I made it out to join the 8:15 long run group for the first time in a long while. In my head if I am not directly training for a marathon there is no reason I should be running at 8:15 on Saturday morning. In reality the miles I put in over the winter and through the spring will help me in a fall marathon so I am technically "in training". So I was in front of the Art Museum with Steve and Jim freezing our asses off waiting for Seebo, Kev, and Erin to arrive. They cam running around the bend and we headed on our way up Kelly drive.

There was a biting wind all the way up the drive that really made the 32 degree temp much worse than it really is. A few miles in I was warmed up and the wind didn't seem so bad. We made it up through Manayunk and crossed the Green Lane Bridge for a little jaunt over the hills of Belmont. Steve led the way at even and not to strenuous pace that felt really good. When we reached Ford Road, Seebo headed out to West Philly and Steve, Jim and I headed for Fairmount park.

We crossed Chamounix and did a little loop around Greenland to add a half mile or so. This sent us back to the very beginning of Chamounix and I have decided that I reallly don't like running all the way down this road. It is long, boring and dead flat. We all commented on how we really weren't feeling to well when we reached Belmont Mansion Drive. However, a trip down the hill and view of the city skyline quicklly brightened everybody's spirits and the rest of the run through Fairtmount Park and behind the zoo went pretty well.

In total it was 14.5 miles in 1hr58min. Not to bad a pace for a long run and my first run over 14 miles for the year. I felt good at the end and was happy to get in a long run before the Half Mary next weekend. I might have to make more of these 8:15 runs, it's great having run 14 miles before 10:30.