Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

Before we get into this blog, I would like to take a moment to say GO KNICKS!!!! This whole season has been a whirlwind. I am so proud to be a Knicks fan. I am so proud of these men! They were definitely the underdogs going into the playoffs, but they stayed strong and dedicated and last night became the NBA Champions!

Anyway, on to the blog! I have loved New York City for as long as I can remember. I have also been obsessed with big bridges for longer than that. So when I found out that you could walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, it became one of my top 5 bucket list items. Rhiannon and I had been to New York City 3 times before this trip, but never made it down to Brooklyn because we packed so much into those trips. But this time, I made sure we had an entire day to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and then explore that area.

We started by being dropped off in DUMBO to take our pictures of the Manhattan Bridge along a cobblestone street (another place I have always wanted to see). It looked like a backdrop from a movie, even in person. After spending some time there, we started walking to the Brooklyn Bridge, it wasn't far at all. Same street. We took the stairs up to the walking path and I instantly became emotional when I saw the view of what I was about to walk.

I have shared the anxiety that I have been battling surrounding walking and my heart health. We walked so much the 4 days before this moment and I didn't have any issues, so going into this bridge walk, my anxiety was surprisingly calm. I was so excited, I could barely contain myself. Rhiannon had to tell me several times to slow down and take it all in. I didn't need to rush. I didn't want to rush, I just was so full of energy and excitement that I needed someway to get it out.

The walk up the bridge started with a concrete path. As you would expect, the start of the bridge was met with a slight incline. According to my app, we had about a 77ft elevation gain in the first half mile of the bridge. It wasn't bad at all. Once you reach the actual bridge, the ground becomes wooden planks. These planks creak as you walk over them. If you look between the slates, you could see the East River under you. Rhiannon was not a fan of this, in fact I am not sure she even looked down. I couldn't stop looking. It was beautiful!

We came to the first stone tower and I was in awe of how massive this bridge was. There were vendors selling hats and keychains. They were very respectful. They left you alone unless you talked to them first. There were also vendors there that sold fresh fruit and drinks.

When we got to the half way mark, we stopped and took in the city around us. Looking out over the Statue of Liberty, I saw another bridge. Pulling up the maps on my phone, I learned that it was the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. This is the start of the NYC Marathon. Then I looked on the other side of the bridge and looked at my maps...I found the Queensboro Bridge (mile 16 of the marathon). Looking between the two bridges and realizing that I would have another 10 miles to go after I get off the 2nd bridge, I was pretty intimidated. You really don't know how far 26.2 miles is until you see it with your eyes like that. I laughed and asked Rhiannon what I thought I was doing, but honestly...it made me even more excited for the marathon.

We got past the second tower and began our decent. It was harder going down that it was going up. The elevation drop was a lot steeper. We dropped about 105ft in elevation over about .6 of a mile. When we reached the bottom of the bridge, we turned a corner and were face to face with the Law and Order: SVU court house. I had no idea it was that close. I became very emotional, looking back I am not sure if it was the court house, the fact that I marked something off my bucket list, or a mixture of both.

This trip was so special and really showed me that I am on the right path for this marathon. 6 months ago, there is no way I would have been able to walk around the Museum, walk around Times Square to get around to the different theatres, and I sure as hell would have not been able to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked just over 6 miles that day. It may not be much, but considering I was struggling with a half a mile back in February... I am pretty excited to see the progress.

Lets do this!!!!

#JoyfulJourneyHappyHeart