(This was cross-posted at the Run Smiley Collective.)

This last week my sister came to visit from California. She still lives in the San Diego area where we grew up. She has only been out here (NY/NJ) twice in the 20 years since I moved east. So this was a big deal.

I took the week off from work. We took her to see “Jersey Boys” on Broadway. And the “Top of the Rock” (top of the Rockefeller Building).

And Times Square. And the Statue of Liberty. And Ellis Island. And rode the subways. And Buses. And Boats. And Trains. And even a pedicab down Broadway during rush hour traffic. (And lived to tell about it)

We ate out a lot. Sardy’s. Cracker Barrel. Starbucks. Even the Peanut Butter Company, which is a little place in Greenwich Village that has great PB&J sandwiches, among other “light” fare. My sister LOVES PB so we had to go there. Had to.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the week. I also found a little time to whip the garden into shape. And stay up late to talk and play games and generally NOT be at or think about work. Everyone had a great time.

But. I. Only. Ran. Once.

Between the heat, rain, long days in Manhattan, and all of the family fellowship time, I only headed out for a 4 ¼ mile jaunt. I also walked the same route with my sis but that didn’t count.

So I can’t wait to get back out there! I will figure out a way to get a run in tomorrow somehow no matter what. The weather forecast is good so it looks like I’ll have a number of options, either in Manhattan or here in Jersey.

Why the excitement?

Are you kidding me?

The feel of my feet on all of the various surfaces. Warm. Cold. Rough. Smooth. Wet. Muddy.

The alive feeling of my heart rate consistently within 20 percent of max.

The moment that I first break a sweat and feel the evaporative cooling kick in.

Synchronizing my breaths with my cadence. Three steps in. Two steps out.

Enjoying the looks on people’s faces as I cruise by. Or go by them silently, sometimes inadvertently startling them.

Not knowing how far I’ll end up going, leaving it up to how I’m feeling.

Stepping on a pebble and quickly shifting my weight to minimize the impact. Marveling at the sensory functions built into this thing called my body.

Getting rid of that I-feel-lousy-and-lazy-and-know-I’d-feel-better-after-a-run feeling that starts two days after the last run.

Knowing that I’m doing something that is good for me, makes me happy, and therefore makes me easier to work with and live with.

Boy have I missed it. Stay tuned for a report on all the running goodness…

OK, sinus infection over.  Back to downtown running.  At 11 am I checked the weather for Manhattan:   34 Degrees, no wind, 10 percent chance of precip.

PERFECT!

I headed up Broadway, through this famous intersection.

Further north I turned to the east and headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge.  My feet were just slightly numb, mostly because I had to stop at a couple red lights.  Standing still allows more heat to escape from your feet.  But it felt great to be outside running barefoot again after a couple weeks of having to run on the dreadmill (because off the blizzard) or not at all (because of the sinus problem).

The looks on the faces of the people on the sidewalks were priceless.   One of these days I have to figure out a way to rig my camera so I can take a video of the people as they notice my unshod-ness.  If I hand hold the camera they just don’t react the same way because they know they are on camera.  Surprisingly no one said anything to me as I passed by.  Normally at least one rowdy New Yorker will yell something like “you’re crazy” or “you forgot something” or “you’re an animal”.  I haven’t figure out whether being an animal is a good thing or bad thing in a New Yorker’s mind.   (NOTE:  I am NOT a New Yorker.  I was born in California and live in New Jersey.  I only work and run in NY)

Once you get part of the way up one side of the bridge the pavement ends and the pedestrian walkway changes to wooden planks.  The planks are about 3 inches wide with about a half inch between each one, running perpendicular to the direction of travel.  This is a little bit of a pain to run on but the trade off is that the wood is much warmer than the concrete. 

I got to the other side of the bridge and stopped to memorialize the trip:

On the way back it was more crowded on the sidewalks because it was well into the lunch hour.  I had to get into Manhattan Trail Running mode, bobbing and weaving in and out of groups of people.  What a great workout for my feet!!

In all it was only 3.75 miles at pretty slow pace (and stops to take photos).  I would have liked to go much further but a meeting back in the office spoiled the fun.  Hopefully there will be some more days this Winter with dry “warm” conditions like today.

My trip on a map:

(Note how the Garmin GPS struggles in among the tall buildings.  I didn’t really run over them)

I headed out for my midday run the other day not knowing where I was going to go. Usually I have a route planned in advance but I was really busy at work that morning and didn’t even think about it until I was descending the steps from the gym. I decided to head up Broadway, with no destination in mind. My Vibram KSOs and Injinji socks were plenty warm in the low 20′s weather as I weaved in and out of the pedestrian traffic. There was still some slush on the sidewalks so I had to be a little careful. I love my KSOs but they don’t do well when there is ice or slush.

Before long I reached City Hall Park. At that point I decided that since it was a beautiful day I would head over to the Brooklyn Bridge and see how crowded it was. The pedestrian walkway can get very crowded, particularly in the Spring and Summer. It didn’t look too bad so I headed toward Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. At 5,989 feet (1825 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening to 1903, the first steel-wire suspension bridge. (From Wikipedia)

There is just something about going across a 127 year old bridge. So much history. So many stories. Whenever I experience buildings or bridges or tunnels that are very old I think about how important they are and what an accomplishment they were back in the day they were designed. There were no calculators. Telephones (yeah, land lines) had only been invented five years earlier. So to be able to run across that structure now is incredibly impressive to me.

I stopped a couple times to take some photos because it was such a beautiful day. I got to Brooklyn wishing I had more time so I could go further.

But I had to get back to the office so I turned around just on the other side of the Bridge.  I headed back up the incline to the middle section of the bridge, passing tourists speaking several different languages, and saying a passing hi to a few runners going in the opposite direction.  It was a bit windy and cold on top but I barely noticed given the striking view of the Manhattan skyline.

It’s runs like this that make me glad to be a “downtown runner”.  And of course they also help me get through afternoons when my stressful job starts to infringe on my peace of mind.

Downtown Runner

Your mileage may vary

I read a lot of blogs.  A lot.  About half of them have to do with running.  Most of the rest are about photography.

Many of the running blogs are about running on trails.  I enjoy them all.  Since most of my running is done in lower Manhattan I don’t run many trails so sometimes I get a little jealous.  But the other day I was thinking about this and realized that I DO run trails.

Most of the time I run along the Hudson or East rivers where there are boardwalks of sorts.  But sometimes I run routes that take me on some of the most famous streets in the world, such as Broadway, Wall Street, and Canal Street.  I maintain that these runs ARE trail runs.  I have to weave in and out of pedestrian traffic, step around obstacles, jump up and down curbs, turn corners, etc.  To give you an idea of what I’m talking check out this video I took running down Broadway:

OK, it’s not the Sierra Nevada, I’ll give you that. But the bobbing and weaving is really good for my feet. It exercises more muscles because of the varying turns and speeds.

What do you think? Am I crazy?

Bob (Downtown Runner)
(your mileage may vary)

So the winds were by no means calm but they were much better than the weekend. It was sunny and around 30F. So I decided to go out instead of settling for the dreaded treadmill. And I’m so glad I did. I had just the right amount of gear on so that it was comfortably cool.

I ran what I call my 3 Bridges Run. I start in front of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and head northeast along the sidewalk/boardwalk. I run along the East River and then turn around at some point, depending on how far I want the run to go (and how much time left in my lunch hour…).

3 Bridges Run Map - Click for a Larger, Clearer View

Since I had my new trusty point and shoot with me (thanks to my Santa-wife) I can show you the bridges:

The Brooklyn Bridge

Under the Brooklyn Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge

Under the Manhattan Bridge

The Williamsburg Bridge

Under the Williamsburg Bridge

So I continued past the third bridge up to Houston Street which is about 2.5 miles and then turned around.  Then on the way back I realized that with the sun shining it might just be warm enough for barefooting.  So I stopped about a mile from “home” and “shed my shod”.  I finished the run barefoot.  It was definitely chilly but as usual barefooting felt so great.  And of course the looks on the faces of the people all bundled up in their winter jackets, earmuffs, and Ugg boots were priceless.  I’m not very good with my camera shooting video (while I run) (yet) but here is a short clip from the barefoot portion of the run.