Three Bridges Run – Brooklyn Side

On Sunday I ran with my friend Larry over the 3 bridges that span the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. I say Brooklyn side, since this time we did the bridges in reverse and headed through Brooklyn to the Williamsburg Bridge for our first crossing into Manhattan. We got started around 9:30am and begin the day with a loop through Prospect Park, where we exited onto Grand Army Plaza. From there it was down Flatbush Avenue and onto the NYC Marathon Route through Fort Greene and into Williamsburg. It was supposed to be a cold and windy day, but in actuality it wasn’t so bad. At times it felt positively warm outside, especially when we were running in the sun. When we got into Fort Greene we stopped at McCarren Park for a bathroom/water break. When we came out, the sun had suddenly disappeared and it felt like it dropped 20 degrees. We were only at about 7.5 miles at this point and the rapidly changing weather is what we had to contend with for the remainder of the day. It really wasn’t a problem as long as we kept moving. Otherwise, I tended to get a bit cold when standing still. Once we left McCarren Park, we headed down Bedford Avenue for the Williamsburg Bridge. It was here that I decided to take my first picture of the day. I had brought my camera and asked Larry to take a picture. I am about ½ mile onto the bridge, just before the start of the bridges superstructure/suspension. If you can read the sign you can see that this bridge was completed in 1906. It is hard to believe they built these great structures so long ago. I wanted to take some more pictures once on the center of the Bridge, but felt it was poor form to ask Larry to keep stopping so I could indulge in my picture snapping habit. It was a bit windy running over the Williamsburg Bridge, but the views were fantastic. The run over it took us to the Lower East Side. From there we headed back towards East River. We had a good view of the bridge from there, so we took another picture. Here I am trying to create an action shot. I hope it looks like I am running, though apparently I am heading right for a fence. After this picture, we headed down the east river towards the South Street Seaport and over to the Brooklyn Bridge. We stopped at a street vendor for some refreshments, who asked if we would like a hotdog. I have nothing against dirty water dogs, but not in the middle of a long run. We both got a Gatorade and then sat down on a bench by the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridges pedestrian path. I thought the Woolworth building looked particularly nice today so I asked Larry to take another picture. The building came out great, but I think I look like a dork. We then did our run over the Brooklyn Bridge. The views from here are fantastic, but running the BB is a pain in the ass. It’s just too crowded. Once over the bridge we make a left onto Tillary Street and headed back into Manhattan by way of the south side of the Manhattan Bridge. It made for some excellent hill training. As we ran over it into Chinatown and we wondered if we would see any of the costumes for the Chinese New Year Parade. There was a lot of traffic, but other than that we didn’t see any revelers. We didn’t run for long in Chinatown and just crossed Canal Street for a nice tempo run back into Brooklyn on the North side of the bridge. Once in Brooklyn, we headed back up Flatbush Avenue to Prospect Park. Larry and I were both wearing Polar 625x heart rate monitors which also gives you your distance ran. For some reason my monitor was reading about 1.5 miles greater in distance than Larry’s by this point. When we got back to our starting point in the park, I had just turned 20 miles, while Larry was at 18.2 miles. Larry wanted to turn 20 on his Polar 625x, so I accompanied him for a bonus 1.8 miles. For the record I think my watch was more accurate, so I am going to stick with my total distance on the day being just about 22 miles. Once home, I ate, showered, ate again and then shocked my shin with my TENS Unit. After that I vegged out on my couch and iced my shins for about 40 minutes. My shin felt ok, not great, but not excruciatingly painful. Denial so far is still working out. For some reason, I was feeling a little tired by this point. I was a little concerned with this since 22 miles will have to feel as though it was nothing more than a warm-up at some point. However, I am not feeling tired or sore this morning so perhaps I was just running a little low on energy. My shin was a bit painful today, but nothing too bad. I am still not limping when I walk. Developing a limp will be my litmus test to know I need to back off. In the meantime I am going to relish in my gradually increasing mileage. This week I am scheduled for two 9 milers, a 6 mile and a 24 miler. I am looking forward to them.

NYRR Gridiron Classic

Superbowl Sunday, 2/3/08 What a glorious day to be alive. It was cool, but not cold, clear and sunny with just the hint of a breeze. The perfect day for another running of the NYRR Gridiron Classic; an easy 4 mile run through Central Park. I had planned to once again run to the start, but I woke up too late to do so. But I wasn’t to worry, as I was able to get a lift to the start from my friend Chris (he was also doing the race) who lives next to me and was good enough to give me a ride. I am glad that this is the way it worked out. Instead of running to the start while it was still dark, I got to run home from the race on a beautiful sunny day. Chris dropped me off near the NYRR club and then went to park the car. I went into the club to register for the race and then ran into another friend from my triathlon club on the way out. We ran down to the start together and headed to the Longest Football Throw Competition. This race and competition is held every year on Superbowl Sunday. I wasn’t going to participate in the throw, as I don’t have the best of arms, but after watching a bunch of pathetic throws from other guys, I decided to go for it as mine would be no more pathetic than the others. I made my sad attempt at trying to match the longest throw and then hung around to watch others throw the ball. After a while the competition was over and I headed for the start in hopes of finding and running with my friend Chris. This was impossible as there were just under 5000 other people at this race. I stood up on a road divider to see if I could find him among the masses, but it was to no avail. I was however able to get this cool picture of myself while waiting for the start. As you can see from the picture I lined up pretty far away from the starting line. Usually I line up closer to the 6 minute mile flag, but I knew I wasn’t going to run fast, especially since I still had to run another 10 miles after the race. I took it real easy while running. It’s nice to do a race without putting pressure on myself to do well. You would think that not trying to run your fastest in a race kind of defeats its purpose, however I was really doing the race just as a way to give myself an excuse to run in the city and to build up the 9 races I need to qualify for the 2009 NYC Marathon. Besides, its run to be running amongst 5000 other people. Since I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere during the race, I even stopped in the middle of it to use a port-o-san. I still ran that mile in under 9 minutes. The race was only 4 miles and before I knew it, the race was over. I felt like I was barely warming up when I crossed the finish line. The highlight of the race was running behind a really cute girl with a spectacularly hot ass. She made the unfortunate wardrobe choice of wearing a Patriots jersey and a Red Sox cap, but truth be told I didn’t really mind such was the view. Anyway, after crossing the finish line, I made my way through the finishing crowd, grabbed a cup of water and then made my way out of the park by Columbus Circle. I never run past this area unless I am running late to or from and appointment. On this day I decided to stop and chill out for a while (literally), checked my email and snapped a picture. From there it was over to the West Side Highway for a run down to the Brooklyn Bridge by way of the West Side Greenway. The view of the Hudson River and New Jersey from the greenway was spectacular. It was so calm and clear and the river was flat as a pancake. On a day like this it seemed as though so many more people should be outside. I felt as though I had the path to myself. I stopped a few times to take pictures along the way. I love to memorialize my runs, especially when I am running in places I haven’t run before. I’ve ridden my bike up and down the Westside dozens of times, but I’ve never run it. It path is flat as can be and a nice and easy run. I took a couple of pictures along the way down to Chambers Street, where I made my left turn to head to the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was a lot more crowded and offers the most amazing views of the city. I’ve run/rode over this bridge so many times and I never get tired of the view. Words can’t describe it and pictures just can’t capture it. You need and IMAX camera to take it all in on film. By the time I got off the bridge I was starting to feel a little hungry. I thought of stopping into Juniors to get some cheesecake, but kept going. I wasn’t that far from home at this point and soon made it back to Prospect Park and then a short mile to home. Once home I ate, showered and relaxed. I wanted to be rested for the Superbowl party I was going to later on in the day. I brought to the party a batch Guinness (beer) Chocolate Cupcakes that my wife helped me bake. Yummy. Watching the Giants defeat the Patriots was the perfect way to end a fantastic day.

Manhattan Special

Once again I did the Two Bridges run. While last week I focused my run in pictures around the Brooklyn Bridge, today I decided to pay more attention to the Manhattan Bridge. First up, is a picture of me climbing the north side of the bridge. The picture can’t show it, but the Manhattan Bridge is pretty noisy. There are trains constantly crossing it and it can get really loud. About a third of the way up the span, you get a great view of the Williamsburg Bridge. I'll be running on that bridge soon enough as my runs get longer. I continued off the Manhattan Bridge and was greeted with the delicious smells emanating out of all the kitchens preparing the days lunches and dinners. I was tempted to stop at this particular restaurant serving Peking Duck - Yummy! I then ran down to the water and snapped this great shot of the Manhattan Bridge. I am very happy with how it came out on my camera phone. After that it was back to Brooklyn by way of the first bridge to span the East River. Where I finish my run in my usual stomping ground Prospect Park. I am pretty sure the Peking Ducks from my previous picture are related to the ducks you see here swimming on the lake.

Two Bridges Run

I had a fantastic run today. I decided I was going to do the Two Bridges run, which meant I would run through downtown Brooklyn, over the Manhattan Bridge and then back into Brooklyn by way of the Brooklyn Bridge. I was a breezy and cool, but still well warmer than normal for a day in January. I started the run off with a run through Prospect Park to warm up. I was looking forward to getting out of the park though; since I am getting a little stir crazy being in there all the time. Exiting the park through Grand Army Plaza, I made my way down Flatbush Avenue to the Manhattan Bridge. The MB is a neglected jewel for running. Hardly anyone uses the pedestrian walkway. It a free and clear shot into Manhattan with spectacular views of the Brooklyn Bridge and downtown Manhattan. It is a smooth run, but can be a little noisy and the subway runs right along the side. Every time I run over the bridge I can’t help feeling as though something is missing from the skyline as I cross it. Maybe one day it will look right and whole again. The best part of running over the MB is the view it afford of the Brooklyn Bridge. You can see it from end to end and the boats passing underneath. Once off the bridge it was a quick trip through the sights and smells of Chinatown. It is quite a contrast from the Brooklyn side of the bridge. I quickly ran through Chinatown and felt my stomach rumble as the smell of duck and port wafted out of the kitchens. I bee lined out of there and headed for the East River, down under the FDR drive. As you run along the water, you can see a small beach exposed just under the Brooklyn Bridge. I snapped another photo from here. I would have liked to have posted this one to utterz, but I was getting cold just standing around. Instead I got on the move again and headed back up to the Brooklyn Bridge. Few people remember that the original walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge used to be broken up by staircases on each side. This was changed back when the bridge was renovated back in the 80’s. Now it is a very pleasant by crowded run over a wooden walkway. I took a photo of the suspension cables holding up the bridge. Please excuse my thumb in the bottom left of the picture. The BB, is actually a combination of Suspension and Cable Stay technologies. The combination makes for a beautiful spider web type effect. It is really a very beautiful piece of architecture. Once off the bridge, I just made my same way back to Prospect Park to finish off the run. I was schedule for 12 miles, but decided to do a baker’s dozen. Thinking of a baker’s dozen got me in the mood for bagels, so I stopped and purchased one before I got home. I had it with a schmear of cream cheese and a couple of easy over eggs. So here are the stats for today’s run: 13.1 miles in 1:58:56. Avg/Max HR: 149/159 Ascent 600 feet.