History, On Foot

I recently went on a walking tour with the Municipal Art Society of New York. Veronica and I met her friends for brunch at Bocca Lupo in Cobble Hill, where we talked politics (alternately depressing and energizing), ate baked eggs and crusty bread, and then met our group at the corner of Smith and Carroll Streets in Carroll Gardens. We moseyed around the neighborhood for a few hours—it was a beautiful autumn day—learning about brownstones, churches, street grids, local businesses, and Brooklyn history. I tried to imagine what it must have looked like 15o years ago, when people owned "country houses" here. This was countryside, way back when.

It was a fun way to learn about where I'm living. And just as fun to observe the people in our group, which was at least 25 strong: a woman who spent the whole tour pulling the split ends off her hair (gross!). Another woman who, obviously, spends many a weekend on historical walking tours ("See you next weekend in Crown Heights!"). Someone who smelled like mothballs (someone just pulled a winter coat out of the closet...and I thought it was the aroma of the Gowanus Canal...see below). It wasn't exactly a hipster demographic, which is what made it awesome.

Here's a pic of the Carroll Street Bridge, which crosses the Gowanus Canal (which people, apparently, love to hate). The canal, and the industrial area around it, divides Carroll Gardens from Park Slope, where I live.


Evidence of Swoon:


The South Congregational Church:



On Monday morning, because I procrastinated (I'm good at procrastinating many projects, topics, and tasks, including training!), I went on a nice run from my front door to the Upper West Side, a little under 11 miles:



It was nice and cool and windy, and the rain held off until I could jump on the subway. Which turned out to be rush hour. I'm sure all the suits appreciated me and my bad stinky self! I didn't feel too bad, four weeks out from the big race....I have to suffer through one more really long run before tapering ("tapering," for me, involves barely running a step for days at a time, drinking more than I should, staying up late watching Project Runway, and generally being a lazy-ass)(wait, maybe that's just life in New York). I'm planning to visit my bro in Boston this weekend, so I'll do the 20-mile deed there—where there's a bit more green space and less cab-dodging.