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NYC Waterfalls!

Yesterday morning New York City Waterfalls, the City’s newest public art “show” opened in the East River. Essentially, a Swedish artist created four massive “waterfalls” that suck water up from the river and cascade it back down. The tallest one is 120 feet tall. I’d been reading about it for a while and seen some renderings and even saw the scaffolding for one of them the other week when I was running on the East Side. There’s an article in the Times here.

Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for my long run, I heard on the radio that the waterfalls were now officially “on” so I decided to run that way (and across the Brooklyn Bridge) to check them out. I saw the one at Pier 35 while crossing over the Brooklyn Bridge and the one under the Brooklyn Bridge (pictured above) while crossing back to Manhattan on the Manhattan Bridge. I guess they’re pretty impressive. They are definitely urban waterfalls and do look cool. They’re also loud. Beyond that, though, I’m not so sure. Supposedly, they’ll be lit up at night, which will probably have a neat effect.

Yesterday’s long run was a struggle. I have not been sleeping all that well this week, and Charlie’s gotten into the habit of getting up around 5:30 and his whining and scratching generally wakes me up as well. That’s fun. So I was tired and I’m feeling a little beat up right now anyway. I think I jumped the gun a little bit when I mentioned that my “taper” was starting this week. This week is a shorter week than last week was, but it’s certainly not much of a taper. I’m about six hours in over the last four days, with a long bike on the schedule for tomorrow. Next week my volume goes down a little more, but I’m beginning to remember that tapering for an Ironman doesn’t mean taking it “easy”. Anyway, I got through the run, but it wasn’t fun. My legs felt heavy and I felt slow. I found my stride at around an eight minute mile pace with my heart rate where I wanted it (mid 140’s), but normally can comfortably run a little faster. Thankfully, my evening run was much better an this morning’s swim felt great.

Bike – June 24
Distance: 24.7 miles
Time: 1:20
Average heart rate: 120
Course: West Side Highway to Central Park (2 loops)
Conditions: Sunny, high-60’s, pretty nice out

Run – June 24
Distance: 5.75 miles
Time: 46 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Sunset, high-70’s, humid

Swim – June 25
Distance: 3,500 yards
Time: 1:05

Run #1 – June 26 6:30am
Distance: 11.25 miles
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 145
Course: Through Manhattan, over Brooklyn Bridge, around Brooklyn, over Manhattan Bridge, home
Conditions: Cloudy, humid, low 70’s

Run #2 – June 25 8:00pm
Distance: 4.75 miles
Time: 38 minutes
Average heart rate: 137
Course: East Village, Lower East Side, East River
Conditions: Evening, humid, clouds, high 70’s

Swim – June 26
Distance: 2,550 yards
Time: 45 minutes