BK to UES

It all started when my boss emailed me asking if I'd like to run a race in Brooklyn for his friend who had signed up for a race but realized she would be out of town and didn't want it to go to waste. I said yes -- I mean, I had to run anyway! He suggested I run back home after the race, which would up my mileage to my planned 11- to 12-mile run, which sounded great. Central Park is beautiful, but it can get a little old...perhaps a change of scenery would do me good?

The night I agreed to do it, I had second thoughts...Brooklyn is pretty far from my apartment, it might rain, it was cold...excuse after excuse. Lame! The next day, I nearly backed out of it, but finally decided I'd see how I felt Saturday morning. I'm getting used to Eastern Standard Time after a two-week vacation in Asia, so I've been going to bed super early and getting up early pretty easily, so I woke up at 6am today with no problem.

Then I had an internal debate...

AAAHHH it's soooo far to go to Brooklyn (it really is an hour-long trip).
...but you'll get to change up your route and have a fun!
OMG but it's soooo dark outside! I definitely cannot go to Brooklyn in the dark.
...but it'll be sunny soon enough! And it'd be better to get the run done with now!

So I decided to go. I grabbed half a bagel with almond butter and half a banana and ate it on the go. The E was running on the F line, but not all the way to Brooklyn, and the F was running on the A line for a while...it took some time, but I got there on time! I ran 4 miles in the race in Prospect Park, followed by a 9 mile jaunt to Manhattan, 8 miles of which were run and 1 mile walked. It's nice to see my Garmin map look different!


Splits:

• Mile 1 - 9:40
• Mile 2 - 9:25
• Mile 3 - 8:48
• Mile 4 - 9:19
• Mile 5 - 9:32
• Mile 6 - 9:26
• Mile 7 - 9:32
• Mile 8 - 10:29 < -- I got a bit lost trying to find the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge
• Mile 9 - 9:12
• Mile 10 - 11:12 < -- I think the Garmin went a bit wonky...I was definitely running faster than this!
• Mile 11 - 9:26
• Mile 12 - 9:12

Average pace: 9:36. I'll take it! After a two week break from running, I was pretty pleased that I finished 12 miles! It was so fun to change up my route. After the race, I ran along Prospect Park West to the top of the park, then to Flatbush Avenue, then across the Manhattan Bridge to Chinatown, up Bowery, over to 2nd Ave, and up to my home on the Upper East Side. Across the bridge I had some fun views too:

On the bridge itself

View of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan from the Manhattan Bridge

Next week is my farthest run yet though...17 miles. And since I missed a 14- and 15-mile run while I was on vacation, it'll be interesting to see how it goes.