Bad Idea: a Hot, Hot, Hot Long Run

This weekend was hot! Okay, that's not much of a revelation to anyone (yours truly included) but it didn't make it any easier to cope with the high temps. After a dismal 4-mile race on Saturday (nearly 2 minutes off my PR) I tried to log some extra miles with teammates in the hopes that I could get my long run out of the way. Unfortunately, that plan proved to be a bit too ambitious and I called it quits after 5 extra miles. That meant Sunday was long run day.

The Shelter Pavilion

I need one day a week to sleep in and thanks to my race Saturday wasn't that day. That meant that instead of getting a jump on my Sunday run I let myself lay in bed until 9am. By the time I was ready to head out the door it was almost 10am. In the winter starting a run a little later can be a good thing, but in the summer it's asking for trouble. Almost immediately I could feel the heat sapping me of energy.

I had a great course planned, along the East River, then over to Randall's Island to take the Triboro Bridge to Queens. In Queens I ran along the water heading south to the Pulaski Bridge. This first half of my run was very much familiar territory--I've done that route at least a dozen times before--but it was a struggle. I kept drinking water but I also felt parched.

As I made my way into Brooklyn my spirits picked up a little. There I'd plotted a new course that took me by the Newton Creek waste water treatment plant (cooler looking than it sounds) and McGolrick Park--a beautiful spot with several monuments and the landmarked classical Shelter Pavilion.* That was definitely the highlight of the run. After that, it felt more like a death march to the finish.

For the final miles I followed part of the New York City marathon course in reverse (which reminds me--I will have a bit of news for you readers later this week) before making a slight detour to finish at one of my favorite places: Bergen Bagels. The everything bagel I got made the subway ride home tolerable but I was wiped out. The moral of the story? Start your long runs early! An afternoon nap and an earlier start would have been a lot better than running in that heat!
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* The park also had a surprisingly large farmers market that runs through November. I'm definitely going to try and come check it out sometime when I'm not running and can actually carry some gooseberries home.

Dumb Ideas: Running the Brooklyn Bridge at Lunchtime

Yesterday I decided to go for a lunchtime run. Things aren't super busy this week at work and the extra hour or more of sleep that I get when I don't run in the morning sounded nice. All would have gone well but I overlooked one crucial fact--as soon as the weather turns nice, the Brooklyn Bridge walkway turns into a clusterf***.

Photo credit: Streetsblog.org

While the iconic bridge offers some of the best views in the city and is tantalizingly close to my office, it is no place to run at lunchtime on a nice day. Early morning? Okay. Raining outside? Should be fine. Warm and sunny? You'd have better luck traversing the seventh circle of hell. Of the three East River bridges that connect Brooklyn to Manhattan none draw tourists like the Brooklyn Bridge which unfortunately happens to have the narrowest walkway. It's divided by a white line between bikers and walkers, but few tourists manage to stay inside the line. I'm hardly the first person to document this phenomena (check out Vincent Mounier's post from last year for some great photos on the subject).

I have nothing against these tourists but the moral of the story is clear: if you want to quickly traverse the East River during peak hours, you are better off going north to the unloved Manhattan Bridge. The extra distance is more than made up by the time you save dodging oblivious tourists and the occasional angry biker. I think I'll save the Brooklyn Bridge for my crack of dawn commute runs from now on.
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Yesterday's Run: 5.2 miles at 7:48 pace.

The Joys of a Brooklyn Bridge Run

Yesterday you learned that I am a teeny bit competitive. Well, today it's time for another confession: I've got a huge thing for bridges. Suspension bridges, drawbridges, cantilever bridges, lift bridges, you name it. I probably would have put "bridge" in the title of this blog if there weren't so many other similar running blog titles out there.

Now I just happen to be in luck because New York City has 2,027 bridges (makes sense when you have more than three dozen islands). The point is that quite a few of my runs involve bridges. I try not to play favorites but certain bridges get a lot more attention from me. One that surprisingly doesn't is the Brooklyn Bridge.

What?!? No love for the Brooklyn Bridge? No, it isn't that. It's that there's too much love for this beautiful bridge. On the weekends it's swamped with tourists who congregate on the Manhattan side of the walkway to take pictures and block the path. Because I don't like fight with all these gawkers, I usually opt for the Manhattan Bridge if I'm downtown and need to cross the East River.

Today, however, I did another commute run--a 15 miler--and had the luxury of being downtown early on a weekday. I was also coming from the Brooklyn side which can also make a difference. Sure, it's the "Brooklyn" Bridge, but a lot of folks who come to see it never make it to the other side, much to the chagrin of Marty Markowitz.

As I ran across the bridge this morning, I slowed down and looked up. Watching the beautiful cables climb up to the towers, each stone monument crowned by a flapping American flag, it's hard not be awed. I know I certainly was. I might have to start reintroducing this bridge back into my runs.

Running for Lunch

In case you can't tell, I'm still getting used to being part of the working world, at least the 9 to 5 working world. I finished grad school back in May and spent the summer working at a bakery in Seattle so this is my first foray into the "real word" of the 9 to 5 office job.

Photo credit: thelowdownny.com

Lunch time is kind of weird. Some days I have so much work to do that I feel guilty leaving my desk (so I don't). Other days, I may not be as busy, but I feel too tired to go anywhere other than our cafeteria. The point is, lunch doesn't tend to be that exciting. Well, inspired by my first running commute, I decided to try something new today: the lunch-time run!

Instead of heading to the cafeteria today I headed to the locker room and suited up--or suited down? Anyway, I managed to get in a decent 5 mile run along the East River. It was a little windy but the temps were good and best of all I got to do the whole run in sunlight! (It's funny how much I appreciate that now, but it really makes a world of difference). There were plenty of other folks out enjoying the weather on their lunch hour (and one jerk smoking a cheap cigar in the middle of the bike path).

When I got back from the run I ate at my desk while working to make up for lost time but I felt a lot more focused the rest of the day. I'm not sure I'll have time to do any sort of regular lunch run regime, but I will definitely be adding this to my occasional running repertoire.

The Two Legged Commute

Today my schedule called for a 14 miler which meant getting up really early and struggling to stay awake at work--at least, that's what it usually would have meant. For the first time since this summer, I decided to make my run my commute. We have showers and a locker room at work which turns out to be a huge plus. Yesterday, I brought an extra set of work clothes and a towel with me and left it at the office overnight. That meant this morning all I really had to carry was my ID badge. The best part of this strategy is that it let me sleep in a full 45 minutes later! I felt almost guilty when my alarm finally went off: Am I cheating the system?

Photo Credit: Jessica Krause Smith

If I were to run the most direct route to my work it would only be about 9 miles so I had to be creative. to get those extra miles. I ran through Central Park (have you notice a lot of my runs involve Olmsted and Vaux?) and over 60th to the Queensboro Bridge and into Queens. By the time I got to the bridge, I could see the sun rising over Long Island City. I made my way to Vernon Blvd which runs along the East River and was amazed at how many people were out and about. There's a ConEd plant here and many taxi garages so it makes sense there was so much activity, but on weekends when I usually here this stretch is often deserted.

I crossed into Brooklyn over the Pulaski Bridge (the halfway point in the New York City Marathon) and turned onto Eagle and then Franklin. I don't usually run on Franklin so it was a nice change of scenery to pass all the cafes and shops that line the rapidly changing street. I continued onto Kent, this whole time running along the East River, watching the Williamsburg Bridge get closer and closer, passing new condo after new condo. By now it was actually light outside! Who knew you could run in the sunlight on a weekday? When I made the turn onto the Williamsburg Bridge pedestrian path I could feel the 9+ miles I'd already run in my legs. Still, seeing lower Manhattan in the early morning sun was more than enough to make up for any minor soreness.

The rest of my run took me along the East River and underneath the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges before turning into the Financial District and ending at work. It was a perfect day for a run and I plan on doing the whole commute-on-foot thing again soon!

Do any of you ever run to or from work? Let me know in the comments.

Below the jump there's a map of my route.

Wind and sun, or an impromptu long run.

I had a 15 mile long run scheduled for this weekend. With the weather sunny and (relatively) warm, I decided yesterday was the perfect day for it. Often times I map my long runs out before hand but yesterday I opted to improvise.

I set out heading south along the East River Esplanade. There were plenty of folks out taking advantage of the weather (and the reopened path). I went over the Queensboro Bridge and circled back to Vernon Ave along the waterfront. I always enjoy running through Hunter's Point but I'm always tempted to stop for a bite to eat and a cup of coffee--one of my favorite coffee shops in the city is here (Sweetleaf).

I headed over the Pulaski Bridge (which still has the 13.1 and 13 mile marks from the marathon painted on it) into Greenpoint. I like running along the more industrial West St instead of along Franklin or Manhattan which are both busier commercial strips.

I continued on Kent along the Williamsburg waterfront eventually making it to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. If you've never been to the Navy Yard before, it's home to one of the eeriest and most fascinating set of buildings, Admiral's Row. Unfortunately, the city is going to begin demolition of these buildings tomorrow so you may be out of time.

After stopping to gaze at the soon to-be razed buildings, I continued into Vinegar Hill and made my way to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Then I continued on to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (technically it's an esplanade!). At this point I knew I had done at least 15 miles, probably more, but I didn't feel like stopping. I made my way to the Manhattan Bridge (always much less crowded than the Brooklyn Bridge) and crossed over on the northern path.

Once back in Manhattan I made my way down the Allen Street bike path to the East River Park. The city has been working on improving this park too and it's still a work in progress. I made my way to Battery Park and then turned north on Greenwich. I now had a destination--Whole Foods TriBeCa. My run took me past the work in progress at the World Trade Center site--it's truly inspiring to see up close! Finally I made it to Whole Foods, 20 miles done!

Here's the map:





After the run I met my roommate at Curly's Lunch on 14th Street. This vegan and vegetarian restaurant is a great post-run spot! I gorged on their vegetarian Philly "cheesesteak" and fries. All that greesy goodness made the run worthwhile (though it probably undid some of the run's beneficial effects.

Marathon Training Day #1, or how I welcomed the reopening of the East River Esplanade

In 2010, I ran my first Boston Marathon using an 18 week plan (I modified Hal Higdon’s Advanced II schedule). The following year, I used another 18 week schedule (Peter Pfitzinger’s 18/70). Were I using an 18 week schedule this time around, I would 6 weeks into marathon training by now. However, because I had he Houston Half on tap this year, I decided to concentrate on training for that during December. That means I’m trying a 12 marathon schedule for the first time. I think I’ve got a pretty good base–40 to 50 miles a week with weekend long runs of 13 to 16 miles–so I’m hoping to arrive in Hopkinton ready to go.

Officially, this marathon cycle kicked off yesterday, but Mondays are rest days in the Pfitz program (I’m using his 12/70 plan) so today was my first “real” day. The plan called for 11 miles but after Sunday’s 2+ loop of Central Park, I wanted something less repetitive. Thankfully, the East Side Esplanade has reopened in the E 70s so I ran south through Central Park, along 60th to the East River, and was able to enjoy the uninterrupted waterfront path all the way to 120th St.

It’s hard to believe it, but  path has been closed for more than a year while they put up a new pedestrian bridge at E 78th St. While I doubt I’ll be using that bridge much, it definitely is great to see the City investing in pedestrian improvements. It seems like every year waterfront access gets better. Now if they could only do something about that pesky stretch from 34th to 59th…

Note: This entry was originally posted January 24, 2012.