So far the routes I have taken were pretty straight forward, I haven't had too many detours or delays, until today. So where is 32nd Street?? Many of you might think it's right in between 31st and 33rd streets, and yes, it is, but it's a little more complicated than that. As I started out my run on the west side of Manhattan, on 12th Ave. I tried to run down 32nd street. But there was no 32nd street, instead there was a huge train storage area which is part of Penn Station. I've been blocked before by Grand Central or the UN, etc. so I knew I would just bypass that block and get back on track one avenue over. So I run up 11th Ave and the trains were still in the way for another block, no 32nd street. So I'll have to find my street down 10th ave, again no luck, this time blocked by a building. That means it had to be down 9th ave, but as I rounded the corner I ran into the main NYC Post office, built right on top of my route. At this point I felt like I was running in circles and lost. One more time I looked down the next avenue, it had to be there, unless Madison Square Garden was in the way. I finally rounded the corner of 7th Ave and for the first time caught sight of my destination the elusive 32nd Street. It only lasted a few blocks before I ran into NYC medical center and 32nd Street disappeared.
So far I have been pretty familiar with the areas I have been running on. Moving forward we are going to start getting into unfamiliar territory. This small section of 32nd Street was one of those area. It was very diverse. It quickly changed from a business district to Korean Town to residential and then was gone.
The weather is starting to change, it's going to get cold before I know it. So my goal is to run as much as I can in October, wish me luck.
Time: 1pm
Distance: 4.42 miles
Time: 45:10 Minutes
Music: The Band Perry
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Run 9
Today's run was down 34th Street, as in "Miracle on 34th Street". I passed many recognizable places starting with B&H Photo, the New Yorker Hotel, the Empire State Building, Macy's and of course The spy shop. So if any of you have a secret mission or some sort of undercover work, you now know where to go. I just hope no one sees you going into the store.
As I approached the east side, I noticed a really huge police presence. Every corner had a police officer on it. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I had to stop and ask. The extra security was because of the conference at the UN and President Obama was in town. It reminded me of the time I was quarantined in the middle of Brooklyn Bridge because Obama's motorcade was going to be passing under the bridge.
Time: 4pm
Distance: 4.63 Miles
Time: 46:37 Minutes
Music: Chely Wright (AMAZING!)
As I approached the east side, I noticed a really huge police presence. Every corner had a police officer on it. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I had to stop and ask. The extra security was because of the conference at the UN and President Obama was in town. It reminded me of the time I was quarantined in the middle of Brooklyn Bridge because Obama's motorcade was going to be passing under the bridge.
Time: 4pm
Distance: 4.63 Miles
Time: 46:37 Minutes
Music: Chely Wright (AMAZING!)
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Run 8
I started off today by doing a one mile calibration run. So from now on my distances should be more accurate.
It's easiest to run at night, late at night when less people are around, but that's not fair to only see NYC streets at night, so I will try to go jogging during the day too. I picked the worst time to go. I started running down 36th street at 4:10 pm, just as everyone was finishing up at work and starting to head out on the street. I had a lot of extra stops because of people, cars and traffic lights. The people taking smoke breaks still look at me funny, well maybe it's because I look at them funny too. Our worlds are so far apart at the moment, even though we are just a foot or two from each other.
New Yorkers have a bad rap of being in a hurry. While I was running I was thinking about time. Running out of it, using it wisely, and wondering where it all goes. I am guilty of being a hurried New Yorker on the street, but also guilty of wasting way too much time on reality tv, lol. I'm still searching for a happy medium, if I ever figure it out I'll let you know.
I was trying to find a funny joke or break down of hours in the day to leave you with. But instead found a pretty good article about the NY Hustle.
http://westsidespirit.com/2011/02/16/new-york-hustle/
Time: 4 pm
Distance: 5.1 Miles
Time: 43:53 Minutes
Music: Jennifer Hudson
It's easiest to run at night, late at night when less people are around, but that's not fair to only see NYC streets at night, so I will try to go jogging during the day too. I picked the worst time to go. I started running down 36th street at 4:10 pm, just as everyone was finishing up at work and starting to head out on the street. I had a lot of extra stops because of people, cars and traffic lights. The people taking smoke breaks still look at me funny, well maybe it's because I look at them funny too. Our worlds are so far apart at the moment, even though we are just a foot or two from each other.
New Yorkers have a bad rap of being in a hurry. While I was running I was thinking about time. Running out of it, using it wisely, and wondering where it all goes. I am guilty of being a hurried New Yorker on the street, but also guilty of wasting way too much time on reality tv, lol. I'm still searching for a happy medium, if I ever figure it out I'll let you know.
I was trying to find a funny joke or break down of hours in the day to leave you with. But instead found a pretty good article about the NY Hustle.
http://westsidespirit.com/2011/02/16/new-york-hustle/
Time: 4 pm
Distance: 5.1 Miles
Time: 43:53 Minutes
Music: Jennifer Hudson
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Run 7
How do you top the last moment? You don't! So today we'll just keep it simple. I took off and ran 38th and 39th streets. It was my first venture through the fabric district. Its so much fun to wander around and just look at store after store of crazy fabric. It's funny how people call NYC a concrete jungle. It is, I'm not opposing that, but it's amazing how many trees and parks there are with in the concrete jungle. I counted to see how many trees are on 39th Street, there are 186. Just on one street, one 2 mile section. Not so bad for a concrete jungle.
I wanted to look up some fun NYC facts for you. I came across this one, it might be fun for you, but it's scary for me. I hope it's inaccurate, lol
There are 6,374.6 miles of streets in New York City.
I probably should have looked that up before I started this.
Time: 8pm
Distance: 4.38 miles
Time: 41:48 minutes
Music: Miranda Lambert
I wanted to look up some fun NYC facts for you. I came across this one, it might be fun for you, but it's scary for me. I hope it's inaccurate, lol
There are 6,374.6 miles of streets in New York City.
I probably should have looked that up before I started this.
Time: 8pm
Distance: 4.38 miles
Time: 41:48 minutes
Music: Miranda Lambert
Run 6 People
It's funny how the harder you try to make something happen, the less likely it's gonna happen. I want to have grand moments while I go on these runs. I want to have life changing moments. I want to be inspired while jogging, get home and share it with you. Well, guess what, some of my runs are just going to be down right boring. I'm jogging for Pete's sake!
I tried really hard to have a very eventful run. All the ingredients were there. It was Sept 11, 2011, the ten year anniversary. So far I've been running the streets in order, but it only seemed right to go jog near the WTC on this day. I read about a display called Flags of Honor, 3,000 flags flying in Battery Park, the perfect location for "a moment". I put on a sad play list. I had everything set up to produce magic. The run was nice, but the moment I was looking for didn't appear. I had nothing magical to blog about. :(
So far all of my posts have been specifically about my time jogging (which sounds much better than the original wording of, "my posts have been specifically about my runs"). But later that night, well after my run, I finally had a moment. So where does this blog start? Where does it end? This blog isn't about my life, but how can it not be? My life experiences influence my thoughts and this blog is definitely about my thoughts. So I'm going to venture out past my run today, I hope that's ok.
During my ran I started to think about people, just the shear number of people in NYC. The number of people effected by 9/11. The number of people blocking my way while I'm trying to run. The variety of people. How different we all are. How similar we all are. Later I was waiting for the subway and the cover of people magazine caught my eye.
The cover story was about the children who were born after their fathers had died on 9/11. I had to buy the magazine and read the article. The front image just grabbed hold of my heart and wouldn't let go. I bought the magazine and got on the train headed to the Brooklyn Bridge to photograph the Tribute in Light, which is two beams of light coming from the 2 towers of the World Trade Center. On the train I started to open the magazine. As I am trying to find the article I'm already starting to tear up. I try to read the first paragraph but have to stop and pull my self together. About that time the train stops and lets more people on the train. In comes a homeless man. This is not an uncommon experience on the NYC subway. But this time it seems different to me. He is barely clothed. He has a towel on barely covering him and a shredded jacket, but there is barely enough material left to call it that. He has newspaper tied around his feet as shoes. I can't help but think about all the people that need help, him, the children of 9/11, and so many more. My heart, that was already grabbed by that article is now being squeezed, almost to the breaking point. I just wished I could help him. I decided to approach him and see if I could talk to him, offer him some kind of help. I go over to him and say, "hello, how are you?" he looks scared of me, doesn't answer me and quickly walks to the other end of the car. At the next stop he exits. I'm unable to help. I get to the bridge, with the glow of the tribute in light in the background, I pull back out the article and finish reading it. Every child's story makes me cry.
I'm not totally sure of the moral of the story. I'm not sure why I felt it was so important to share this moment with you. It meant a lot to me and hopefully touched you in some way to.
I leave you with a final thought, again in song. It's about people, the shear number, the connection, relationships, etc. It's "Another Hundred People" from Company.
Time: 7 pm
Distance: 5.61 miles
Time: 52:11
Music: sad songs play list
I tried really hard to have a very eventful run. All the ingredients were there. It was Sept 11, 2011, the ten year anniversary. So far I've been running the streets in order, but it only seemed right to go jog near the WTC on this day. I read about a display called Flags of Honor, 3,000 flags flying in Battery Park, the perfect location for "a moment". I put on a sad play list. I had everything set up to produce magic. The run was nice, but the moment I was looking for didn't appear. I had nothing magical to blog about. :(
So far all of my posts have been specifically about my time jogging (which sounds much better than the original wording of, "my posts have been specifically about my runs"). But later that night, well after my run, I finally had a moment. So where does this blog start? Where does it end? This blog isn't about my life, but how can it not be? My life experiences influence my thoughts and this blog is definitely about my thoughts. So I'm going to venture out past my run today, I hope that's ok.
During my ran I started to think about people, just the shear number of people in NYC. The number of people effected by 9/11. The number of people blocking my way while I'm trying to run. The variety of people. How different we all are. How similar we all are. Later I was waiting for the subway and the cover of people magazine caught my eye.
The cover story was about the children who were born after their fathers had died on 9/11. I had to buy the magazine and read the article. The front image just grabbed hold of my heart and wouldn't let go. I bought the magazine and got on the train headed to the Brooklyn Bridge to photograph the Tribute in Light, which is two beams of light coming from the 2 towers of the World Trade Center. On the train I started to open the magazine. As I am trying to find the article I'm already starting to tear up. I try to read the first paragraph but have to stop and pull my self together. About that time the train stops and lets more people on the train. In comes a homeless man. This is not an uncommon experience on the NYC subway. But this time it seems different to me. He is barely clothed. He has a towel on barely covering him and a shredded jacket, but there is barely enough material left to call it that. He has newspaper tied around his feet as shoes. I can't help but think about all the people that need help, him, the children of 9/11, and so many more. My heart, that was already grabbed by that article is now being squeezed, almost to the breaking point. I just wished I could help him. I decided to approach him and see if I could talk to him, offer him some kind of help. I go over to him and say, "hello, how are you?" he looks scared of me, doesn't answer me and quickly walks to the other end of the car. At the next stop he exits. I'm unable to help. I get to the bridge, with the glow of the tribute in light in the background, I pull back out the article and finish reading it. Every child's story makes me cry.
I'm not totally sure of the moral of the story. I'm not sure why I felt it was so important to share this moment with you. It meant a lot to me and hopefully touched you in some way to.
I leave you with a final thought, again in song. It's about people, the shear number, the connection, relationships, etc. It's "Another Hundred People" from Company.
Time: 7 pm
Distance: 5.61 miles
Time: 52:11
Music: sad songs play list
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Runs 4&5 Variety
Not sure if you have noticed, but it's been a week since my last run/post. This week I was sick and in bed the majority of time, not out running. Some time while I was sick I did one run. I filled in some areas that I had missed on the west side of the island, zig zagging between 9th Ave and the Hudson River from 47th St. to 40th St. I didn't feel well and that run produced no insight of any kind. I think I was too busy thinking, right, left, right left.
So, it's now a week since my Saturday night moody run. It's Saturday night again and here I go out for a run just like the week before. Everything was different this time around. Maybe it was the beautiful full moon. Maybe it was the fact that I was finally feeling well again and out and about. Maybe it was the fact that I had plans to go out after the run. What ever the reason, I was glad to be out continuing my adventure.
On tonight's run I couldn't help think about variety. It is amazing what NYC has to offer. I ran two streets. Just two measly little streets, about 4 miles and the variety of things I saw just just truly amazing. I ran passed old buildings, new buildings, tunnels, bridges, parks (including Bryant Park and Tudor Park) a river, and even vacant lots. I passed another Broadway Theatre, the NY Public Library, and the New York Times Building. The NY Times influences people all around the world and there it was right next to me. Some things were not actually on 41st or 40th streets but I could still see them along my run, like The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, the skyline in general and don't forget the (practically) full moon. I passed endless restaurants from the best dollar pizza I've had on 41st and 9th to McDonald's, fine dining establishments and of course a Starbucks or three or four. The list goes on and on. Staples, Comic Books, Balloons, tax places, banks, money wiring store, car rentals, hotels, porn stores, schools, churches, gyms, fabric stores, liquor/wine, cleaners, and florist. This just scratches the surface of places. I'm sure there's many more I didn't notice. I saw at least one of everything mentioned.
My goal during the run was to find the most ridiculous store I could. Remember I was only on two streets. The winner is...
Ritzy Canine Carriage House
I feel a little bad, now that I've been to their website and see that they board animals. From the street it looks like all they do is sell WAY over priced dog carriers and leashes, lol. I love animals, so no one get mad at me, but this place looked like a high class boutique. It had a huge chandelier and I first thought they were selling brand name purses, but nope, just dog carriers.
Run 4
Run 5
Time: 8:45pm
Distance: 4.87 miles
Time: 47:34 minutes
Music: Zanna Don't, The Musical
So, it's now a week since my Saturday night moody run. It's Saturday night again and here I go out for a run just like the week before. Everything was different this time around. Maybe it was the beautiful full moon. Maybe it was the fact that I was finally feeling well again and out and about. Maybe it was the fact that I had plans to go out after the run. What ever the reason, I was glad to be out continuing my adventure.
On tonight's run I couldn't help think about variety. It is amazing what NYC has to offer. I ran two streets. Just two measly little streets, about 4 miles and the variety of things I saw just just truly amazing. I ran passed old buildings, new buildings, tunnels, bridges, parks (including Bryant Park and Tudor Park) a river, and even vacant lots. I passed another Broadway Theatre, the NY Public Library, and the New York Times Building. The NY Times influences people all around the world and there it was right next to me. Some things were not actually on 41st or 40th streets but I could still see them along my run, like The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, the skyline in general and don't forget the (practically) full moon. I passed endless restaurants from the best dollar pizza I've had on 41st and 9th to McDonald's, fine dining establishments and of course a Starbucks or three or four. The list goes on and on. Staples, Comic Books, Balloons, tax places, banks, money wiring store, car rentals, hotels, porn stores, schools, churches, gyms, fabric stores, liquor/wine, cleaners, and florist. This just scratches the surface of places. I'm sure there's many more I didn't notice. I saw at least one of everything mentioned.
My goal during the run was to find the most ridiculous store I could. Remember I was only on two streets. The winner is...
Ritzy Canine Carriage House
I feel a little bad, now that I've been to their website and see that they board animals. From the street it looks like all they do is sell WAY over priced dog carriers and leashes, lol. I love animals, so no one get mad at me, but this place looked like a high class boutique. It had a huge chandelier and I first thought they were selling brand name purses, but nope, just dog carriers.
Run 4
Time: 2:32pm
Distance: 4.36 miles
Time: 40:27 minutes
Music: I don't remember (I was sick)
Run 5
Time: 8:45pm
Distance: 4.87 miles
Time: 47:34 minutes
Music: Zanna Don't, The Musical
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Run 3
So I guess the neat thing about a daily(ish) blog, is that you catch the writer in different moods. Today's run was quite different from the first two. I'm a bit under the weather with annoying sinus congestion. I tried to pay attention to NYC, since that is the theme of this blog. I ran down the infamous 42nd St. today. It has a massive history, even musicals written about it. I ran by Grand Central Station and the millions of people that enter and leave the city through it's doors everyday. I passed the Chrystler Building, on both sides. I finally got past the UN complex, but was still blocked from the river by FDR drive. 43rd Street ended in a 2 flight stair case, some thing you'd expect to see in San Francisco. I ran through times square yet again.
But instead of the buildings, today my thoughts were more on the people and myself. I was beginning my run at 9:30 on a Saturday night. When most people were getting ready to go out. There was no bar or dance club in my plans tonight, just a date with my running shoes and thoughts. I have always been a little "different". Never really quite fit into an mold that I'm supposed to. Most of the time I'm proud of this fact, but every once in a while it's a thorn in my side. Tonight as I was comparing myself to everyone else dressed up with things to do, places to go, and people to see, I started to get a little down. I was listening to Jewel's newest album, Sweet and Wild. I love all kinds of music. but at the end of the day, this girl is my soul mate (musically speaking). I connect so much with her songs. Right as I began to feel a bit down and/or emotional, partly because of the cold. This song came on.
"You are what you are, and what you are is beautiful"
This album is full of jems, like Satisfied, Ten, As bad as it Gets, but tonight this one spoke to me and I wanted to share it with you. I wont so much about it, hopefully the song speaks for it's self.
I made a shirt with the blog address on it, but I think the lettering was too small. I saw a few people try and read it, but not sure if they could, I'll try again. See ya on 41St.
Time: 9:30 pm
Distance: 4.62 miles
Time: 42:35 Minutes
Music: Jewel- Sweet and Wild
But instead of the buildings, today my thoughts were more on the people and myself. I was beginning my run at 9:30 on a Saturday night. When most people were getting ready to go out. There was no bar or dance club in my plans tonight, just a date with my running shoes and thoughts. I have always been a little "different". Never really quite fit into an mold that I'm supposed to. Most of the time I'm proud of this fact, but every once in a while it's a thorn in my side. Tonight as I was comparing myself to everyone else dressed up with things to do, places to go, and people to see, I started to get a little down. I was listening to Jewel's newest album, Sweet and Wild. I love all kinds of music. but at the end of the day, this girl is my soul mate (musically speaking). I connect so much with her songs. Right as I began to feel a bit down and/or emotional, partly because of the cold. This song came on.
"You are what you are, and what you are is beautiful"
This album is full of jems, like Satisfied, Ten, As bad as it Gets, but tonight this one spoke to me and I wanted to share it with you. I wont so much about it, hopefully the song speaks for it's self.
I made a shirt with the blog address on it, but I think the lettering was too small. I saw a few people try and read it, but not sure if they could, I'll try again. See ya on 41St.
Time: 9:30 pm
Distance: 4.62 miles
Time: 42:35 Minutes
Music: Jewel- Sweet and Wild
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Run 2
Well, This is definitely going to be a learning experience. It's gonna take me a while to get it right. both the running and the blog, lol. There were a few things I learned on my first run. First if I'm gonna be running on the streets of NYC at night I need to get some blinky lights or reflectors, so I don't get run over. Second , it is best to run with traffic, most of the streets in NYC are one way, my first run I went against traffic. Today I ran the same direction as traffic and it was already a little better.
Today's ran started out on the same path I take to the subway quite frequently, so I was already pretty familiar with it. I headed down to 44th street and ran east. Passing by more Broadway theaters and right through time square again. I ran down 44th until it ended at the Met life building and I had to take a little detour. I was surprised by a small up hill section between 2nd and 3rd avenues. I think of Manhattan as fairly flat. Where'd that hill come from? I ran all the way to the dead end of the UN Headquarters again and then turned around and headed west on 45th all the way home.
As I started my run is was 10:30ish, the same time all the Broadway shows were just ending. Running through that area was a bit like an obstacle course. While I was dodging pedestrians, I came up with a pretty good idea. Since I haven't told anyone about this yet and have no Followers. I should wear a "FOLLOW ME" T-shirt with the blog address. Who knows some of the tourists might get a kick out of it, I'll have to make a T-shirt soon. I get some weird looks from people, especially at stop lights. I don't want to stop, so some times I run back and forth in the intersection. If I had a T-shirt saying I was a runner, maybe people will be less confused, lol. The strangest look I got was from a very overweight guy, outside smoking. I wish he would follow me.
So counting food vendors was no where near as exciting as I thought it would be. In the 3.5 miles I went today there were 10, woo hoo!!
One very interesting thing in NYC is the garbage. There's so much of it, yet it quickly disappears. Walking down the street it's entertaining to see what people are throwing away. On my run I ran by some one who was just throwing out a mannequin. I was looking at it, cause it looked kind of funny sticking out of the garbage pile. The man saw me looking at it and yelled, "Take her home!!" It was amusing. Here she is for your enjoyment too....
Towards the end of my run, I was running back by the Broadway Theaters and Bernadette Peters was at the edge of her limo taking one more photo before hoping in. I wanted to yell, "Bernadette Follow me". If I had my blog shirt on I would have. :)
So I know it's only my second run, but I already felt a bit of accomplishment today. As I was running back I saw the Helmsley Building, this time from the other two corners. I've now seen it from all four angles and know what it is. Maybe this will be worth it.
Time: 10:30
Distance: 3.54 miles
Time: 31.52 Minutes
Music: Carrie Underwood
Today's ran started out on the same path I take to the subway quite frequently, so I was already pretty familiar with it. I headed down to 44th street and ran east. Passing by more Broadway theaters and right through time square again. I ran down 44th until it ended at the Met life building and I had to take a little detour. I was surprised by a small up hill section between 2nd and 3rd avenues. I think of Manhattan as fairly flat. Where'd that hill come from? I ran all the way to the dead end of the UN Headquarters again and then turned around and headed west on 45th all the way home.
As I started my run is was 10:30ish, the same time all the Broadway shows were just ending. Running through that area was a bit like an obstacle course. While I was dodging pedestrians, I came up with a pretty good idea. Since I haven't told anyone about this yet and have no Followers. I should wear a "FOLLOW ME" T-shirt with the blog address. Who knows some of the tourists might get a kick out of it, I'll have to make a T-shirt soon. I get some weird looks from people, especially at stop lights. I don't want to stop, so some times I run back and forth in the intersection. If I had a T-shirt saying I was a runner, maybe people will be less confused, lol. The strangest look I got was from a very overweight guy, outside smoking. I wish he would follow me.
So counting food vendors was no where near as exciting as I thought it would be. In the 3.5 miles I went today there were 10, woo hoo!!
One very interesting thing in NYC is the garbage. There's so much of it, yet it quickly disappears. Walking down the street it's entertaining to see what people are throwing away. On my run I ran by some one who was just throwing out a mannequin. I was looking at it, cause it looked kind of funny sticking out of the garbage pile. The man saw me looking at it and yelled, "Take her home!!" It was amusing. Here she is for your enjoyment too....
Towards the end of my run, I was running back by the Broadway Theaters and Bernadette Peters was at the edge of her limo taking one more photo before hoping in. I wanted to yell, "Bernadette Follow me". If I had my blog shirt on I would have. :)
So I know it's only my second run, but I already felt a bit of accomplishment today. As I was running back I saw the Helmsley Building, this time from the other two corners. I've now seen it from all four angles and know what it is. Maybe this will be worth it.
Time: 10:30
Distance: 3.54 miles
Time: 31.52 Minutes
Music: Carrie Underwood
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)