Most things in life are better in dozens. Hey, man, I made you a dozen cupcakes! Surprise, honey, I bought you a dozen roses! Way to go, Jesus, you have a dozen friends!
I’m not sure the same can be said for miles. I logged a dozen miles this morning as my last long run of this half-marathon training cycle, and – my god – that’s a lot of miles. So many miles, in fact, that they couldn’t all be run in Manhattan. Yes, people, it’s as bad as you think – this morning, I had to run in Brooklyn.
To be fair, many of my first and fondest memories of this city were made in the Brooklyn borough. While I may bemoan its sparse taxi population and unreliable express train service, I’m actually quite fond of its ironic eye-glass emporiums and flash artisinal cheese markets. But while there may be a secret Brooklynphile lurking below this hard Manhattan shell, the idea of running there – and back – at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning into the 20 m.p.h. January wind wasn’t necessarily at the top of my list. (“Rolling in a pile of puppies” holds that coveted spot.)
Nonetheless, I mustered some inner strength, bundled up and made my way out of the building for my first dual-borough run. And to be honest, I enjoyed the change of scenery. Although I’ve logged miles in some far-flung cities, from Baltimore to Paris, a startling 100-percent of my runs completed in the Empire State up until today have taken place on the 22.96-square-mile island of Manhattan. It was time for that to change.
My route took me from Murray Hill to the East River Promenade, through Chinatown, over the Manhattan Bridge, around Brooklyn Heights, over the Brooklyn Bridge, into a Gatorade-selling bodega and back up the East River to a hot shower and delivery bagels. About half of my energy was exerted dodging fish heads on the Chinatown sidewalk (Who throws away a perfectly good fish head? Honestly.), but the other half was free to enjoy the views. Not bad, Williamsburg Bridge, not bad at all.
With 12 miles down before 10 a.m., I was fully prepared to rub my productivity superiority in my boyfriend’s face all day long – until he decided to one-up me by building his own computer from scratch today. Touché, boyfriend.
What are you doing to stay active this three-day weekend? (Lifting steins of beer during the Ravens game totally counts. Stay tuned for more on that scheduled workout tomorrow.)
Riled Up Runner 
That’s ironic, I did a VERY similar 18mile run this Saturday! Murray Hill, to BK Bridge, around Prospect Park, back over BK Bridge to Murray Hill. The wind was awful towards the end and I was so happy when I got home in the warmth! I headed out a bit later than you so I started to see snow flurries around mile 16 haha
What marathon are you training for? Looking forward to reading more about your training, etc!
Congratulations on getting in such an impressive long run on such a brutally cold day! (And good call running both directions on the Brooklyn Bridge — the Manhattan Bridge is still undergoing reconstruction and DEFINITELY felt like it could be harboring serial killers in all of its dark, enclosed spaces, ha. I survived to tell the tale, but I think I’ll be sticking to the Brooklyn Bridge here on out.)
I saw you’re training for Paris — best of luck! (Or bonne chance, according to google translator.) I’m planning to do Marine Corps in DC in October, so I’ve got time on my side.
Thanks for reading, and please send any and all marathon training advice my way!