Friday after work I just didn't feel like running. I was gonna call it a day off but an article in the new Runner's World about Triathlons got me motivated and I jumped on my bike. An out and back along Kelly drive and the path exstension with a little trip around Wissahickon totaled 17 miles.

Saturday morning I slept in and then went out for a huge breakfast. I skipped the early run due to a rainy, warm and humid morning in favor of an afternoon run. My wait was rewarded with cool, breezy dry conditions, perfect for running.

The route I take to work winds through Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill. Everytime I drive through I tell myself that I should run this someday. So that was the way I headed out. No real route in mind but I new I wanted to run about 2 hours and in the neighborhood of 15 miles.

I felt great from the start and the first 30 minutes flew by as I wound through Mt. Airy. A really peaceful, nice neighborhood. It was relaxing to go through and take a look around on my run. It is mostly single and twin homes that are very well taken care of landscaped. Lots of families walking around and several parks. I had Ben Harpers "Fight for Your Mind" on my iPod as I cruised through and I was just really enjoying the run.

Mt. Airy kind of blends right into Chestnut Hill. A neighborhood of large single homes with beautiful landscaping and gated driveways. There are some pockets of rowhomes with a lot of character and cool architecture. Germantown Ave. was crowded with shoppers and I stopped in the Wawa for a large Gatorade.

I can gget my way through Chestnut Hill but I really don't know the neighborhood that well. I just made turns when I felt like it and admired the scenery. I ended up on Stenton ve, a road I know, and took that out to Paper Mill. DId a tiny loop out in Montgomery County and then it was across Stenton and back into Philly.

The return trip was much of the same through Chestnut Hill. I got a little lost and ended up doing a large loop around the Chestnut Hill country club golf course but I didn't really mind. I was caught up in gawkign at all of the houses and landscaping. I also passed the Cricket Club, founded in 1854, and Chestnut Hill Academy. An old pricate high school that costs more than most colleges in the country.

It was at this point that the contrast of last Saturdays run and and this one hit me. Last week I was running through some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city and now I was in one of, if not the richest. All of it bordering Germantown Avenue and not really that really that far apart. Even the weather was the opposite of last week being cool and cloudy verse last weeks sun and heat. The run felt much better as well, but I think this was more of a function of my rested legs and cool weather rather than the surroundings.

As I got closer to home I realized that I wasn't going to make 2 hours if I went direct so I added a little jaunt through teh mmuch more familiar confines of Manayunk. I ran the last few miles very strong and ended with a sprint up the hill to my house. All in all a really great run from start to finish.

I had less trouble than I imagined mapping out my route on Gmaps. 16 miles in 2 hours. Easily the fastest 16 I have run and I think it is the furthest I've run since the marathon in November. 16 miles or more is what I consider a "long run", so I guess this is my first long run of the year.