runs brooklyn/brooklyn runs

Different Neighborhood, Same Weather

Wednesday 8/30: Canarsie

Distance: 7.99 miles
Time: 1:00
Pace: 7:31
Temp: 66
Dewpoint: 62
Weather: cloudy, showers

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.55
Total Unique Miles: 330.59
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 18.97

Route: I started at Glenwood and 98th, went south on 98th to Seaview, east a block to 99th and back up to Flatlands, east another block to 100th, south to Trucklemans, west to Rockaway Parkway, north back to Flatlands, west to 91st, and south to Seaview again, with little one-block jaunts out and back on Avenue N and Seaview itseld (both between 91st and 92nd). Then it was west on Seaview to Paerdegat, north to Flatlands, west a block then doubling back and heading on east to 80th before running north to Foster, east to Remsen, south to Glenwood, west to 89th, south to Church, east to 91st, back a block on 91st to Remsen, and finishing by going north to Conklin and then east to

Notes: Another gloomy start to the day. Over the last several runs, it seems, I've been dodging rain showers and trying to coax halfway useful pictures from my digital camera, which, as mentioned previously, really doesn't like low-light conditions. And with the sun rising later each day and low, dark clouds absorbing much of the natural light, this is pretty much what I'll be dealing with. And, after predictions of a glorious rest of the week as recently as yesterday morning, the forecast now calls for more overcast conditions, wind, and intermittent rain as the remnants of tropical storm Ernesto make their way up the coast.

Today I headed back to Canarsie, a neighborhood I'm on the record as being quite fond of. Moreover, it's one of the areas I'm specifically working on now, and hope to have run all of by the middle of the fall. I know I've talked about my desire to run a lot of the southern reaches of the borough (with their long train rides) while it's still warm out, but I've finally devised something of a real plan. I've arbitrarily drawn a line across Brooklyn, essentially from 65th Street in Bay Ridge over to Avenue P on the Midwood/Sheepshead Bay line and following Flatlands Avenue all the way up through Canarsie to East New York:

My plan is to systematically cover as much of the area below the red line as I can over the next two or three months. Ignoring the rest of the borough might make for some more boring runs now, but I think I'll be thanking myself in the winter, when I'm working on neighborhoods that are much closer (and don't entail waiting for trains on outdoor platforms). Of course, this may be one of these things that sounds great in theory and isn't really practical in real life, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

And as I close in on the 20% of Brooklyn run mark, I feel confident enough to unveil another newly-hatched plan: After I hit the 25% level (which should be around the third week of September or so) and again after reaching the 50% and 75% plateaus, I'm going to take a week off from running, to give my body at least some chance of recuperating. A week! You heard it here first...

As for today's run, it was nothing out of the ordinary -- some residential areas with unattached single-family homes, some with row houses, a good number of typical small businesses, and some industrial areas to the north, up by Foster. One interesting thing, I guess, was the strip of undeveloped land to the west of Paerdegat Avenue, which was thick with trees and lush with other plants. Anyway,I still like Canarsie, but I think I like it better without the puddles, dampness, and steady drizzle.

And regarding photos, here's the best of another mostly poorly-illuminated and somewhat blurry batch: