Riverdale Run

Charming Castle-like houses in Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx

Every couple of weeks my neighborhood running group treks up to Riverdale on our weekly Saturday long run. I remember a few years ago when I made my first journey through the hills of Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale and I didn't think I was going to make it. The rolling hills of S.D. were followed by a whopper of a hill at 254th St that felt like going up a ski slope and I couldn't believe I was still moving forward. Now, years and many hills later I can bound up most of those hills without missing a beat. The killer hill on 254th still gives me a run for my money though, but I know I can make it so I just keep pushing. Yesterday was the first time in at least a month or two since I've done this run and it felt like I was doing it for the first time- not the pain and gasping of the hills, but in the way I was seeing things. I brought along a good friend, NM for the run who has run with the group just a few times and it was her first time doing this particular run, so I felt like a tour guide. She's really into beautiful real estate so I spent more time looking at all of the gorgeous, old houses than usual, pointing out fun details that I hadn't noticed before. Since it was a bit iffy on the trails we usually run, we had to take our winter detour which takes us up "Wave Hill" which is a doozy. Wave Hill is actually a Cultural Center and Garden perched atop a hefty hill with gorgeous views of the Hudson and Palisades. Along Independence Ave around Wave Hill are houses that look like they were transplanted from Tuscany with their archways and intricate details. It was such a sunny and crisp morning, I hardly felt the hills. We always finish our run by passing near the Riverdale Country School and then cruising around the lower parts of Van Cortlandt Park. We all commented on how good it felt to hit that dirt path after pounding the pavement for the last 7 miles or so. I needed to get in about 11 miles yesterday so my NM and I continued on after leaving the group at the 242nd 1 train station. We followed Broadway back down to the 225th St bridge which links The Bronx to Inwood, Manhattan and weaved our way through Inwood back towards home. I convinced NM that we didn't need to take the 187th St CRAZY STAIRS again (we did them Thurs) so we took the 181st St subway elevator :)

It was an easy pace run, with a total elevation gain of 3,260 ft!

Heres the breakdown:

8:36 pace, elev+ 431ft

9:59 pace, elev+ 375ft

9:45 pace, elev+237ft

10:08 pace, elev+ 224ft

10:24 pace, elev+ 181 (so slow?)

9:59 pace, elev+ 49ft

10:01 pace, elev+158ft

9:03 pace, elev+21 (Broadway is flat!)

8:54 pace, elev+ 219

9:14 pace, elev+ 181ft

9:34pace, elev+ 1,058 (WOAH)

last .32 mi 9:30 pace, elev+126ft

We were a bit all over the place, but thats the reality of running with a group of people with similar but not exact abilities. I love my running group! I never would have found this route without them and I never would have pushed myself to get better on those hills without them either. <3

Photo courtesy of NYtimes.com

The Little Red Lighthouse Festival

Saturday was the annual Little Red Lighthouse Festival in Fort Washington Park (also known as Riverside park under the GWB). We wandered down around 2pm and enjoyed a delicious Belgian waffle, visited the many tents and sat in the grass to enjoy the musical stylings of John Oliver and the Distinguished. There was a book reading of the children's book "The little red lighthouse and the great grey bridge" as well as tons of other stuff for the kiddies to do. I thought it was a lot of fun and saw plenty of familiar faces. If you have kids it was definitely THE place to be.

The festival was set up near the "165th St" ramp to Riverside park and was jamming up the greenway which definitely ticked off a number of cyclists out for a ride. We saw one collision on the big hill leading up to 181st by a less than courteous cyclist who thought it was better to try to fight her way up the hill and through the crowds ON the bike. I found that I had no sympathy for her when she fell over (she was fine)... its just common sense to get off and walk the bike up a steep hill like that when there are crowds of families. But I digress.... here are the pictures!

NYC Triathlon

Today was the big day for lots of city athletes, the 9th annual NYC Triathlon. It's an Olympic distance Tri which means its a 1500m swim (nearly a mile), 40K bike and a 10K run. Whew. I was a volunteer on the early, early shift- 4am to 9am handing out timing chips and making sure they put them in the right place (ankle). It was brutal getting there at 3:45 but I had a great time and met some really great people. As a volunteer you get guaranteed entry to next year's race which is a big deal because the race usually sells out in under 10 seconds once online reg opens! Insane. Anyhow since chip distribution was located right along the rivers edge, I got some great shots and had a front row "seat" to the swimming portion. It was intense and somewhat gross (we saw the trash floating around early in the morning after a few minutes of rain) but definitely inspiring. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day, gotta love old George posing upriver. Check out my flickr page for more.

Swim.Bike.Run.

Congrats to everyone who gave it their all today. It was really inspiring.

Sunset on the Hudson

After a quick trip to the grocery store I came out and noticed that the sun was heading down so I wandered over to Chittenden Ave at 187th and WOW! What a great sunset. I also took a shot of a charming little building with the greatest of old windows. These must have been all over the hood in the old days. They are the same type of windows found in Hudson View Gardenswhere all of the people have to put their AC's sideways to fit the skinny windows.

As I strolled around tonight in the cool, gorgeous evening I was reminded once again how much I love this area. And then I remembered I bought ice cream and it was still in my bag so I had to scurry home. Enjoy!

What a great view from this place! Chittenden Ave is really full of little gems.