It's funny how quickly a 12 mile run can change from my longest run of the week to an easier run on a Tuesday night during a week when the mileage drops. That is however exactly what Tuesday night was. I ran a little over 5 miles to the start of the group run.

E-Mike was there and looking to do 4 miles at about 7:30 pace. That fit right into my workout so I offered to pace him through 3.5 miles before I turned around for home. Nothing to exciting, just putting in miles. 12+ miles in 92 minutes.

On Wednesday night Heather and ran a trail loop through the Wissahickon. I went out with an easy 5 miles in mind but Heather talekd me into a few more, somewhere between 6.5 and 7. It was all at a very easy pace in 58 minutes.

Into the wissahickon park last night for another stride workout. 8 miles with 10x100m strides. The last time I ran this workout I ran hard for 45 sec intervals but I realize that this a little to long if I am running at mile pace and cut back to 35-40 second intervals this time around.

After 1.5 mile warm up I hit the split, run hard for a time, wait for the lap on my watch to read 3:00 and then hit the split again and repeat. 8 miles is almost the perfect distance to run this workout. The intervals fit nicely into 5 miles and it left me 1.5 miles to finish up at the end. It also makes the time pass quickly as you are always anticipating the next interval.

8+ miles in 60 minutes.

Long Hot Weekend

Friday night I took an easy recovery run with Heather in the Wissahickon. It was warm and horribly humid. At these humidity levels the sweat refuses to evaporate and even after only 5 easy miles it's dripping from your shirt. My legs felt decent and I knew they would be ready for the a long run on Saturday morning, I was just worried about the weather.

I think Saturday morning was even worse, there was condensation on my storm windows and my front door, two things I haven't seen before. It was going to be rough. Ian mapped out a route that is similar to my last couple long runs with a bit more distance added at the far end. I stashed some water around the midway point and met Ian, Seebo, Deirdre and Craig in front of the Art Museum.

After a mile I was wiping sweat from my brow and all of our shirts were soon soaked through with sweat. Despite this, the run was going well, we had a good group and the pace was just right. We made our way down the Belmont hills and eventually all the way up the face of the first big hill which Ian has dubbed the "Bad Tipper". After a little direction from a girl walking her dog we found the first turn into new running territory which happened to be directly in front of our faces.

A long downhill and than a steep uphill which I believe has overtaken the Bad Tipper as the worst hill in the area. It needs a name and I am willing to hear other options but my gut feeling right now is the "Fuck YOU Hill!" hill. At this point point the group was stringing out and yo-yoing back together as the road went up and down towards the river.

A quick pit-stop for some water and then another hill. This hill didn't seem so bad but after mapping it out I realize that it was actually the worst hill of the day. It was made more difficult by a wrong turn that I talked everyone into making, but which also mercifully cut a couple miles off of the route.

At this point I was starting to drag as was everyone else it seemed. Despite the water I was carrying and drinking the entire way I was getting dehydrated. Ian and Seebo were pulling ahead, I was trying to keep up with Deirdre, a task that was getting more difficult with each mile, and Craig was hanging on the back.

It all became a slow grind towards the Art Museum and we couldn't get there fast enough. Misery does love company and Deidre and I pushed on as quickly as we could both grateful that we had the other to keep us going. At one point I told Deidre that we need to talk about something happy to take our minds off of things and she said "I can't". I shut up and just focused on finishing.

18.5 miles in 2 hours and 36 minutes. That translates to 8:10 pace, my slowest and most difficult long run in a couple years. I was happy to see Craig finishing up behind us and then Ian came up the hill a couple minutes later. We discussed how much the run sucked but how we were better for it and then all headed home.

I always keep an eye on my weight pre and post run. When I got on the scale at home I was down 7 lbs but this was after drinking nearly 180 ounces of water/OJ both during and after the run. It is no wonder the run felt like it did.

On Sunday Heather and I were again running the Wissahickon. 3 miles on Forbidden Drive and 3.5 on some trails. 6.5 miles in 56 minutes. My legs felt good.

60.4 miles for the week in 6 runs.

Next week is scheduled as a recovery week and is only 52 miles with a long run of 14.

I was nervous about my planned 14 miles last night. I ran 10 on Tuesday and the track meet on Wednesday night, I had a feeling that my legs weren't really going to be up for the mileage. The plan was to run down to the Art Museum and meet the Thursday night group, run back towards my house with them and then Deirdre and I would continue into Roxborough and home while the rest of the group turned around.

I took the first 5 miles to the Art Museum at an easy pace but felt fairly good. The miles were going by more quickly than expected. At the Art Museum were Devon, Ian, Seebo and Deirdre. We set off back the way I had come and Seebo took off on a tempo workout, Ian turned around after 15 minutes on post workout cooldown and that left Devon, Deidre and I to take it up Kelly Drive. I felt surprisingly good and before I knew Deirdre and I were back where I had started.

I passed my street and continued on down Main Street to Green Lane where we made a right up a horrible hill. We took it at pace that was just fast enough to be considering "running" and I took a right at the top and back to home, Deirdre continued on.

13.3 miles in 1:37.

Wanderers Track Meet

First I'd like to get down the beginning of the week.

Mon - Off

Tues - scheduled to be my tempo day but with the track meet moved from Tuesday to Wednesday it forced me to change the week up. For no reason at all I thought 10 easy miles would fit in well.

I put in 4.5 miles before the Tuesday night group run on a loop through University City and back top the Art Museum. I then joined the group for 5 miles and ran most of the way with Jim. I didn't feel great on the run, making me happy that the track meet had been postponed a day due to rain. 9.5 miles or so in 75 minutes.

Wednesday - Track Meet

The weather was almost perfect, overcast, mid 60's and almost no wind. This was my second year at this race and I again planned on running the 1 mile race and the 5000 meters. They are the first and last individual races of the evening and it gives you time to cool off and warm up in between. Heather had signed up for the 1 mile and 3000, giving her only one race in between.

The turnout was similar to last year minus a few Philly Runner folks that were missed. Kevin Forde was there to defend his mile title and a few guys in their early 20's that looked like good competition or perhaps out of my league.

Last year I was disappointed with a 5:23 mile. I went out a little to slowly and couldn't catch up in the end. This year I planned a faster attack at the start and then try to hold on.

I was able to warm up with about 1.5 miles before the race and was loose and ready to go as we lined up. I took off at the start and was quickly in third place in a field of about 10 guys. I knew Kevin Forde was behind me so I let him pass me on the inside and dropped into 4th place on the first straightaway. I thought if I could keep myself within about 5-8 seconds of Kevin in the first lap I would be in good shape.

I came through lap one in in around 69 seconds, I didn't realize it at the time but that pace was completely over my head, somewhere in the neighborhood of a 4:40 mile. I found out after the race that Kevin had also gone through the first lap to quickly due to a rabbit up front who eventually finished in 4:29.

So the remaining three laps I just tried to keep pushing as hard as I could. I didn't split the laps and I am not sure of the times but I think it became a controlled slow down. I remained in third the entire time and didn't want to glance back, I knew Kevin G was back there somewhere and probably gaining due to my fast start and slowing pace, so I just kept running as hard as I could. In the final lap I felt like I gave a kick but at that point I don't think it was much. I finished in 5:12, 11 seconds faster than last year. I was pleased with my race this time around, it's amazing how much 11 seconds can change your outlook.

I think Heather ran a 6:08 in her mile and somewhere around 12:15 for the 3000. Both of which she was very happy with.

In the 5000 meters I didn't all out race, I used it as a tempo run. There were a few guys that were shooting for a 19:20, which was right in my tempo range so I told them I'd go out at that pace and try to keep it nice and even.

At the gun two other runners jumped into the lead and continued to pull away. I was in third along with 3 others. We were together for a couple laps at 6:15 pace. Two guys eventually started to fade and this left me and one other guy running consistent 90 sec laps for the next two miles or so.

I realized I'd be able to beat last years time of 19:00 if I just increased the pace a little and over the last three laps I did. I finished in 18:54 for third place. 6:05 pace, which is right at the bottom of my tempo range.

Afterwards there was food and even a few beers that went down well on the cool misty night. 7.5 miles.

Week One Done

The lingering effects of a long run usually show up the following morning on my first few steps out of bed. This morning however, there were none of the usual aches. I obviously took this as a good sign. It's either because I haven't really gotten into the heart of training so the miles haven't had a chance to pile up and really have the effect or the slower pace yesterday made things easier on my body.

So with not so tired legs I set out in the rain this afternoon for 10 miles in the Wissahickon. I actually had to hold myself back at a few points and made sure I kept it easy. It was 65 degrees and the rain was fairly heavy. I got a little lost in my thoughts and the miles ticked off as I shook of the mental cobwebs from to many beers at a party last night. I passed Chris, the fastest guy in our a little running club, he was cruising in the other direction at a pace that would have left me panting. 10 miles in 64 minutes.

For the week 55.2 miles in 5 runs and 1000M in the pool.

Except for a missed run on Friday I am very happy with the week. The important runs went very well and I am feeling good.

Thursday was recovery and I took an easy 5 miles with Heather in the Wissahickon. Uneventful. I was worried that the workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday would leave my legs totally dead but things were good. 42 minutes.

Friday I really didn't know what to do. My schedule called for 11 miles but that was supposed to be followed by 5 easy miles on Saturday and I knew I was going to be running 18 not so easy miles on Saturday. I was off from work so I thought I could get 5-6 miles in early and then go for a swim in the evening. I should have known better and run as soon as I woke up but I kept pushing the run off, busy with stuff around the house. Before I knew it Heather was home and we were headed for the pool.

I swam about 1000M in a horribly over chlorinated pool. The nasty chlorine taste was in my mouth for an hour afterwards and it was accompanied by itchy skin even after a shower. Sadly I found out that the pool would only be open for one more week. The pool schedule revolves around the public school year and the students will be going back soon, so pools close. The weather would easily support another month but the lap swimmers get no love from the city. So now it's back to the tiny L.A. Fitness pool or no swimming at all.

Saturday I was shooting for a 2hr 15 min run and thought 18 miles would do the trick. There were several other Philly runners, Craig, Devon, Steve, and Deidre up for the distance so we had a good group leaving the Art Museum at 8:00am. We ran a route very similar to last week with a couple extra miles tacked on at the far end.

These extra miles turned out to be low traffic, heavily shaded, rolling hills in Lower Merion just outside of Philly. There are more than a few dollars floating around this community and the highly manicured homes made for scenic running. In fact, I think I might make a b-line for this area on a few more long runs this year. The hills are a good workout and the unfamiliar area makes the time pass quickly.

I felt good although not as good as last week. At about mile 12 or 13 I was slowed by some intestinal distress that continued in waves for the remainder of the run. I wasn't dying but it made things quite uncomfortable and I thought about cutting the run short. Devon and Craig slowed down with me and the conversation kept my mind of off the problems and had me going all the way back to the Art Museum. 18+ miles in 2:24.

The pace was slower than last week but just what I was looking for. A less strenuous long run should leave me in better shape for workouts during the week.

Last night called for 14 miles at easy pace. A trip to the top of Wissahickon Park and back to my house is a little over 13 and I figured that would be good enough. I ran the first 5.5 miles with Heather at about 8:00 pace. Heather turned around and I continued for to the end. I picked up the pace to around 7:20-7:30.

I felt good, better than I expected. 13+ miles in 1:42

Marathon Training

It is finally the official start of marathon training for Philly in November. I planned an early July start but due to several reasons it wasn't a great July for mileage or training. I am jumping in at week 14 of an 18 week program. The first week looks a little daunting but I should be able to manage the mileage despite missing the first 4 weeks of build-up.

The plan looks like this for teh first few weeks.

M- Rest or XT
T- some type of speed
W- moderate long
T- recovery
F - Moderately long but usually less than Wend
S - Recovery
Sun - Long run. (I'll probably juggle the schedule at the end of the week as I normally do my long runs on Saturday.)

I took Monday off as planned. I hope to swim as XT on Monday but not this week.

Tuesday was 9 miles with 10 x 100m strides. I've never gone out for a stride workout so I looked up what to do.

A 30-45 second pickup at 5K to mile pace then slow back to easy pace. A long recovery and repeat. The recovery can be as long as needed because you don't want to go anerobic. The workout is meant help with form and get your body used to the mechanics of a faster pace.

I headed out on Forbidden Drive and ran my first stride after about 20 easy minutes. 40 secs fast, slow down to easy, 2-4 minute recovery and repeat. I think I ran the first few a little to fast but I was soon right on pace. It wasn't the easiest workout but not as tough as a tempo or track workout.

My hamstrings were a little tight towards the end and after finishing but it was a good workout.

9+ miles in 66 minutes.

Friday evening I followed the same exact route I had done with Lee on Thursday morning only this time I was running with Heather. An easy 5 miles in 42 minutes.

Saturday morning I met the group for a trip around the drives. We had a group of about 6 people cruising at 7:30 pace. I could tell from the start that it wasn't going to be the best run and it wasn't. After two easy days I expected a good run but I was dragging on the way down Kelly Drive. I felt tight and out of sync, making the 7:30 pace uncomfortable. 8.5 miles in 64 minutes.

Afterwards I stretched and couldn't even reach my toes. That is never a good thing and somewhat explains the bad run.


Sunday morning I had a long run planned with Ian and Devon. On this run I felt good from the start it carried all the way through the run. Ian planned a route that would take us over Girard Avenue and to Belmont Ave. We followed Belomont all the way across City Ave and took the Belmont Hills in reverse. They are much easier in this direction, almost to much downhill. We followed Belmont to I-76 and made a left up a steep 1/2 mile hill that had me panting at the top despite the slow pace.

We followed a couple roads and eventually ended up back at the bottom of the Belmont Hills in the hard direction. Ian and I didn't pay to much attention to the hills as we chatted and before I knew we were over all three. We crossed City ave again and the pace picked up a little as we made a left on Ford Road destined for the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and East Fairmount Park.

A few loops in the park, Lemon Hill, and back to LLoyd Hall were I tacked on extra 10 minutes to reach 2 hours. I was tired by the end but not exhausted. Overall I felt good and was very happy with the first official long run of marathon training. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the distance after mapping it out. 16.6 miles in 2 hours. 7:14 pace on a fairly tough run.

This gives me 48 miles for the week plus 1000M in the pool.

Tired Legs

My morning running plans did not work (meaning I couldn't get my ass out of bed) on Tuesday and I decided to wait until the sun went down to run. I took an easy route through Roxborough at a very relaxed pace. It was humid and hot but the slow going made things bearable. My legs were still very much remembering the race on Saturday. 5.8 miles in 47 minutes.

My mind was up for some speed on Wednesday night and my legs were forced to come along despite their whining. Heather and I took a very slow run over to Roxborough Track for a few intervals. My plan was to run 3x1 mile at 6:20 pace with as much recovery as I wanted in between. 6:20 is the high end of tempo pace, I wasn't looking for a real interval workout just trying to wake my legs up.

It was horribly humid and hot even though the sun had set. I took off on the first mile and miscalculated thinking I needed to run 80 second laps. I expected the pace to feel harder than normal but not this hard. After two laps and 2:45 on my watch I realized my error and slowed down to a more manageable pace and finished the first mile in 6:02.

400 recovery and then ran the second interval in 6:12, felt decent despite sore legs. 200 recovery and then a 6:18. The second two miles came more easily than I expected and gave me confidence that I'd be able to sustain 6:10 pace on tempo runs of 3-5 miles. Total 7+ miles in 58 minutes.

This morning I got up to meet Lee for 5 easy miles in the Wissahickon. Didn't feel great but after a couple miles things loosened up. 5+ miles in 41 minutes.

I went for a swim this evening and really loosened things up. In fact when they closed the pool at 6:45 I was wishing I could have stayed longer. Soreness is still there but it has been dulled a little.

I am going to try and get up tomorrow morning and put in some miles before things really heat up, it's supposed to be a scorcher with full humidity to boot. I think posting my morning running plans in the blog will be just enough motivation to get out of bed tomorrow. We'll see.

River to Sea Relay

7 competitors (3 river-women and 4 sea-men)set out from Delaware river in Milford, New Jersey to conquer the 92 mile course to Manasquan and the Atlantic Ocean. It was hot, sunny and humid, some would call it stifling but everyone performed better than expected.

We arrived at the start with little time to spare, grabbed our numbers, hit the bathrooms, laid down some ground rules and suddenly Lee was on his way running the first leg of the course. You'd think 92 miles would drag, that the day would seem forever long, especially when your waiting for someone to run a 9 mile leg but this really isn't the case. You are constantly in motion, supporting the current runner every couple miles, moving the next runner into position, and running.

Lee nailed his first leg and Devon followed with 8 solid miles in leg #2. By now the competition and the temps were heating up. Shanley passed a few on the 3rd leg and Ian took the baton for leg 4, "The Beast". Somehow he finished it in an insane 49 minutes and then it was my turn for leg 5.

A somewhat hilly leg with limited shade and a lot of sweat. It was 6.5 miles and I was hoping to finish in under 42 minutes. I didn't want to go all out because I would be running later in the day so I tried to keep things around tempo pace. My stomach cramped early, I think because of to much water before starting, but it eased up after a few miles and I fell into a groove. It's tough to race in the full heat of day and by mile 4 I was really praying for the finish, just counting down the minutes.

There are no mile markers so your never sure of your exact position or pace. I felt like I was on target for sub 42 but with about 1/2 mile to go I could see the end of the leg I was going to miss 42, but not by much. I tagged Heather's hand somewhere around 42:20 and she was on her way. I felt like I raced hard but not all out, just about the effort I was looking for.

The next several hours were incredibly hot and I could see it in the pain on the runners faces. It was the hottest portion of the day and the shade was limited. People were walking, and struggling to get through. I was proud of my teammates for running well in such miserable conditions. We really did pull together with great support which enabled everybody to run their best in the conditions.

I was up again for the second to last leg of the day, 8 miles to the shore town of Manasquan. It was tougher than I expected and after an initial quick mile my pace started to fall off. Miles 2 through 4 were really a struggle and I was just trying to maintain pace. My team was there to support me nearly every mile and half until I reached a more secluded trail for the last 3 mile of the leg.

I concentrated on my form, breathing and passing the guy in front of me in the last 3 miles. There was shade and things were cooler but I was still struggling. The final 1.5 miles were marked in 1/4 mile intervals and I could see that my pace was almost exactly 7:00. I was hoping for better but it wasn't in the cards. In the last 1/4 mile I was able to pass one more runner and hand-off again to Heather who wrapped up the race with 2.5 miles to the beach.

We finished at 7:14 pm, 10 hours and 24 minutes after we started, and sub 7:00 pace for the race. A truly great showing for our team and better than I think any of us expected. We were the 6th mixed team to finish. We took a dip in the ocean and then headed back to Ian's friends house for a great meal, a few beers, and then bed.

I had an easy 6 miles in mind last night and luckily so did Ian for the Thursday night run. I got to the meeting point a couple minutes late and hustled down Kelly Drive to catch Ian and Kevin G at Lloyd Hall waiting for the light to cross.

We kept the pace easy on a 6 mile loop that passed several water fountains which would help us beat the expected heat. It turned out not as hot as expected but we still hit couple fountains. 6 miles in 43 minutes.

Tomorrow is the River to Sea Relay with my team River Women and Sea men. I am excited a little nervous about racing in the full heat of day across the state of New Jersey. Definitely looking forward to it.

A Good Workout

I was very undecided about last night's run. How many miles? How fast? Trail or path? I ended up on a very familiar route, Forbidden Drive to Valley Green and back.

It was hot but not horribly humid keeping the temps manageable. I started things off around 7:30 pace and slowly increased as I moved along. I reached Valley Green in 29 minutes. If I am not pressing the pace and I get to Valley Green in under 30 minutes than I am having a good day.

I sucked down some water at the fountain and stretched. Should I take the trails on the way back? Stick to Forbidden Drive? Steal a bike and ride home? I was feeling good and slightly fast, despite the heat, and I decided to run Forbidden drive home with a couple mile intervals thrown in.

First mile in 6:10 and it felt good, not rushed, like I could have kept it up for a few more miles. I rested for a half mile and then hit it again. Only the first half of this mile was measured and it went by in 3:08, I kept running until my watch read 6:30 for what was probably a little more than a mile.

I ran easy the last 1/2 mile or so back towards my house. A majority of my runs in the Wissahickon Park start and end on a large old set of steps. It consists of 100 steps made from slabs of granite, bordered by a heavily painted, dark green railings. I was in the habit of finishing my workouts by running up these steps but in the past year I'd stopped. This summer I made a pact with myself to always run the steps after my workouts.

Last night I ran up the hill to the base of my steps and stopped my watch, forgetting my rule. Two seconds later I said, "Oh damn", started my watch and ran up the steps. 8 miles in 57 minutes.

I haven't run fast in a few weeks and this workout was a good way to get back in that groove. It wasn't especially hard but it left me feeling like I wanted more. The best run I've had in the past month.

I joined the Philly runners for a few mile last night. After a mile warm up I joined the group and we headed out on Kelly Drive. The pace was in the 7:30 range for the first couple but increased to about 7:00 as we passed the John Kelly Statue. I quickly realized that I was the only one to actually pass the statue and I was alone for the remainder of the run. I went out past the normal turnaround for 5.5 miles with the group. For the evening 6.5 miles in 47 minutes.

My foot was a little stiff to start but quickly got loose and I didn't really think about it the rest of the run. It also felt fine afterwards. I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched but my foot seems back to normal. I was scared that this might be a long-term injury but I think it is just one of the normal aches and pains that come with running.

I registered for a class this fall that is on Tuesday night, 4:30 - 7:30. This means there will be no Tuesday night runs through the fall. In the past I have used the group runs for tempo but that won't be an option this year. I'll miss it.