Just trying to keep it together
Tonight was Bridge Run for me. I decided to ease up on the track work and go a bit easy, especially in light of the 60 mile week I am in the middle of.
There was a fairly large turnout for tonights run. Plenty of the regulars came out tonight with hugs being shared left and right. Call it what you will, but there is a special bond between all of us who have come out to run the city bridges at night on a Wednesday. It makes the run all the more enjoyable to be with folks you genuinely like and admire. For the newer folks, it just takes more time to get that feeling with them and it might never come with them. But it is okay, if they are a Bridgerunner it is all good.
We went over the Manhattan Bridge tonight on our way to visit the Commandant's House in Vinegar Hill. My intent was to take it fairly easy, meaning no mad sprint up the bridge. After the miles I had already put in, I felt caution would make more sense considering I probably had about another 35 miles to put in before the week was over. Making more of an effort of feeling the stride than putting in a pace, I felt good going up to the top of the bridge. There were a couple of runners behind me, I couldn't tell who they were but I suspect one of them was Chris who usually tries to hang on my six on the runs. They stuck with me just until we got to the first arch. From there, I went even faster just to get going over the top over with. The footsteps that were behind me I didn't hear anymore. I didn't see anyone until I finished the run and went back up the bridge to recover.
When Tabitha made her way down, she was the last one over the bridge. Some took the shorter route back over the Brooklyn while the rest of us headed to the Admiral's house.
Vinegar Hill is an old neighborhood located right next to Dumbo. Like many areas in Brooklyn, it is being transformed by gentrification. Many buildings are either being renovated or completely torn down to make way for condos. The streets however retain the feel of old Brooklyn. Cobblestones line many of the streets. I prefer not to run on cobblestones for fear of planting wrong and twisting an ankle. Sidewalks become my friend at that point.
http://www.scoutingny.com/?p=1559
After making our pilgrimage, we headed back to Bowery Stadium via the Brooklyn Bridge. I am not a big fan of running over the Bridge at high speeds, too many tourists and cyclists for my taste. There have been more than a couple of times when I came close to crashing into unsuspecting camera-wielding tourists who just stand in the middle of the bridge taking their time trying to capture the "moment." all the while oblivious to everything around them. Tonight, I went into pacer mode and wound up having my friends Robin, Erin, and I think Patty going up with me at the start. 8 minute pace I told them. We would go up slow and come down fast and average out to 8 minute. Robin hung with me all the way as we made road kill out of some of the other folks utilizing the bridge tonight. Along the way, we picked up John. Then we caught up to some of the Bridge guys who had gone up way ahead of us. We passed them. I must say I felt a satisfaction upon leaving them behind.
When we came to the downhill portion of the bridge, we really started moving down. Initially I went too fast and made the distance between me and Robin a little more than I had intended to. I wanted her to stay on my shoulder but got caught up in the downhill momentum. I slowed up until she came to my shoulder. I saw two more Bridge guys heading down. Well there was only thing to do in my mind.
With easy strides, we went right past them and kept going. If they get insulted when you move past them, well that can't be helped. But if they can't keep up, they can't. If they can and retake the lead, more power to them if they can sustain. I've been passed a million times and I don't take it personally.
All I knew was I could see Robin's shadow and hear John's breathing as we headed down the bridge. With her training for this marathon season, I could see a big difference in the ease of Robin's running. She wasn't breathing as hard as in the past when I "made" her sprint a couple of times. In fact, her breaths were coming in nice and easy and that is a great sign of fitness and efficiency. She is going to do incredibly well in her marathons.
The 3 of us finished together at the bottom of the bridge. After everyone had made their way over, it was down Lafayette to Prince to the Bowery. All the parts were still functioning when it was all over. 29 miles down. 32 more to go.