Bridge run!
Yesterday I was daydreaming about the hilly NYC Marathon course (yes, I daydream about running during the day – what do you daydream about?) and all the bridges you cross on course… and decided I should do a bridge workout!
I don’t think I’ve ever run over a long bridge before… luckily I knew how to get on the 2nd Street Bridge which takes you from Jeffersonville, IN to Louisville, Kentucky!
(the bridge I ran over)
I don’t think the elevation profile of this bridge is anywhere near the first bridge of the NYC Marathon (the marathon starts out with a 150 foot incline!). But this was still fun.
(I am not sure why these pictures turned out all distorted but it’s kind of neat!)
There were “Indiana” pillars on the north side of the bridge and “Kentucky” pillars on the south side.
Notice how sweaty I am? It was 80 degrees. Yuck.
It was fun to be up high, running on the bridge with traffic. I wonder what it will feel to run on the bridges of NYC with foot traffic. I wonder how much the bridge will sway!
I plan to get serious about running some hills the week after the Milwaukee Marathon. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s my plan!
Do you regularily run long bridges as part of your training?
Would you run a marathon entirely on that 26.4-mile bridge in China if they had a marathon (and let’s say your flight and entry was paid for)?
Themocracy
I hadn’t really ever thought about bridge runs before, but I think it’s smart as a part of your race-specific preparations.
At the Fox Valley Marathon there weren’t any super long bridges (maybe a minute or two’s run at the most) but what I was surprised by was the up-down swaying from the traffic. If you’re tummy is at all queasy, more up-down on top of your running is NOT fun.
If I were living in NYC & looking at the marathon course, I’d probably also try to plan a few runs where the long run ends shortly after a bridge. You’ve got several, and some appear to be a mile+ in length, at the start & also at mile 15 too.
Good luck! I’m enjoying not thinking about marathon training too much right now!
I noticed on the Fort2Base race that my stomach felt that way on one small bridge! So I wonder what the longer bridges will be like.
I am happy you can take a running break now (if you want!) 🙂
Very cool – and two states to boot!
I’ve never done a run that included a long bride – it looks like fun though! Very cool that you ran from one state to another too.
Now the next time someone asks you how far you’ve run you can say you ran from Indiana to Kentucky…and they will be blown away!
The only “bridge” I ever run is the 290 overpass by my house. And the occasional creek bridge on the trails. Someday it would be fun to run over the Golden Gate Bridge, though. Just to say I’ve done it.
Ha! Yeah, I don’t have to say how far it was. Steven was asking me if I ever ran from one state to another… he thought maybe at Ragnar. Who crossed the border for our team?
I would like to run in San Fran too!
WOW Kim! I am so proud of you 🙂 I can’t even walk over a bridge with out feeling sick 🙁 … please teach me how to run … lol Just looked that the pics of the bridge in china. Looks very interesting!!
Thanks! Did you see that email with the 5K plan that I sent you and Nick? You should try it out together!!!
One thing that surprised me about the NYC marathon was how hilly it is. I’d been visiting NYC for at least 10 years prior to running the race and never thought of it as a hilly city. Not only is the city hilly, but the bridges are definitely a hill workout, too! You’re so smart to start adding this into your training routine!
I don’t think the bridge will sway during the marathon — I regularly run over a couple of bridges here as part of my long runs, and I’ve never noticed any swaying before! Granted, I wasn’t running alongside thousands of other people, but this past weekend I was accompanied by lots of cyclists (New York Century), and I didn’t feel any swaying at all.
Then again, these are different briges. 😉
<3 <3
Oh no, I’m a little nervous of what I’m going up against for the half I’m doing in Louisville. I mapped the elevations and it didn’t look too bad, but I run on flat land here in the prairie state.
When I would visit Harrison, it was fun to run the MIT bridge in Boston. I don’t think I’d do an entire marathon on a bridge. Too much of a chance to get blown over the side by a brutal crosswind. Okay, I exaggerate, but still….
My first 10k was run across a bridge that is 4 miles long (over the Chesapeake Bay in MD). I enjoyed the up and down portions but the flat portion was not my favorite. The only time I could feel the bridge move was on that flat section but I didn’t notice until another runner pointed it out to me. I don’t think the give from the bridge bothered me but the flat section just felt hard for some reason.
I’d run a marathon on that bridge!! I think it would be interesting.