Frickin' Fabulous at 40: Ran the Damon Runyon 5k at Yankee Stadium!!!

We did it! We started out our day before 6am to catch a 7:40am LIRR train into Manhattan and then the subway up to the Bronx. We were backpacking it because there's a regulation on bag-size in the stadium, so we had all we needed for 4 people for 3 days in 3 backpacks. We got to the stadium by 10am and with some confusion and running around, we got the kids to the skybox to watch us run the warning track, and we got on line, waiting for our heat to be called.

waiting on line to start!

We ran at around 11:30am and it was a bit hot and humid, but not a cloud in the sky! I ran without gum, my iPod and my sweatmop! We started out very slow because the course was pretty tight (the concourses, ramps and stairwells of the stadium) and we couldn't get around anybody. (I felt like Ferris' dad in the scene where he's trying to get home and the old lady is driving at a snail's pace in front of him, waving his arms like an air-traffic controller to coax her out of the way!) The warning track laps were towards the end of the 1st mile and it was amazing! Running past the field, bullpen and dugout was surreal, and then to look up into the stands and see our kids cheering us on was priceless. We crossed the finish line in the Great Hall at 37:33 (more than 5 minutes slower than my personal best) and were handed medals! My first race medal! We grabbed our t-shirts and swag (nice tote bags!) and found the kids up in the Delta 360* Skybox to watch others run the track.

My husband Charlie and I on the warning track!

After the run we found our hotel in SoHo and got ready for our night out. Our first stop was Jacques Torres Chocolates, an amazing chocolate shop where we saw Morgan Freeman! LOVED him in 'Seven!' Next was dinner at Ninja New York, a restaurant featured on the Travel Channel's 'Most Extreme Restaurants.' It was sort of a theme restaurant set in an 1800's ninja castle with the wait-staff acting like ninjas, surprising you and pulling knives on people. Fun. Good food. $$$$!!!

$1.60/piece- nibbled like a squirrel on mine (the one with grapes on it- dark chocolate complemented by fine red wine)

Morgan Freeman enjoying the shop as well!

While walking back to our hotel I made us stop at Wooster Street Social Club, the tattoo shop where TLC's 'NY Ink' is filmed, and we got to see Ami James, owner of this shop and the shop that the show 'Miami Ink' is based on, giving a girl her 1st tattoo, on her HEAL! I asked her if it hurt, since I want one badly but my husband prefers I not get one. We'll see.

Ami James of 'NY Ink' and 'Miami Ink'

The next day we set out for the Today Show in Rockefeller Center and of course Al was off for the day. There were no big celebrities on (Kate Gosselin was there but of course she didn't come out to see us) but I did have a short conversation with Ann about her killer Louboutin shoes!

Ann Curry's gorgeous shoes!

After the Today Show the kids enjoyed browsing Nintendo World, where you can buy anything and everything Nintendo-related. After that we headed over to Grand Central Station. It is gorgeous. Then we went to the New York Public Library, another beautiful structure, inside and out. I got some great shots of the stairwell that is featured in the first "Sex and the City' movie. (If you haven't noticed, I'm a HUGE film buff and I love to see where things were actually filmed!)

the famous clock at Grand Central Station

NY Public Library

Wow, I'm just half-way through the day! I dragged my poor family everywhere! After the library we went to Bryant Park, probably my son's new favorite place. We got to sit around and watch people on their lunch break enjoy the beautiful weather. There's people playing chess, ping pong and some game called Petanque, a French game which looked a lot like Bocce. On the way we also explored HighLine Park, a park built on an old elevated freight train track. Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Les Halles Downtown, the restaurant where Anthony Bourdain used to be Executive Chef. On the way downtown we stopped at Ground Zero to see the progress being made. Can not believe it will be 10 years since that horrific day.

Rebuilding World Trade Center

Dinner was delicious- I had the boeuf bourguignon, which was good, but not as good as when I make it out of Julia Child's cookbook! The pommes frites were amazing, though.

my boeuf bourguignon at Les Halles

On Tuesday morning, my husband and I checked out the hotel gym. I ran a couple of miles, which I don't think was very wise considering we ran the 5k and then walked all over Manhattan for 2 days. There were a couple of hours to spare before we had to check out of our hotel so we hung out at Washington Square Park and people-watched. Then it was back to the hotel to check out.

Washington Square park

We walked up to where we would need to get the subway up to Yankee Stadium. It was below the Manhattan Mall, so we did a lot of window shopping and enjoyed some drinks while sitting and talking. Then the skies opened up. We weren't sure if the game was going to be called, but we decided to make the trek up to the Bronx, seeing that the trip already cost an arm and a leg, what was another $20 on the subway going to hurt?

We arrived and it looked like a monsoon! We ran into the Hard Rock Cafe, which is in Yankee Stadium, figuring that would be the best place to stay updated on the game situation. My son thinks that was the best meal he ate in Manhattan. All he had was a burger! While eating dinner the rain started to let up. We went up to the museum to check it out and it's filled with all sorts of memorabilia. It was the first day that Jeter's jersey from the game he hit his 3000th was on display. That was a nice bonus for my husband since he was working that day and I kept calling him with updates.

Charlie and Jeter's jersey he wore when he hit his 3000th

The sky cleared and the game was played. It was a great game, but the Yankees wound up losing 6-4. So, it was back to the subway station to Penn Station to catch a train back home to Long Island. Of course things couldn't go smoothly. There was a medical emergency and the train was stopped a couple of stops from where we had to get off. So, we walked another mile or so to Penn! It actually was pretty cool walking through Times Square at midnight! NYC truly is the city that never sleeps! We made the 12:16am train by the skin of our teeth and pulled into our driveway at 2:30am. It was an exhausting trip, but the experiences we priceless. SO ready to do it ALL again next year!!