My favorite long run is a 10.3 mile loop from 14th St down to the Williamsburg Bridge, up through Brooklyn and Queens (over the Pulaski Bridge) and over the 59th St Bridge and back down 1st Ave to 14th St. When in training for the marathon, I’ll run this route several times and when I need to get a really long run in, sometimes I’ll do 2 loops, or extend the run a few miles in Manhattan or Queens. I love this run because 1st Ave has relatively little cross traffic below 14th St. Same is true for the areas of Brooklyn and Queens. Here is the precise run route:
- Start at 14th and A. 14th St to 1st Ave. Left on 1st Ave
- 1st Ave down to Delancey (1st Ave becomes Allen St below Houston)
- Left on Delancey and over the Bridge
- When bridge path splits, stay on left side
- At end of bridge, u-turn on S5th St to Driggs
- Right on Driggs. Follow Driggs all the way past McCarren Park to McGuiness Blvd
- Left on McGuiness. Take it all the way over the Pulaski Bridge
- Right on Jackson Ave
- Jackson Ave to left on 21St St
- 21st St up to 59th St Bridge
- After Bridge, down 1st Ave to 14th St
- Left on 14th St to end on Ave A
Today I was still a bit sore from my speed workout in East River Park on Friday night. So, I decided to go for a bike ride instead. Central Park and the Hudson River Greenway would have been too crowded for my taste on a nice day like today, so I decided to do a time trial of my favorite 10.3 mile loop. Since I normally run opposite the street traffic, and on my bike I would be the traffic, this would be in reverse of my normal route.
Overall, it was a great ride. I got stuck when the Pulaski Bridge was in the open postition, lost a couple of minutes waiting for it to close. Also, I was a little to aggresive getting started at one of the lights and jumped the chain out of its gear. Had to stop for a minute to fix that problem. In total, the time trial was completed in 44:12, an average of almost 14 miles per hour, not bad with the stops, traffic lights and traffic. Much faster than running!
