of it all, my timing chip died, so my finish wasn’t recorded. Luckily I was wearing my pedometer, so that I could report my time, later. Taking the 1 train home, we saw these guys singing on the train. Reagan took this picture, then danced. Hahahaha

We got Piper all moved in back at Blythedale and everything, today. I’m feeling pretty good about the way this week is coming to an end. Reagan had a girls night tonight, with one of our friends who is moving away. It gave me a chance to get out and skate a bit. It was really nice to just unwind. This time I thought ahead and wore 2 pairs of socks on my pushing foot, to avoid blisters. I didn’t take any pictures of skating, but there was a pretty dramatic sunset while I was skating down Riverside, to get to CP. These shots are on the early side, but you can image how it just got better and better.

I also ran into this little guy. I see raccoons all of the time when we are down skating in the park, but generally they are just hustling across the road and I can’t get the camera out in time. This guy, however, was up for a full on photo shoot. Standing up on the hind legs and everything.

Other kind of awesome stuff about this week/weekend:

1. The Beastie Boys (minus MCA) were on 30 Rock, last night.
2. Reagan and I are running a 10k in the morning for Kidney something or other. We will see our friend Cuomo there, for the first time since he moved back to CT.
3. Stake Conference this weekend which means that church is later and shorter than normal.
4. If I had to make an estimate, I would say that Piper is feeling probably close to 90% herself again.
5. My brother Pete’s birthday is today.
6. My first post for my new paid blogger gig was published this week.

Last night was about as perfect as it can get, when it comes to skating weather. It was high 70′s, breezy and not very much humidity. I skated down Riverside Drive to 96th Street and met up with my friend Bryan Swiss. We rode Central Park Drive from there up around the north end and back for a couple of hours. It was a pretty good time. Here is a vid of one of our runs:

Jake Longboarding in Central Park from Jacob Breinholt on Vimeo.

I probably shouldn’t have set out on 10 mile trek, after no skating in 6 months. I got this nasty blister on my pushing foot, as a reminder. It should add some fun to the marathon, this coming weekend. Blah.

They are all reasons that I am super pumped for the upcoming weekend. First of all, I love Easter. In addition to being a mental marker that spring is actually here, and having heavy Christian religious significance, the best candy of the year is available for purchase. Reagan and I have been warming up for weeks, with the candy eating. We went through an entire bag of Cadbury mini-eggs and a bad of Reese’s Eggs last weekend. I’m hoping that we have been able to condition our GI tracts for the sugar beat-down they are about to receive this weekend.

Second: This weekend kicks off the 2009 MotoGP season. I can’t even freaking wait for this.

Third: NYRR Scotland Run 10k in Central Park, is this Saturday. We have a lot of friends who are also running it. I’m pretty excited about it. I am still trying to put together some kilts for the event. I think they may come together tomorrow night, if the stars are in alignment. Either way, I have created a sticker bearing the McNee family crest (Scottish version), that I will be proudly wearing during the race. Although the majority of my bloodline is of scandinavian origin, I also have ancestry in the McNee Clan through my mother’s grandmother Doris Nay (Nay being an American adaptation of McNee). Let’s hope for some good weather.

Reagan and I had a really great time at our race on Saturday morning. We were both fairly pleased with our times. The photo above is before the race, across the street from where we parked. The angle of the photo was not for artistic effect. It was because of the slope of our hood, on which the camera was sitting for this timer shot. If we don’t really look ready to run a race, in the photo, then it is a pretty accurate reflection of reality. It was a balmy 35 degrees when the race started. On a positive note, there was no wind. The course was one that Reagan and I run frequently in the summer, which I think was a mental advantage for us. What also made the race fun, was seeing several of our friends, after the race, who we didn’t even realize were also going to be running. The race definitely stepped up my spring fever another notch (if that’s possible), and made me excited for the upcoming races this year.

[after philly half marathon 2008]

Tomorrow, Reagan and I will be running an 8k in central park. It is our first race of 2009, and only our 2nd or third that we are ever running together (weird, I know). I’m pretty excited about it. Some of our friends are going to be running it with us. Races in the park are always so pretty, even in the ugly seasons. Depspite my eagerness to get this season of races underway, I’m am a little bit nervous for tomorrow. I can tell that Reagan is too. Last night I was talking to her on the phone and she asked, “Jake, what if I come in last, on Saturday.” Well, I can already say that Reagan won’t come in last, tomorrow. But I definitely am on the same page when it comes to the sentiments that she was expressing. We didn’t really run much at all, over the winter. So far, this year,  even the days that it has been warmer, our workouts have been less than stellar. In one episode, we became separated after going less than 1 mile out, and both ended up going home mad. Hahahaha. Either way, I’m glad to be getting out and getting back after it, tomorrow.