Nothing Like some Bridges for some Brisk Running!

Ivy League persuaded me to go running with him in the afternoon yesterday. He did not persuade me to go all 16 miles with him but he did end up persuading me to go longer than I was planning.

Persuasive little bugger. He also persuaded me to take the subway in the freezing cold last night, insted of taking a car. I blame him for the continuance of my cold! The fact that I still have a cold today, on Important Test Day, is in NO WAY related to the fact that I walked around yesterday morning/afternoon in the cold, nor is it related to the fact that I was shivering in my apartment for most of the day, nor is it related to my run in freezing temperatures.

No. I've decided. It's all HIS fault. Otherwise, it would be my fault. And we can't have that, now can we?

Tense negotiations concerning route completed, Ivy League and I headed down New York Avenue. I go out pretty fast, trying to stretch my legs and warm up. Wisely, after a couple of miles, Ivy League mentions this and we slow down. I was happy about this later, as I didn't bring any water or gu and I didn't want to take any of his, as he was running much longer than I was supposed to.

Having more of a sugar crash on the Queensboro bridge would not have been pretty.

We jag onto Marcy, then follow it across Flushing, where it turns into Union. A left on 5th Street takes us down to the Williamsburg Bridge, the first of three bridges we'd cross. It's always psychologically harder to go across from Brooklyn first, when we are planning to come right back across. Going from Brooklyn is hard! Plus, the whole time, I am thinking about how much harder the bridge is on the way back from Manhattan.

But, we managit without too much pain. So off we go up north on Bedford. After a tiny kerfluffle in Williamsburg, we find where it intersects with Nassau and continue on Nassau until we reach McGuinness Avenue.

Not the nicest part of the run. We still have some miles to go but it is past the half-way point (for me, at least!) so I'm tired. And we are surrounded by fast-food joints and tire places. Plus, I can't look at Ivy League, as he is running in the traffic lane with the traffic flowing in his direction. There is a LOT of traffic on McGuinness!

Thankfully for my nerves, he takes to the sidewalk for at least part of this stretch.

Over the Pulaski Bridge we run. The temperature drops significantly. I wonder why this is: the Williamsburg Bridge is taller, and crosses the same body of water, yet the wind isn't nearly as bad as over the Pulaski or the Queensboro. And similarly for the Brooklyn or the Manhattan: they are all cold and windy but not to the same extent as their Queens kin. I had taken off my gloves and hat prior to the crossing. While we run over the bridge, my hands turn to icicles. Brrrrrr.

"If we were in the marathon, we'd be over half-way done!" I exclaimed near the end of the bridge. Ivy League says that there is still a marker up from the marathon, which I missed. Cool!

Up 11th we run, with the trucks and traffic. Here's where I've made a mis-calculation: I wanted to go 10 miles yesterday, or 12, max. Yet I thought, from the map, that we'd be able to get on the Queensboro from 11th.

Wrong. We end up running over 1/2 a mile to the east before being able to access the bridge. Oops! I need to remember this, as I am planning to use the Queensboro for hill practice in January.

Up onto the Queensboro. I'm ecstatic because of low blood sugar and the thought that I am almost done!

Ivy League is less ecstatic, knowing he still has to turn into the park while I trundle off to some nice hot tea at Starbucks.

Note: while I do not condone huge corporations in general, and do not like the quality of Starbucks coffee or its prices in particular, it is terribly convenient for meeting-up purposes to have this many Starbucks in the city. Knowing that I would have to wait for Ivy League at the end of the run and not wanting to schlep my office keys with me, I googled locations for Starbucks for each possible iteration of the proposed run. And, lo and behold, there were convenient meeting places for each!

Some fancy turning gets us onto 59th from the Queensboro and we get into the one really ugly part of the run. Other aspects might not have been asthetically pleasing but the route was great in that we had to stop very few times previously, considering we started running at about 3:00pm on a Friday. Our luck turns in Manhattan, however. 59th is miserable. Every light is a stop-and-shiver and the tourists with their packages and three-abreast and erratic walking is terrible in its awfulness. Their taxes might pay my salary but that doesn't stop me from complaining about them!

I leave Ivy League at the south-east corner of the park. I end up having to walk several times across the side of the park. The tourists are exacerbated by a fire on the other side of the street, causing the opposite sidewalk to be closed and gawkers to abound.

Finally make it to Starbucks and I settle in with Friday's crossword.

Yes, I said it. And no, I didn't buy it there. Knowing I'd be waiting for a bit, I stuffed the crossword into a pocket and my pen into my sportsbra before I left the house.

How's that for planning?