Good middle of the week morning (AKA Wednesday).
I have been running for more than three decades now and over that time I have developed a love-hate relationship with the sport. I started back in my college days after putting on the dreaded freshman 15, which, on a small 5-foot-nothing frame, is a considerable amount.
It was my dad who got me into running. He played a lot of tennis and racketball to stay in shape, but also did some running and once, to mark his 40th birthday, ran up to Mohonk’s Skytop tower. I have fond memories of going to the SUNY New Paltz track with him when I was first getting into running, but eventually – and not surprisingly, given my Type A+ tendencies – I outgrew running in circles and branched out into ever longer distances.
Since those early days I have run countless miles. I have competed in races both short and long – from ultras and marathons to too many 5Ks to count. I have dabbled in triathlon and also in long-distance hiking and rucking, which isn’t running, but is sort of running adjacent.
I was never a terribly fast runner, and as I have aged I have become steadily slower. Rare is the run over, say, 8 miles or so that I don’t stop for periods of walking. I am trying to be zen about this and focus on the blessing that is being able to move my body and be outside (indoor running is just torture, plain and simple, and I have done far too much of it this rainy spring).
Some days that goes better than others.
There’s a lot of debate out there as to whether running or walking is better for you. Certainly running burns more calories in a shorter period of time, but it can be hard on the joints. (Side note: This is where weight training can really come in handy, because I have all but fixed my wonky knees by strengthening the muscles around the joints).
All that pounding does have some benefit, however, when it comes to building bone density, which is particularly important for women as they age.
At the end of the day, most experts agree that doing SOMETHING to get the recommended 150 minutes of weekly exercise is better than nothing at all. So if walking is your jam, go for it, but maybe try adding some poles, a weight vest, or hills for added resistance/challenge.
If you’ve been thinking about dabbling in running, though, or taking your walking routine up a notch, perhaps consider doing so in honor of Global Running Day, which started back in 2009 as National Running Day here in the U.S. The event, held annually on the first Wednesday in June, went global seven years later (in 2016), with more than 2.5 million people in 177 countries pledging to run a collective 9.2 million miles.
As the New York Road Runners rightly said: “t doesn’t matter how fast you run or how far you go. The important thing is that you get out, have fun being active, and inspire others to join you!”
This would be an amazing day to get some outdoor miles in, though if you’re heat sensitive, you might consider going a little earlier in the day. Things are going to get HOT ’round here, with temperatures soaring into the high 80s. HELLO SUMMER!! There will be a few clouds in the sky in the morning, but it will be mostly sunny – albeit a little hazy – later in the day.
In the headlines…
Elon Musk lashed out against the far-reaching Republican bill intended to enact President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, posting on X that it was a “disgusting abomination” and telling House members who voted for it: “You know you did wrong.”
The tech billionaire criticized the bill, one of Trump’s top priorities, in a series of about 10 posts, resharing commentary from lawmakers like Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, who sided with him in opposing the rising U.S. deficit.
Several White House officials said they were caught off guard by the harsh remarks. While Musk’s sentiments on the bill were no secret to senior staff in the West Wing, they weren’t expecting him to take such a strong public stance.
Musk and Trump reportedly remain friends and allies, but Trump was said to be somewhat irked by Musk’s social media sabotage.
The White House formally asked Congress to claw back more than $9 billion in federal funds that lawmakers had already approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting, seeking to codify spending cuts put forward by Musk’s DOGE.
Congressional Republican leaders in a night joint statement confirmed they had received Trump’s recessions request to revoke $8.3 billion in funding for foreign assistance, from USAID and the African Development Foundation, and $1.1 billion from the CPB.
Global economic growth is expected to take a hit, in part as a result of Trump’s tariffs, if major nations remain mired in unresolved trade disputes, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report released yesterday.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports doubled today, as Trump continued to ratchet up levies on foreign metals that he claims will help revitalize American steel mills and aluminum smelters.
The White House called the increased tariffs, which rose to 50 percent from 25 percent just after midnight Eastern time, a matter of addressing “trade practices that undermine national security.”
The UK has been temporarily spared from Trump’s executive order doubling steel and aluminum tariffs from 25% to 50%.
The U.S.-China trade conflict is quickly morphing into a fight over global supply chains, as the two nations limit the sharing of critical technologies that could have lasting consequences for scores of industries.
The Trump administration announced that it had revoked a Biden administration requirement that hospitals provide emergency abortions to women whose health is in peril, including in states where abortion is restricted or banned.
The move by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was not a surprise, but added to confusion around emergency care and abortions since June 2022, when the Supreme Court rescinded the national right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade.
The move prompted concerns from some doctors and abortion rights advocates that women will not get emergency abortions in states with strict bans.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is suing New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor over his arrest last month on charges of trespassing at a federal immigration detention center, arguing he was targeted out of political malice.
Baraka, also a candidate in the Democratic primary for New Jersey governor, is seeking monetary damages from acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for false arrest, malicious prosecution and defamation over the charges, which were later dropped.
A challenge to a New York law that permits abortion at any stage of pregnancy was rejected by the Second Circuit this week, with the court holding that a social worker can’t bring a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all the viable fetuses in the state.
Trees in New York’s only national forest could be cut down at an accelerated rate under an order by Trump to increase timber production in national forests by 25 percent.
Almost immediately after Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado posted his gubernatorial campaign launch video on social media, endorsements came pouring in. Not for him, though. Instead, Democratic elected officials raced to support Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Some establishment Democrats called for Delgado to resign. “He shouldn’t be on the payroll of the employer he opposes,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards told The NY Post.
Federal investigators are reportedly probing Hochul’s troubled consolidation of a popular $9 billion Medicaid homecare program, CDPAP.
Rep. Elise Stefanik called Staten Island “Trump Country” ahead of a fiery speech to local Republicans as she eyes a 2026 run against Hochul.
Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman refused to nominate anyone to Nassau University Medical Center’s board — saying in a surprise announcement that he was protesting Hochul’s “illegal” takeover of the hospital.
For decades, state law has prohibited nearly all service stations in New York from equipping fuel nozzles with a clip that allows hands-free gas dispensing. That could finally change.
New York City transportation officials are joining elected leaders and other New Yorkers in urging the state to require devices known as speed limiters in the cars of some of the region’s most reckless drivers.
Advocates for reforming laws governing the sale of alcohol this year, including wine in supermarkets, are running out of time as the state Legislature looks to wrap up its 2025 session next week while several alcohol-related bills remain in committee.
More than 25,000 residents of cooperative apartment buildings in New York are fighting to change the terms of decades-long leases as many of them approach their expiration dates.
The first New York City Democratic mayoral primary debate will be held tonight, with nine candidates squaring off for the first time. Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an Independent, will not participate.
In New York, Andrew Cuomo’s comeback after resigning in disgrace could end up taking less than four years – with a scandal-plagued incumbent mayor, a disorganized left wing and a feeling that the city is on the brink paving the way.
Common Cause New York filed a complaint with the city CFB, alleging consulting services provided by Tusk Strategies to the Cuomo campaign amount to thousands of dollars of in-kind contributions well above the city’s stringent limits.
Cuomo brazenly flip-flopped on congestion pricing yet again, saying he now supports the Manhattan toll program he initially fought for – after last year calling for it to be paused.
Cuomo vowed to lead the fight against Trump, but bizarrely pledged to “spend eight years in Washington” in a bid to help Democrats retake the House.
Cuomo had egg on his face after he scrambled the name of New York City’s iconic bacon, egg and cheese sandwich during a head-scratching Q&A with the New York Times.
Two more TV ads in the mayoral race hit the airwaves: Cuomo used his spot to highlight his credentials. Whitney Tilson, a former hedge-fund executive trailing badly in the polls, used his to attack Mamdani, in a preview of his likely debate strategy.
Mamdani ripped conservative City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino for suggesting he should be deported from the U.S. for his political views, calling her comment “a reflection” of how Trump has emboldened “extremists.”
“Death threats. Islamophobic bigotry. Now a sitting council member calling for my deportation. Enough,” Mamdani wrote on social media. “This is what Trump and his sycophants have wrought.”
“Let’s just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn’t even been a U.S. citizen for 10 years — much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we’ve ever been about,” Paladino wrote on X. “Deport.”
New York City police unions will not endorse in the increasingly heated Democratic mayoral primary — but all signs point to incumbent Mayor Adams getting the nod from the massive cop coalition come the general election.
Adrienne Adams, the speaker of the New York City Council, entered the mayor’s race later than her rivals, but she is trying to prove in the final weeks of the campaign that she has the experience and temperament to become the city’s first female mayor.
A top aide on Scott Stringer’s campaign recently sent out misleading text message blasts to voters instructing them it’s “prohibited” to put “multiple selections” on their Democratic mayoral primary ballots, according to screengrabs obtained by the Daily News.
Uber’s super PAC could face fines ranging in the thousands of dollars for failing to disclose it sent out mailers to hundreds of Manhattanites urging them to support New York City Council Member Julie Menin’s reelection bid.
The temporary restraining order barring the Adams administration from allowing federal immigration authorities to reestablish offices on Rikers Island has been extended for another week while a state judge further considers a preliminary injunction.
The New York City Council urged a judge to block federal law enforcement officials — including the Department of Homeland Security — from working on Rikers Island at a hearing in a Lower Manhattan courtroom yesterday.
Youth violence has skyrocketed in the Big Apple over the last few years, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, as she placed the blame on the state’s contentious “Raise the Age” law.
Officials with the federal EPA have admonished their workers not to interfere with arrests by immigration officers in a Manhattan building where it has offices, underscoring tension among federal employees as Trump escalates his crackdown on immigrants.
Brooklyn community leaders and elected officials say the state’s economic development arm had no right to waive millions in monthly penalties over a developer’s failure to complete affordable housing at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards complex.
A Bronx Defenders report finds that ACS treats Black and Latino families more punitively than white parents, rushes to judge their parenting decisions and violates its own rules, sometimes separating children from parents without required judicial approval.
New York City Schools are off tomorrow to observe Eid al-Adha — but the religious holiday doesn’t actually begin until sundown tomorrow night into Friday, angering Muslims and confusing other educators.
New Yorkers rate the Big Apple’s quality of life — on issues like public safety, cleanliness and mass transit — significantly worse than the pre-pandemic times and just slightly better than two years ago, a CBC survey of more than 1,700 residents found.
A lawyer for Harvey Weinstein delivered his closing argument in the second New York sex crimes trial of the disgraced Hollywood producer, saying that his client — and not the three women who accused him of attacking them — was the true victim in the case.
New York City should brace for poor air quality and a hazy sky today, but the less-than-stellar conditions can’t all be blamed on the ongoing Canadian wildfires raging up north.
Officials in Orange County are snubbing the NYPD, saying they won’t take on any cops who want to transfer out of the nation’s largest and best-trained police force — because the department’s reduced recruitment standards aren’t up to snuff for them.
The U.S. Navy is planning to rename several ships that were named in honor of civil rights figures including gay rights activist — and University at Albany graduate — Harvey Milk.
Writing that the allegations “simply do not give rise to the crime of official misconduct,” city Judge Jeffrey Wait dismissed the misdemeanor charge that had been filed against the former Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub.
The founder and board president of one of two charter schools being proposed in the city, as well as the Schenectady teachers’ union president, were among four people who spoke during Monday’s public hearing held by the city school district on the matter.
After leading a private college that increased enrollment by 30% – Hilbert College, outside of Buffalo – Michael Brophy has been tapped to run Hudson Valley Community College.
For the first time in its 80-year history, Stewart’s Shops will have a president from outside the Dake family.
SUNY Schenectady has joined the enhanced air traffic-collegiate training initiative, thanks to a new simulator that led the Federal Aviation Administration to certify that the program is the equivalent to the FAA’s own training course.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
