You Never Know How Things Will Turn Out

I had an unplanned day off on Friday so I ditched the run on Thursday night in favor of a long trail run Friday afternoon. I headed out with high hopes for a great run on the trails of the Wissahickon. I don't get out on the trails much in the winter so I was really looking forward to it. The first few mile went fairly well but after that things just didn't feel right. Even at a slow pace I was struggling and I did something I don't often do on trail runs, stop and look around. If the running was going to suck I might as well enjoy the park and the day.

I struck off on some trails out into Chesnut Hill that, depsite running and biking for nearly 4 years in this park, I have never been on before. The exploring took my mind off just how badly the run was feeling. My legs felt ok before the run and I was well rested so I am chalking the bad run up to this cold that has been bothering me all week. I ended up putting in just over 10 miles, a few less than the 13 I was planning to do. I felt totally spent at the finish and really didn't feel myself for at least an hour after the run. I don't have bad runs to often but you sometimes can't tell where they are going to pop up.

This leads me to todays run. I was out till 4:30 in the morning last night, had 6 hours of fitfull sleep. I woke with a slight hang over and breakfast of coffee and toast. My mileage is lacking this week so I talked myself into a run during the morning. I really felt that after a horrible run yesterday and a long night the this run was going to be even worse. Surprisingly it wasn't bad at all. I was by no means flying but i really enjoyed the run and didn't feel to bad. I again hit the trails in the Wissahickon with no route or time in mind. I strung together several pieces of some of my favorite routes through the park and ended up with 7 miles in55 minutes. Not to shabby. I just need to put in at least 3 miles tomorrow to keep my mileage above 30 for the week. Sweet.