Running in Pittsburgh

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know my affinity for early morning runs in cities that I travel to. They are a great way to get to know a place and I usually happen upon some gem. Today was no exception.

I started out in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Highland Park with no idea where I was and very little idea of where I was going. I made it to Highland Park park, which had a lovely fountain and beautiful flowers, but the running lane was slanted for road drainage. So after one loop, I was ready for something different. 

Since Pittsburgh holds the world record for the city with the most bridges(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridges_of_Pittsburgh), I wanted to run across one of them. So I ran in the direction that I though would get me to a river, that direction was downhill. If you've never been to Pittsburgh, it is very hilly, which is great for training, but something I'm completely unprepared for since Dallas is very flat. I enjoyed my very long downhill run of at least a mile, and kept trying to forget the fact that I was going to have to run back up it... But look what I found at the bottom!

A river! I had no idea which one, since 3 rivers cross in this city, but I was so pleased with my find! Next step in my journey, run across a bridge. I had to run for several miles down a fairly busy road. Normally this wouldn't matter much, but I had to run most of the way in the street. The suburbs of Pittsburgh have really crummy sidewalks. They were uneven, littered with debris and broken glass and overgrown with weeds. Definitely not barefoot friendly. But it was all worth it when I found the Robert D. Fleming bridge. I ran across it and discovered that I also was able to see the Pittsburgh skyline from the other shore! What a gem!

Miles logged: 7.75