Mt. Queensboro Bridge

I didn’t know what distance I wanted to do today. My last run was on Sunday–a 20-miler–and I had been unable to run these last three days because of long hours on set. (Tuesday was nearly a 16-hour day!) I felt I probably needed to do something more than 8 miles today, but I wasn’t sure if my body–well, my brain–would reject that. Early in my run I settled on running a loop in Central Park, then to keep things interesting, to continue along 60th St. to the Queensboro Bridge and run it home. I did. And I discovered that doing that (with a little adjustment) equates to a 10-mile run. And no added return-subway time! Here are the deets:

It was a cloudy 67 degrees today. The weather felt good, though a little blustery. Humidity was around 66% but nothing to speak of. My body was alright–more on the sluggish side than on the speedy side, but my laps don’t show it. I did this run in 1:15:04 (7:28s) without much exertion. At times I pushed myself a bit more but never really too hard. I was guarding against burnout.

The bridge was nice. Going from Manhattan to Queens, the uphill wasn’t really that hard though it looks steep. I passed someone from far away. After the short climb, the bridge is flat for a nice bit, then there is a long, long downhill. This long, long downhill is a long, long uphill the other direction (the same direction on the NYC Marathon route!). It looked like a challenge. I want to run it someday.

I turned off 31st St. onto 34th Ave., but next time I think I should turn onto Broadway instead. If I do that, I’ll carry over to Coldstone Creamery, turn right onto 35th St., and basically hit 10 miles just a few doors away from my home. That would be perhaps the ultimately convenient 10-miler. These stats also suggest that routewise I live just about 4 miles from Central Park. I’ve long wanted to know that. 🙂

Had a Naked Juice Protein Zone and edamame after my run, much sooner after my finish than I would usually.

I’m looking forward to next week. Next week I begin work on Nurse Jackie‘s third season as Peter Facinelli’s stand-in. Work will be a mere 2-minute commute walking, which means I’ll have more opportunity and time to run. I’ll need to feel out how it all works out, but if I balance my sleep and energy right, I should be able to train well and work long.