Into Brooklyn

Saturday we had a really fun run. I was a little nervous to pick up the mileage again since I haven't really been running all that much. According to my schedule I was supposed to do my 19 miler, but I knew that this probably wasn't a very good idea since I really only ran 3 miles this week and 10 miles last week (btw, both of those were single runs). I decided to shoot for 14-15 but see how I felt along the way.

We started out way downtown in the Winter Gardens (right by the World Trade Center site). We had the option of staying in Manhattan for the entire run, or venturing into Brooklyn. I of course, wanted to venture into Brooklyn. I am always up for a change of scenery AND this would give me some hill work too.

I also decided that if my pace leader was pacing this week I was NOT going to be in her group. Luckily though, she wasn't there. And Ramon was making the coaches pace this week instead of the mentors. This was good because I was really afraid of getting lost in Brooklyn. Manhattan is pretty easy to navigate since it is all on a grid and most of the streets are numbered. But Brooklyn is another story.

What a difference it makes when you're going the right pace! I felt so much better through the entire run. And I truly COULD have added another 4 miles on without much problem (but I stopped anyway. I didn't want to push it too hard).

The run was also a lot of fun. We got to run over the Brooklyn Bridge, which is always great. It was super crowded with people though which was a little frustrating runningwise (I was running in a zigzag a lot of the time to avoid other people). I decided though that you can't get mad at people for wanting to walk/bike/rollerblade/run across the bridge. It is extremely cool and the view is amazing, plus the weather yesterday was great for outdoor activities. Some lady obviously didn't feel the same way. She was out for a leisurely stroll and was talking on her cellphone. I think she was overwhelmed by all of us even though we were being very good and only running one or two across and staying on the right side of the bridge. I was trying to avoid her completely and swerved to the right to do so (just as she swerved to her left) so we met face to face and she threw up her hands and screamed "F*CK!!" in my face, which I thought was a little humorous. I could tell it was her last straw. :)

Anyway, after crossing the bridge we ran through Brooklyn. I had no idea where exactly we were but found it commical how many other people in the group had never been to Brooklyn. We passed the Brooklyn TNT team and our coach yelled "Yeah! Go Brooklyn!" And they hollered back "YEEEEAH!" which made me laugh because it is sort of the stereotypical Brooklyn reaction to something like that (anyone ever see that movie "Newsies"?). Ramon was following the course on his bike because he was super afraid that we were all going to get lost and never find our way back to Manhattan.

We finally got to the Williamsburg bridge and I looked forward. It went STRAIGHT UP. I was like "Oh yeah, this is nice." And the coach said it was good practice for San Francisco (which I am so glad I am not running.) I just tried to enjoy the beautiful view and read all of the graffiti instead of concentrating on the hill.

Crossing Manhattan again through the Lower East Side was NOT pleasant because it smelled like garbage baking in the sun.

But we finally made it to Lafayette to run up Park Avenue for the last time (boo! I hope they do Summer Streets again). I really had time to enjoy it this week since I was on pace instead of flying through the streets tiring myself out. I remembered to stop at the church that everyone was talking about (because they gave out freshly squeezed lemonade...delicious!). By this point though, most of our group had split up. Hardly anyone was running all the way up to 72nd street because most people were not doing 19 miles. I ran all the way up to 63rd with Kelly though and then caught up with some other people from the group to cut across the 72nd Street Transverse.

The rest of the run was on my own since I just decided to head uptown for the last two miles and head home. It was nice to be able to finish right in front of my apartment building.

I had to double check Ramon's mileage count on mapmyrun.com, because I figured there was no way that he could be right (according to my watch). But he was! I did 15 miles in 2:18 which means that I was doing a 9:19 mile the whole way. I was so ecstatic!

I, of course, plugged that into one of those calculators that can predict your marathon times based on your long runs. It says that I can do a 4:14 based on that time. That would be awesome!

So, what did I learn from this? Take it out easy and you will do better than you thought. Yes, every coach I have ever had has told me this, but I am one of those people who has to experience it for myself before I believe it ;)