Lisa Bentley 11x IRONMAN Champion
I love New York!
The next stop on our November whirlwind was New York City! Dave and his old bad back had planned a little weekend trip to NYC to celebrate my birthday. And since my birthday happened to fall on the day after American Thanksgiving, it was truly a perfect time to take a bite out of the big apple. But the big question was whether Dave’s new back was ‘too new’ to make the trip. I wanted to postpone it so that Dave could recover properly but Dave insisted.
Naturally, the week of the big trip was crazy busy. We had just returned from Boulder on the Saturday and now, 6 days later, we were going away again. And Dave was not really able to help out around the house since he could not bend, lift or twist for 6 weeks post surgery. So we get to Thursday, the day before the trip, and I get off my computrainer after a long 4 hour session and Dave tells me that Madison is sick. Naturally, we cannot leave my parents with a sick dog, so off we went to the Vet. That night, Maddy got up every hour and continued to be sick. I am exhausted. Dave is exhausted and recovering from surgery. Somewhere in the middle of the night, I begged Dave to change our 8 a.m. flight which meant a 4 a.m. wake up call to get in a mini workout, to walk dogs, to deliver them to mom and dad and to get to the airport. Nope – the flight was on.
Yes, my birthday was memorable – I was in a sleepy daze all day long – I definitely felt old! But I felt loved! At the airport, I was surprised to see my two dear friends from Regina – Doug and Shelley – they had flown in from Regina the night before, stayed in a hotel and then met us at the airport where we all caught the flight to NYC for a weekend of birthday, post Thanksgiving and pre Christmas fun!
New York is such an amazing city. We stayed at the Warwick Hotel – a gorgeous Heritage hotel on the East side and very close to Times Square and Central Park. Our first stop was Manolo Blahnik – not to buy anything – just to say that we were there. The sales staff did not even look at us! We meandered around looking at all the sights. When we stopped for lunch, once again in my dazed stupor, I was shocked to see my closest high school friend and her husband – Mary Lynne and John – they had flown to NYC the night before and were now here for the birthday extravaganza! Being in NYC is a treat enough but being there with my husband and my dear friends – well, that was quite unreal.
We shopped and walked and people watched and laughed all day long. We finished the day with dinner at Nobu – we had eaten there last year when I did an appearance for Cervelo at Cadence New York and Dave wanted to take me back. He had to make reservations a month in advance!
On Saturday, we all ran in Central Park. The weather was amazing. It is one of my favourite running parks. Again we spent the day shopping and walking and I watched Mary Lynne and Shelley haggle for purse knockoffs! We saw a fantastic Broadway musical, Young Frankenstein. It was unbelievable.
Sunday was our rainy day. Another run in Central Park and then we were off to watch Brett Favre and the Jets play in Giant Stadium. It was pouring rain and freezing but you must see Brett Favre whenever you can (and I am married to a sport nut!).
Yes, New York City was amazing! It could become a yearly post race season little trip for us! The Christmas lights were gorgeous. Time Square dazzled. Central Park was my own little running paradise. I must run the NYC marathon one day. There is one for the bucket list!
Lisa Bentley
www.lisabentley.com
