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A Running Tour of NYC

Our time in NYC is getting short now. We had our going-away party last night. The movers are coming next Friday; Elizabeth and Charlie are headed to LA Saturday and I’ll be following a few days later.

I woke up yesterday to an absolutely beautiful winter morning – cold, definitely, but sunny with bright, crystal clear skies and not much wind. A perfect February morning for a run. My weekly long runs have been getting longer and yesterday I was scheduled to run for 2:05, my longest run since last summer. Realizing that this would be one of my last long runs before the move, I wanted to make it a memorable one. One of my favorite runs is down through Chinatown, across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Brooklyn. I first starting doing this run with my friend Ron and I thank him for introducing me to it. Chinatown is like an obstacle course, with shoppers and merchants and tourists and delivery trucks and bikes all jockeying for space on crowded streets and sidewalks. The smells are wild and it feels like every group of people is speaking a different language. Running through Chinatown can be frustrating, but the madness only really lasts for a few blocks and it feels like a very New York experience. As I’ve written before, the views from the Brooklyn Bridge on a clear day are some of the best in the City. The skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan, the South Street Seaport, the Statue of Liberty in the harbor, the Brooklyn waterfront and Staten Island in the distance. You can look up and down the East River and see all over the City.

Yesterday morning as I got into Chinatown, I decided to mix it up a bit and cross into Brooklyn on the Manhattan Bridge instead of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Manhattan Bridge isn’t nearly as attractive to cross as the Brooklyn Bridge – it’s got a small path and the views aren’t as nice, but even though I’d walked across it before, I’d never run across it. I figured I’d take the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan. While I was crossing, I realized that I’ve never run – or walked – across the Williamsburg Bridge, the third Manhattan-Brooklyn crossing. So, I decided that I’d cross the Manhattan Bridge, run a little in Brooklyn, come back on the Brooklyn Bridge, run along the East River to the Williamsburg Bridge and cross back into Brooklyn (in the picture above, from left to right as you follow the river, it’s Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg). And that’s what I did.

As I hoped, it was a perfect day for being on the Brooklyn Bridge – the views were amazing. The only problem with the Brooklyn Bridge is that it gets very congested. The path is wide enough, but there are some dangers, such as tourists who walk 4 abreast or stop abruptly for a picture and the maniac cyclists who roar across the Bridge assuming that pedestrians will clear out of “their” lane. I’m also glad I decided to run The Williamsburg Bridge before leaving town. It’s different than running either of the other two. I think it’s only slightly longer than either of the other two, but the distance from the entrance to the path in Manhattan to the point that you’re actually over the East River feels really far – much longer than the approaches on either other bridge. Also, I think it’s a steeper climb. The views aren’t as great as the Brooklyn Bridge, but the path is wide and it’s considerably less crowded. I ran into Williamsburg and around a little bit before heading back across the bridge, back into Manhattan and circuitously towards home. It was a really nice first (and probably last, for now) crossing on the Williamsburg Bridge.

By crossing the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges yesterday, I’ve run across all but one of the major NYC bridge crossings – Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro/59th St (during the Marathon), George Washington, Verrazano Narrows (during the Marathon). The only one I’ve missed is the Triborough. That’s something of a NYC running accomplishment.

My body handled the long run well – my knee and back felt OK, not pain free, but closer than they’ve been in a while. It was a hard run though – 2 hours was a long time to be out there. Running Boston is going to be a major challenge at this point. But there’s no reason to turn back now!

Treadmill Run – February 18
Distance: 3.8 mile run
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 152

Swim – February 19
Distance: 2,400 yards
Time: 51 minutes

Treadmill run/walk – February 19
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 45 minutes (10 min. walk warm-up; 7 x 4 min. run, 1 min. walk)
Average heart rate:

Run/Walk – February 21
Distance: 14 miles
Time: 2:15 (10 min. walk warm-up; 21 x 5 min. run, 1 min. walk)
Average heart rate: 143
Course: Lower Manhattan, Bridges
Conditions: Beautiful sunny, mid/high-30’s

Indoor Bike – February 22
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 114