The Fairest Borough

Mrs. Agricola and I were in The Fairest Borough over the weekend for a friend's wedding. We stayed in our old hood -- Brooklyn Heights -- and it was a lot of fun. We slept until nearly 9 AM and then went out for a together-run. We ran together for about 30 minutes. We headed from the Brooklyn Marriott, up some street I can't recall, crossed Atlantic to Court, down Court to Carroll -- we rented there -- to Clinton to Remsen to the Promenade where we parted ways and I headed down Cranberry -- we owned there -- across Cadman Plaza to the pedestrian stairs of the Brooklyn Bridge, across the bridge, into Manhattan, back across the bridge, down to the Promenade, back down Remsen, across the Brooklyn City Hall Plaza and back to the Marriott.

It took me 61 minutes total, I burned 1089 calories and enjoyed every minute of it. Brooklyn is really where I started running in earnest and it really felt like being home. My back, which had been aching since my Wednesday run loosened up within a few minutes of starting. I was hurting at the outset but the activity loosened it all up. It was great to run with Mrs. A and talk about old times, current times and future times and I got a nice two part workout. If you've never run a bridge like the Brooklyn Bridge I highly recommend it. The experience gives you a terrific sense of how they are built and you get to do two nice hill climbs. The Manhattan approach is steeper than the Brooklyn. I love running that bridge -- it was like hanging with an old, challenging friend.

VT-127

I took a lovely 35 minute run up VT-127 this Saturday. I had to redeem myself after my horrid run on Friday AM and it was perfect weather to do so. The scenery was nice with frequent glimpses of Lake Champlain along the way. I love running in new place and this was a road that I've never run down before -- I've only ever driven to one spot and then turned down another road -- so it was all new to me. It was great and so refreshing to run someplace new. It was also interesting to see the eclectic mix of suburban-style split levels, mobile homes and old 19 century brick houses that makes up the architecture in that neck of the woods. The road had a pretty wide shoulder in both directions and it wasn't as hairy as running on country roads often is. One of the more interesting things that I saw along the route was a large wild-grape patch -- it looks as if the wild grape harvest will be pretty good.

Chicago Run

So, you guys have been busy while I've been in the great state if Illinois. Lots of good posts. Firstly, traveling with small children on short jaunts is somewhat exhausting. Yesterday was my day but after rising at 5:45 AM to make it to our flight at O'Hare I had no juice in the tank for yesterday's scheduled trot after getting back to Boston. This morning we all slept until about 8 AM and I missed my window -- which is a bummer because it was perfect weather, but what are you going to do?

That said, I took a great run on Saturday.

It was a beautiful morning and there were loads of runners, bikers, walkers etc., and you really can't beat Lake Michigan as a back drop. It was a lot of fun to run in an urban environment with other people. It took me back to my Brooklyn running days and got me reflecting that much of my running career has been an urban running career. I still recall one of my early forays into running, just after moving to NYC in 1998, and how amazing it was to cover so much ground and see so many things in a brief span. I remember one run where I went from the West Village to E 12 St and 2 Ave and then wound my way back across Manhattan at rush hour -- dodging people and jumping over garbage, it was a blast.

I love to run in the country, don't get me wrong, but I covered nearly 5 miles in 40 minutes and I attribute it to the people who were around. It was great and I think Chicago is great. My brother and his family are moving to Houston in June and I look forward to adding that city to my running locales.