runs brooklyn/brooklyn runs: June 10, 2007

10 June 2007

Walking

Though it's pretty obvious I haven't been running lately, I've still felt the need to get outside and move around a little. So, over the past few weeks, I've started walking quite a bit, which seems like a good compromise for now. Most of the walks have been between five and seven miles long, though two weeks ago I made a 3.5 hour, 10+ mile trek that took me from Greenpoint down to the Williamsburg Bridge, over into Manhattan, up to the Queensboro Bridge, across into Queens, and then back home. Some of the shorter ones have included walking from home to a doctor's appointment near Columbus Circle (via the Queensboro) and walking to Union Square (over the Williamsburg Bridge).

A week and a half ago, I walked to downtown Brooklyn (I rode the G train home, though I think I could've walked back faster). Unlike some of the other long walks I've done lately, this route was entirely within the borough, and the route took me along a number of streets that I hadn't yet run on. They were "unique miles," in other words, but since I wasn't running I haven't counted them toward the total mileage or anything.

Not yet, at least. In fact, I'm not really sure what I'll do. Part of me thinks that walking might be a great way to see some of the neighborhoods I haven't spent much time in, and add some miles to my totals. But another part thinks that anything short of running would be cheating, for lack of a better word. Walking certainly has its advantages -- I can carry more stuff with me, it's much easier to stop and look at things, and I'm a lot less conspicuous than I am in sweaty running clothes.

But it's not running. I have to do some traveling over the next few weeks, so it's not like I have to figure it now. Anyway, here's a map of the route, and a few pictures from along the way:

5/30/07 (Walk)

Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Downtown

Distance: 4.94 miles
Time: 1:25
Pace: 17:12 (!)

click on the image, etc.