City 6, 5K

It's amazing how three little miles can change your outlook on entire week.

I didn't run Thursday and Friday my legs were feeling better. In the evening I went for an easy run with Heather. My legs felt pretty good except for a twinge in my left thigh, and I wanted to go faster but Heather was there to keep that urge in check.

Saturday morning was the City 6 5K. A race held by 6 major local Universities along the Kelly Drive River path,a route that is all to familiar. I went into this race with no expectations knowing that I might not be running at my best and not wanting to push anything for a race that wasn't even on my radar 3 weeks ago.

I did a couple miles with a guy from work beforehand and thinsg felt good. The sky was gray and the air was cooler than I had expected, about 50 degrees, but the wind was calm and it was a good day for a race.

About 300 people toed the line and I got up close to the front about three people back. There didn't look to be a ton of quick people but I saw a couple guys warming up that made me think I didn't have a shot at winning this.

The race started and I went out at what felt like a conservative pace. As usual a large group was ahead of me, 3/4 of which faded before we reached 1/2 mile mark. I passed several people within the first mile and I could see the leaders pulling away up ahead. I had a few guys within striking distance as I went through the first mile in 5:40. Faster than I expected but that is the way things are in a 5K. Passed one guy in this mile and got right behind another right before the turn around.

I had slowly been catching him and I bided my time for about a 1/4 mile behind him before trying to pass. He met my surge and we were literally neck and neck for about a 1/4 mile. This had a lot of runner going the other way cheering us on and also kept the pace quick in what normally is a slower portion of the race for me.

He pulled a little ahead of me but I thought I had him if I just held tight for a few and tried to pass again. On the second attempt I was able to get ahead and then concentrated on putting some distance between us and keeping the pace up. There was a third guy ahead and I thought I had a shot at him but upon hearing me he kicked it up a gear and I knew I didn't have shot unless he slowed down.

3/4 of a mile to go and now the watch checking began. Could I break my PR of 18:20? Could I got sub 18? Trying to do the mental calculations when you are running all out can be difficult and although I wasn't sure until 1/4 of mile to go I thought I had a shot at sub 18:00.

As I raced along Boathouse Row and I started to realize 18 was in the bag and I think a huge smile popped up on my face. Crossed the line in 17:45 for a 35 second PR and much quicker that I really thought I would race.

A great cap to a shitty week. A huge PR that is on par with the performance I put in at Broad Street last year. I was ecstatic. Things seemed back on track and my lets felt good the remainder of the day. Sweet.

My Legs Have Given Up

Yesterday was more of the same for running. I planed on a 10 mile run with 6-8 of the miles at marathon pace. I should have scaled back the distance based on yesterdays run but I didn't.

My left hamstring was acting up when I started but it quieted down after about a mile. I decided to try for marathon pace and see what happened. 1st mile in 6:36, second mile in 6:36. Even with the marked 1/4 miles on Kelly Drive I was having a hard time holding pace.

I stopped to stretch things out and decided to slow it down a little for the remainder of my trip out to the Art Museum. Got to the museum, stretched a little more and took in the beautiful day and headed back. Things got progressively slower as my legs continued to feel worse. Towards the end I was at 8:00 pace and just dying for it to be over. I even walked a 1/4 mile. 10 miles in 1:15.

I really don't know exactly what is up. I am guessing that 21 miles on Saturday took a lot more out of me than I first thought. Based on the run I did the day after (Sunday) I felt good. Since then, not so good. My legs doesn't feel any better then it did on Monday.

So, no run tonight, easy run tomorrow and hopefully I still will be able to race a planned 5K on Saturday morning. That will be a call I make Saturday morning. If things still don't feel so good I'll run it slower and turn it into a tempo run. If I feel better it will definitely be an all out effort.

I hopped in my car to drive down to the group run last night and at the top of my block I saw a couple runners hitting the trails in the Wissahickon. The idea of trail running on such a beautiful sunny evening enticed me to bag the group run, park my car, and head into the park.

In my mind I had visions of myself quickly cruising over familiar trails, up and down the valley of the Wissahickon Creek. However, in the back of my head I could hear a mocking laugh coming from my legs. "Your running where? how fast? hills? Yeah right". I told my legs to shut up, and got to running.

My legs have been achey the past few days, specifically my upper left leg. My left hip and hamstring have been really tight and sore especially after sitting still for any more than 20 minutes. I think this has a lot to do with the miles last week and a little to do with the massive yard cleaning operation I did on Sunday. I was climbiing, lifting and cutting for a good 3 hours. After nothing but running for a few months I am just not used to that. I took Monday off and I had an easy 8 miles planned for last night that I was trying to turn into a trail run.

Things were far from smooth right from the start, felt more like I was taking my legs out for a run than they were taking me out for a run. Pulling them a long with each step. Sometimes things will loosen up and feel better once you get moving but not last night. After 1.5 miles of trails I decided to head down to Forbidden Drive, a very smooth, flat, wide path that follows the creek. After 3 miles I turned around. Towards the end of the run things were feeling a little better but I was happy to be done after 6 miles.

Upper leg still tight and sore today, even to the touch. I can tell it is nothing major just a little whining from my legs. I'll just take it easy. Had this been three weeks ago I would be nervous about it but I am tapering so I'm not going to sweat it.

Other tapers (tapirs)

Yesterday was a beautiful afternoon, temps in the mid-50's with no clouds. I wanted to get out out around noon for a run but I got sidetracked with cleaning my yard. What started as a small clean up project of old leaves hiding behind my trash cans turned into me, with a saw, cutting down the junk tree branches which overhang my yard from the empty lot behind my house. So 4 hours, lunch and 9 million tree branches later I finally headed out.

My legs felt better than I expected after Saturdays run but I had every intention of keeping this a recovery run. Took Forbidden Drive from my house and headed out to Valley Green. The parked was packed with people enjoying the fine weather.

I was was itching to get on some of the rougher trails on the sides of the valley but knew it might not be the best decision on a recovery run. I compromised by running a mile and half of trails that I knew were for the most part flat. It's been a long while since I went out for a long trail run in the park and the nicer weather has really piqued my interest in getting out there. After Boston I plan to spend a lot of time catching up on my trails running and biking.

I stayed on the main path after reaching Valley Green restaurant where an outdoor wedding reception was in full swing. 8 miles in 63 minutes.

Taper Time

The final 20+ miler of marathon training is complete! For me it is always a great feeling to have this done. To me the long run is the most demanding and of course the most time consuming workout of training. I think it is also a likely spot to get injured so to have finished them is a relief.

Friday night I kept it easy and ran a little over 6.5 miles in an on and off rain on Kelly Drive. I don't mind the rain so much when it is in the 50's and it stopped half-way through the run so all was good. My legs were a little tight but I thought this easy run would be just the thing to loosen them up for a long run on Saturday morning. I also did two non-consecutive miles at marathon pace and everything felt ok.


Saturday I jumped on a route that Ian had posted on the group message board. It included most of the the major hills in Fairmount Park. I was going to wait for Sunday to do my long run but the possibility of doing the first 13 miles with a good group on a hilly course was to tempting.

A very light rain was falling when we started but this quickly ended and the rest of the way was dry. We somehow missed our first hill and instead of taking the longer hilly sharp turn to Lemon Hill we took the short less hilly wider turn and cut a little off the route. Plenty of hills ahead to make up for losing a couple.

At about 2 miles my legs were feeling strong and I knew it was going to be a good day. We moved on to the Lansdowne hill and then St Georges. Down to the Belmont Plateau and into the woods on the fire road for Parachute Hill back down again and then up the "Worst Hill". I don't know if Worst Hill is Ian's name for an unnamed hill or something that other people call it to.

Back to MLK and then up the Bloody Nipple. A 1 mile hill that varies in grade but drags on and on. The rest of the route was either downhill or flat. At this point it was Chem Steve, Ian and I and the pace picked up. I figured we were near my marathon pace of 6:48 and my thoughts were confirmed when we got on MLK and measured mile went by in 6:45. We kept this pace up till the Art Museum where Ian and Steve headed home and I headed up Kelly drive for 8 more.

There are good and bad things about leaving a group to run the remaining portion on your own. The parts that sucks is of course the fact that you are no longer running with friends, conversation is gone, and you don't have people around to join in the agony and keep things moving. I think it is good for training though. This is the portion when you are most fatigued and you now have to rely on yourself to keep the pace up and finish the run strong.

We had already done 3-4 miles at or near my marathon pace so I slowed down for the last 8. I was kind of aiming for 7:25-7:30 but the miles kept coming faster than that. 7:01, 7:07, 7:07. After each mile spilt I'd say to myself "Slow it down" but the splits kept up. I was feeling quite tired at this point but not really dragging and my legs were going strong. It's how I like to feel at the end of a long run, drained but still with some left in the tank. 7:08, 7:10, 7:15, and a 6:35 for the last mile going up to the Art Museum. I pushed a lot on the last mile but I definitely could have gone faster.

This run left me feeling really good about my training. The first 2/3 of this run were fairly difficult but I was still able to finish strong. This was also my third run of 15 miles or greater in 7 days. 18 on Sunday, 15 on Wednesday and 21.5 today in 2:38. It also makes for over 85 miles in the last 7 days. Time for taper. A slight drop to about 55-60 miles next week and then more after that. Here we come Boston.

Nice and Easy

The final week of marathon training before taper is going well. I joined up with the Thursday Nighters for 7.5 miles through Fairmount Park. Heather came out with us, which means a slower pace, but my body was happy about that. As we made our way past Memorial Hall, Heather, E-Mike and I quickly fell behind Ian, Deidre and Chem Steve but that was to be expected.

The weather was warm, the pace was easy and the conversation was good. All the ingredients needed for a relaxing recovery run. Even a light rain shower was welcomed on a 65 degree evening. Just enough to dampen our shirts and cool us off a bit as we made our way down Belmont Mansion towards Montgomery Ave and MLK Drive.

We got back to the Art Museum in about 65 minutes and due to a shorter route beat the crew that pulled ahead of us.

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I have been patiently waiting for my Boston bib# in the mail but broke down and took a peak at the website to see if it was posted there. #3402

I am not even slightly superstitious but for a second my mind tried to draw some postive inferences from the digits. None quickly appeared but no negatives either. I'll just leave it at that.

Feeling Vernal

Spring has sprung and it feels good. I took the opportunity to clear out my running clothes drawers. It's amazing how quickly I can pile up a bunch of running shirts and shorts that I never wear. I went lean and tucked away a bunch of things that I normally leave in there. These extra clothes will sit in the closet for about 1 year at which time I will decide that I really am not ever going to wear them and I'll send them to charity.

I ditched all winter running clothes except two long sleeve shirts. I may be a bit optimistic about the temperatures but I think we must be in the clear as far as cold weather goes by this point.

My spring running so far...

Tuesday night I didn't have time to put in any miles before the group run so I settled for the normal 8. I hoped to do 6:20 pace tempo run for a majority of the way and luckily so did a lot of other people. Ian and Veena were shooting for the same pace so I tucked in behind them along with Chem Steve, Stevus, and Chris. Ian and Veena were dead on with a 6:25 on the first split and things increased slightly from there. 6:24, 6:18, 6:04. Just about exactly what I hoped to run that evening. I didn't get all the miles I would have liked but I definitely got the ones that counted.

Tonight was my mid-week long run. I have been steadily building these runs up from 10 miles in the beginning of training to this week which was a 15 miler. That number seemed insane for a mid-week run a year ago but now it is sane enough that I can out and do it.

Back out to Chestnut Hill for this run on a route that I have been adding a little bit to each week to get the miles I want. I had Sufjan Stevens' "Illinoise" album on the iPod and without me realizing it, the dark and gloomy middle section of this CD had gotten me in a dark and gloomy mood. However, the CD suddenly takes a turn to a more poppy and upbeat song towards the end that puts a smile on my face and makes me pick up the pace. It's a strange feeling when that song comes on and cheers me up, I'm really not paying any attention to the music and suddenly I realize it had me in a bad mood when this upbeat song comes on.

My legs were a little fatigued but as the run progressed they actually felt stronger. I got back to Manayunk and did a little bit of looping around to make what I felt was 15 miles. Got home and mapped it all out. 15.0356 miles in 1:49. for 7:16 pace. I really didn't think I had been moving that quickly but the numbers don't lie.

Then I Got High

I headed back to the river drives for my run last night only because I knew the path was clear and I really didn't feel like dodging piles of snow and traffic on the roads. I Parked in the same exact spot as I did for my run on Sunday and set off on the same exact course.

My legs felt great from the start. I felt like I had some kind of energy buzzing around inside me that was coming out through my legs. I didn't want to push the pace to much because of the 18 miles yesterday but I hit a couple miles under 7:00 on my way to the Art Museum. When I got there I did 3 quick trips up and down the steps and was still floating along.

Followed the path extension down to the turn around and started heading back. I couldn't believe how great I was feeling. Like a runners high from the first step that just kept on going. Kind of weird but I swear I wasn't on any mood enhancing additives.

With a about a mile left I came back to earth and started to feel a little fatigued. 8 miles in 58 minutes. Maybe this will continue through the week.

Then I Got High

I headed back to the river drives for my run last night only because I knew the path was clear and I really didn't feel like dodging piles of snow and traffic on the roads. I Parked in the same exact spot as I did for my run on Sunday and set off on the same exact course.

My legs felt great from the start. I felt like I had some kind of energy buzzing around inside me that was coming out through my legs. I didn't want to push the pace to much because of the 18 miles yesterday but I hit a couple miles under 7:00 on my way to the Art Museum. When I got there I did 3 quick trips up and down the steps and was still floating along.

Followed the path extension down to the turn around and started heading back. I couldn't believe how great I was feeling. Like a runners high from the first step that just kept on going. Kind of weird but I swear I wasn't on any mood enhancing additives.

With a about a mile left I came back to earth and started to feel a little fatigued. 8 miles in 58 minutes. Maybe this will continue through the week.

A giant sleet storm put a damper on my running for this weekend. I've never so much of the little balls of ice. It sleeted from Friday morning all the through the night piling up a few inches of heavy wet guck when it was all said and done.

Friday quickly went out the window and instead of running I walked to the local bar with everybody that lives in my duplex. We drank many beers and ate greasy food. I don't often do that during marathon training and it was nice to just not think about running and relax for a Friday night.

I planned to run later in the day Saturday, after a lot of melting had occurred in the strong March sun. Heather and I drove down to the Art Museum and I could quickly see that the river path wasn't in great condition for running. It's normally cleared soon after a storm but not this time. Heather didn't look to excited to slog through the uneven footing, and icy patches and I wasn't to keen on the idea myself so I came home to the hated treadmill.

5 miles with most coming in at 7:30 pace. I did 5x400 at 6:00 pace somewhere in the middle just to break the monotony and I was done. It sucks just as bad as I remember but I was happy to at least get a few miles in.

This all meant that my long run got pushed back to Sunday. Figured I would get out the door at 9:00 am and just deal with the conditions. By that time the sun would have started melted things and hopefully I could get some clear path.

Things definitely didn't look to warm and melting when I left the house. I drove to the St. Joe's boathouse and I could see that the river path didn't look any better than it had the day before. This was going to suck just as much as I imagined. The path looked a little better heading towards the museum so I set off in that direction not knowing where I was going to find 18 miles of road but I had to start somewhere.

The path was a mess but the sleet had formed a frozen sheet on the grass that wasn't to slippery and I stayed on that for as much as I could. I had to run on some fairly bad footing occasionally but overall it wasn't to bad. I wasn't breaking any land speed records but my pace was steady. When I got to the Art Museum I did two trips up the steps and decided to just run this route back and forth to my car for 18 miles.

Not to exciting but I at least knew what I was in for. With each pass the sun melted the ice more and more to the point where the path was runnable just about the entire way by the end. It went by more quickly that I would have thought and before I knew it I was on my last 3 mile return from the Art Museum. 18 miles in 2:20.

Hopefully this will be the last of the nasty weather. Things are looking up for next week and then we are practically in April.

Racing the Rain

I checked the accuweather radar when I got home from work and saw a big blob of dark green heading my way. With temps in the mid-40's the rain was going to be cold so I got out the door as fast as possible so I could warm up before the rain hit.

Daylight saving time allows me to run in the Wissahickon Park after work again and I made my way out to the Valley Green restaurant for an 8 mile loop. The rain held off until a couple miles into the route but even then it was very light stuff and I was warmed up. The miles were coming quicker than I expected, hovering around 7:00 pace, but I felt good so I went with it. I battled a stiff breeze most of the way out and was looking forward to the turn around when it would be at my back.

Decided to pass the restaurant by a half mile to make it nine miles for the evening and then started heading back. With the wind behind me the pace increased and I hit a couple miles below 6:30. I really felt good and the pace was coming fairly easy. By this point the rain had picked up, it was nearly a downpour. I was glad I only had a couple miles to go. Things would quickly become miserable if I had to be out in this to long.

Finished up a conservative 9 miles in 63 minutes on the nose. A great run on a not so great evening.

It's funny how quickly the weather can turn in March. Yesterday afternoon it was 68 degrees, this morning on the ride in to work, sleet was piling up and the temp was 32. A good thing about a March winter storm, you know things can get better just as quickly as they got bad and the snow melts away before it takes on the nasty icy/slush you get midwinter.

I'm always a little apprehensive of running to much mileage the week after the race but after an easy 9 miles on Monday night my legs felt pretty good so I stuck with the planned 8 on Tuesday. As usual I got down to the group run a little early to put in 3 miles. There was a bit of a buzz pre-run form the 60 degree weather and the half-marathon on Sunday.

Had plans to keep things easy and I stuck to that for the most part. Mostly mid to low 7 pace with a couple miles sneaking in under 7:00. I ran with Scott, a very experienced runner that I have mentioned before in this blog. I like to hit him with questions to try and learn from some of his experience. Didn't dig up any good nuggets on Tuesday night but I'll keep trying. A conservative 7.5 miles in 56 minutes.

Wednesday night has been my mid-week long run so far in marathon training but instead of the normal 13-15 miles I scaled back a little a set out for 10. A loop up through Fairmount Park that hits some long hills. Felt great most of the way and tacked on an extra 1/2 mile loop while I was out there. The weather was great, maybe even a little to warm, in the upper 70's. I finished strong going down the Bloody Nipple Hill and home. 10.6 miles in 76 minutes.

For the first time I can remember in training I got a decent blister on my foot during last nights run. I developed it during the half-marathon over the weekend and had forgot about it until 7 miles into the run last night. Nothing horrible but it is still with me today. I don't have any experience in dealing with a blister, any tips on how to keep it from getting worse?

Spring is in the Air

The weather was beautiful yesterday, upper 50's, light wind and plenty of sunshine. Luckily my legs were feeling a little better than I imagined they would be and I joined Heather for a run in the sun when I got home from work.

It was a trip down Kelly Drive and back at a very leisurely pace. My quads were sore from the race but this route is very flat so it didn't cause any problems. A conservative 9 miles in 1:17. A change in weather definitely brightens the mood and it has me looking forward to my workouts this week. Highs will be back to the upper 30's by the weekend but I'll block that out for now and enjoy the next few days. The cold days are numbered at this point in year anyhow.

The warm weather did bring out the hordes on Kelly Drive. Runners, bikers, rollerbladers and walkers all over the place. I laugh at the bikers that are trying to put in a hard workout on days like today, 25 mph down a path that is 6 feet wide and covered with people going much slower than they are. Several times I saw looks of frustration on their faces when they were forced to slow down because of the crowd.

What do they expect on a day like yesterday? Cross the river to the less crowded side or better yet, go up into the magnificent park that surrounds both sides of the river and enjoy the wide shoulders and rolling hills. I can't think of a better place than that to put in a good workout.

Caesar Rodney

I have been mulling over this race all day. It's stuck in my head like a bad song, replaying and replaying.

I walked out the door this morning at 7:00 to wet streets and a perfectly clear sky, the sun was just starting to come up, due to the time change, an hour later than yesterday. It felt like good racing weather and I was excited to get the show on the road.

I met up with the Philly Runner crew that was very well represented in Caesar Rodney square before the race. Seebo had graciously offered to pace me for the first half of this race and a few other guys, Chem Steve, Craig, and Stevus decided to join us. The idea was to go out comfortably and ease into a 6:25 pace before hitting the hills between mile 5-7. Then, keep pushing and hold on for the trip back down the hills 10-12, to the finish.

As I had expected Seebo set things up perfectly. After an easy 6:38 for the first mile we hit 6:19 for mile 2, a short mile 3 in 6:05 and long mile 4 in 6:33. I was working, but I felt comfortable and relaxed. Things were going just as I had hoped. The four of us kept a steady pace and reeled in all the people that had gone out to fast.

Mile 5 went by in 6:15 and I was putting in a little more effort than I would have liked but a 5 mile split of 31:4? was just were I wanted to be. Seebo was not only controlling the pace but giving us a few words of wisdom that I digested as I hung on up the hills and tried to stay as close as possible to break any wind. Mile 6 up the hills in 6:24. I was surprised at how quickly that split was, I felt like we had actually slowed down more than that. I took that as good sign. We hit the halfway mark in 41:30, perfectly for my goal of 1:23. The man's pacing was dead on. Thanks Seebo.

Mile 7 in 6:40 but unlike mile 6 I was really feeling that 6:40 even though it was slower than the mile before. Thankfully the hills were over but I think my legs held onto their memory for the rest of the race. At this point Seebo gave us some words of encouragement and advice and bid us adieu. He was wisely laying off the pace as his coached had prescribed in prep for his goal race next weekend.

So now it was time to hang on and keep the pace up as we completed a 1.5 mile out and back before heading back down the hills. Mile 8 in 6:20, if I could just keep this pace up things would be in the bag for a 1:23. However, I was starting to struggle my legs and my breathing were not where I would want them at this point in the race.

Mile 9 in 6:34 and I was pushing, I was really expected to feel a little better at this point. I was praying for the downhills and just trying to hold on. Mile 10 went by in 6:29. Faster, but I was really giving it all I had to hit that time. I didn't have much in the bank for the last few miles, even though they were mostly downhill.

Downhill mile 11 in 6:33. Not much I can say about that one. I envisioned 6:05's coming down these hills but I just couldn't get the legs to turn over, I was struggling. Mile 12 in 6:21, faster but still not where I wanted to be.

Things flattened out here and I held on as we made the turn for that final steep hill to the finish. Pushed with what I had left and finished in 1:24:34.

A little analysis ...

Missed my goal time by about a minute. It was nearly a 2 minute PR for the distance, which I set at the same race last year, and I was happy to have done that but still let down at the same time. I really thought I had 1:23 in the bag and might have a shot at 1:22 and that is why this race has been replaying all day.

I had based my goal time on some the training runs I have had lately and the amount of fitness I felt I had gained from the same time last year. Perhaps I was a little to optimistic.

I did have a heavy taper this week but my long run last Sunday was the quickest I have ever covered 20 miles in training, on a hilly course with a fast finish. I could feel that long run in my legs into Wednesday. That run also came on the end of the two highest mileage weeks I have had in running, back to back. So maybe that zapped some of the zip in my legs and caused me to lose a little in the last few miles. It wasn't a total collapse, more like a slow erosion.

All in all I am happy with the day. It predicts a sub 3:00 in the marathon and I have three solid weeks of training left before the heaviest of marathon taper begins. I'll use them as wisely as I can and get ready for Boston. I am excited to race Boston but I will be happy when it is done.

Congratulations to all the Philly Runners who ran. I am guessing about 25-30 people from the group raced, which is really a great turn out for a mid-march 1/2 marathon. We took #1 and #2 in the male team competition, out of only three teams, but who is counting. A new member to our group also won the entire race with a 1:09. Way to go Chris.

Extreme Taper

Due to a number of reasons, some in my control and some out of my control, taper has been more extreme than expected this week. In fact, I am only up to 13 miles for the week and it is Friday. I was hoping to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 miles before the half-marathon on Sunday but obviously that is not going to happen. (I guess I could make it happen but that wouldn't leave me in any condition to race)

I did an easy 5 with Heather on Wednesday night and I had to DNR Thursday night. The plan is 8 tonight at an easy pace with some strides just to make sure everything is in working order and wake up my legs. 4-5 miles Saturday morning and it will be time to race.

I really am looking forward to the race. It has been nearly 5 months since I got out there to see what I can do, at any distance. With the extra taper this week I am definitely not going to hold anything back.

After Sunday it will be only two more weeks of hard training before taper begins for Chicago. I can't believe how fast it has gone.

Per my routine in marathon training, I got down to the group run early and put in three miles beforehand. My legs were still stiff from the runs over the weekend and for the first time in this round of marathon training I really felt like I had gotten myself to the edge of injury. My achilles had a pinchy feel to them and I kept things real slow trying to get them warmed up. I was glad I had taken a day off on Monday and that the week ahead was going to be a taper.

Things were feeling better when I met with the group and we started off at a fairly easy pace up Kelly Drive. Bike Mike, Craig, Chem Steve and I formed a little group, I had no intention of pushing the pace and luckily nobody else did either. We eventually got passed by Stevus and Chris but nobody took the bait and they pulled ahead.

Things got a little brisker by the end but never below 7:00 pace. 8 miles in 60 minutes.

1300, 11, & 20

I am a few days behind. Friday was a DNR. I got out of work around later than normal at 5:45 and Heather had dinner cooking when I got home. That was just enough to put my mind, which was close to to taking a day off, over the top.

Saturday morning I had to skip the normal long run to take the GREs. I'll say that I was very nervous going into the test and my confidence was not riding to high, especially when it came to the math section. Things seems to just get worse as I worked through the test and a horrible feeling of dread was building with each question. I debated not even reporting my scores when I finished the test, I'd come back and try another day. Thank God I decided to report. I clicked the report button and nearly fell out of my chair when I saw a 700 out of 800 in analytical and a 600 out of 800 in verbal. For a total of 1300. It was about the best score I thought I would be capable of, and that was if the planets aligned and God happened to be a great mood that morning. Needless to say I was happy.

Got home ate a late lunch and headed out for 20 miles. This 20 was doomed from the start. I had eaten a big plate of Pad Thai Chicken only 75 minutes before starting, my Ipod was nearly out of battery and wasn't going to make it through the run, and the thought of finishing 20 miles in the dark at 6:30 pm just didn't feel right. I bailed early on the route, opting for 11 miles in 81 minutes. I was happy with the decision when I finished.

I had a relaxing Sunday morning and got out the door at 10:30 for my run. Followed the same route as Saturday which was a basically huge tour of East and West Fairmount Park starting with the Bloody Nipple and ending with Lemon Hill with St Georges and Belmont Mansion in between. Got down to Kelly, bought a gatorade from Chief and headed down the path extension to the turn around. I passed Alex going the other direction. He was also in iPod land, we stopped briefly to chat and kept going. Once I got back to boat house row I picked up the pace and mile 17 into the wind 6:46, mile 18 with the wind at my back 6:26, mile 19 which was half with and half against the wind 6:26. I was totally spent and took it very easy for the last mile. 20 in 2:26.

Easily the fastest 20 I have done in training. I was happy to hit those splits at the end of this run. My calves were burning horribly 5 minutes after finishing. That's a feeling I haven't had in a while. This puts me at 70 for the week and 150 miles in the last 2 weeks. I have earned a good taper for the week leading up to Caesar Rodney.

After a couple fairly hard days in a row it was time to go out for an easy one last night. I wanted to stay away from flat boring existence that the River Drives turn into during marathon training so I went out on a Roxborough Loop. This route has gone from an exploration of the area's neighborhoods to a routine loop over the last year.

I kept the pace easy and relaxed, my legs felt kinda beat up, especially my left ankle. The area in front of my ankle bone on the outside of my leg has been a little tender over the past couple days and it showed up on this run. Nothing bad just nagging and reminding me to take it easy with each step. I'll take another easy one tonight, especially if it still feels that way.

Turned things around at summit and Ridge and made my way back. I passed a large group of runners heading the opposite direction on the other side of the street. I couldn't really make out any faces but I heard a "Hey John". I'm not sure if it was the Wissahickon Wanderers avoiding the slushy mess that must be in the park or perhaps Raymond running with another group that I don't know of. He lives up in that area somewhere.

I felt good by the end of the run, and almost opted for a few more miles but I'll save that for over the weekend if things feel good. 8.2 miles in 60 minutes.

The Mileage Diet..

...eat as much as you want and stil lose weight

I was told I am looking to lean by Heather last night, that means I must be getting in good shape. It's the same thing when my mother tells me I am looking to thin, I have put in enough miles to start looking like I need several good spaghetti dinners. Also, is "lean" just a nice way of saying I look emaciated, frail, like I could be blown over by a stiff wind? Maybe, but oh well it just comes with the territory.

Heather was right though after initially not dropping any weight in training, the pounds have been dropping a little over the past few weeks. Believe me I am using all my powers of mastication to avoid dropping weight but it is a losing battle. I go through granola bars, apples, oranges, clementines, pretzels and chips all at my desk. My meals at the cafeteria which were about $4-5 while not training jump to $7-8 during training. Thank god I love to eat. Being a few pounds lighter means that I have to push off that much less with every step, making me more efficient, it's not really a bad thing, to a point.

So I got home from work last night slightly hungry but I knew I had to put in about 14 miles so out the door I went. I ran repeat of a loop through Chestnut hill from a few weeks ago. At the same point in the run, about 5 miles in, I really got into a groove and picked up the pace. I charged the hills on the remainder of the run and although my legs were sore they were in good enough working.

At mile 12, just as I began feeling like I could keep this up until about 2 am my body started coming back to earth and fatigue set in. No problem, a couple miles to go, mostly on a steep hill down Shurs Lane made the last couple pretty easy.

14.3 miles in 1:44. Again another great run.