Still reporting from Washington. The cold weather broke and temps are getting into the 40's melting snow and even giving us some peeks at the sun on occasion. Here's how things went down:


Saturday 3.5 miles in 31 minutes. A poorly planned coffee just before the run forced me to cut this one short


Sunday 5 miles in 40 minutes just before sunset.


Monday I had big block of time and was finally able to get my long run in. Monday is not a normal long run day but on vacation it works just fine. Heather helped me map out a route in the area and I was set with a rolling 20 miles. Maybe a tad ambitious for the mileage I have been running lately but I thought if I took it slow it would be fine.

So that is just what I did, took it slow and kept my eyes open for oncoming cars and the landscape. With all of the cloud cover there are no glorious views to report but it was a relaxing run, if that makes any sense. Around mile 15 I was starting to hurt and the lack of water wasn't helping any. It never got horrible but I was glad to wrap things up. 20.8 miles in 2:44

Tuesday - DNR. I chide myself for not getting up early and running therefore missing my only chance to run before dark and breaking a little streak I had going. Oh well.

Wednesday. Heather and I drove to Banbridge island about 20 minutes from her parents house and directly across the Puget Sound from Seattle. We were doing a little house hunting and found a few prospect houses and open lots where we could build our own house. Afterwards Heather went for a swim at the local high school/swim club and I laced them up for 8 rolling miles out and back across the width of the island. My legs had a lot of pep in them but I held back. 8 miles in 64 minutes.

And that wraps up the year. I went from training hard in the winter for a half marathon that never materialized to marathon training in the summer that was cut short when I decided to opt out. The end of July, August and beginning of September were lost miles. I have a huge blank right in the middle of my running log. In the fall I started logging 30-45 mile weeks again and my running really took focus in Mid-November with a late winter 2009 marathon on the calendar.

The races that standout for me are the NERRC 10K in the spring where I PR'd going under 37 minutes for the first time. I feel that is right up there in the top 3 performances for me. Another highlight was PDR. I didn't kill the race but I loved running it none the less. I think it got me back in touch with why I get out there to run nearly every day.

Happy New Year!

I'm out in Washington with Heather's family for Christmas and the New Year. They got hit with about 8 inches of snow before we arrived (somewhat rare for this area) but the larger roads were clear enough that I could squeeze to the side when the infrequent car passes.

The conditions have narrowed my running route options so I can't be to choosy. Two very similar loops yesterday and today. Yesterday I ran three hard repeats of a long hill on the route. Today my legs were constantly reminding me of the repeats. I had to run through some heavy snow and windy conditions but the temps were barely at freezing and it wasn't to bad. Yesterday 8.4 mile in 67 minutes. Today 8.2 miles in 67 minutes.

Surprisingly, there is rain in the forecast for the entire weekend. I'll do my best to get in a 16-18 mile run at some point.

Here is the article I mentioned in yesterday's post about habits of the elites. http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15247&PageNum=1

I thought it was a good read.

Heather and I exchanged Christmas gifts last night and I now have an iPod Nano to replace my broken four-year-old classic iPod. The Nano’s small size makes it perfect for running in the winter, I can just drop it into my glove and then pull my hand up into my jacket sleeve to keep me warm. Heather also got me the Nike+ which works with your iPod to tell you your pace, and distance. I think there is bunch of software on their website to analyze your workouts in a million different ways too.

I‘ve always been more of a watch and sneakers type runner who doesn’t really want any other high tech gadgets to go along with my runs. The more stuff you have the more you have to get together before you can head out the door. So I am a little unsure if I’m going to like this new attachment to my runs. God knows I already spend enough time running, planning to run, recovering from a run, showering after running, logging my running, g-mapping my running and blogging about my running. Do I need to add another layer of analysis and time to the whole thing?

Last night I didn’t get out until 8:00. I took Boomer for an easy 4 miles, dropped him off and headed out for 3 more. 7 miles in 59 minutes. It felt a little faster than that but it is what it is.

This morning my thermometer read 17 degrees my first sub 20 run of the year. I’ll still take this temp over 80 humid. The morning was completely clear and even at 6:15 I could see a faint light on the horizon. Now that I am in more a morning running routine I really enjoy running into the sunrise.

This was sort of a tempo run. The first couple miles were probably around 8:00 pace and then I began to pick things up. I was probably in tempo range for about 3 miles and under marathon pace for a total of 5 miles. I finished with an easy mile. 8.2 miles 58 minutes.

For whatever reason I am having an easier time mixing in the speed during this marathon build up. My legs are protesting a little less even though I am running on sneakers that are over the hill. I’ve now been to 5 different shoe stores that are either out of my size 9 Asics Gel Cumulus or don’t carry them. It’s frustrating. I know I should just order online but I just want to have them in my hands so I instead try another store. I’m running out of options and may just order them today.

Last week I read an article in Running Times magazine about habits of the pro-runners as seen by a sportswriter over the years. There were 5 habits:

1. A Large difference between easy and fast pace
2. Runs start slowly and build into the pace.
3. Perform drills in addition to running
4. Vigorous warm-ups before races
5. and the last one I forget.

For the first habit the writer described an easy morning run with a couple Kenyans. They went out for a 10K loop and it took something like 45 minutes. The writer was itching to go faster and the Kenyans were content to just plod along. In the afternoon they ran a tempo workout on the same loop, this time it took 31 minutes and the writer got dropped at the start. For habit #2 he describes another run with Kenyan women. At the a start he was having a hard time going so slowly, within a couple miles he realized he was running at his normal pace, then he was pushing, then he got dropped.

I have the bad habit of running my easy runs in the 7:15 – 7:30 pace range (to fast) and also starting things off too quickly. Glancing at my watch at the first mile split and pushing harder because I started off to slowly, even though it is an easy run. I’ve known that I should slow down on my easy runs and I’ve tried in the past but for whatever reason it really stuck after reading this article and I’ve put into practice, at least for last week. I’m going to try and keep it up through the winter.

So onto weekend of running.

I couldn’t get out of bed on Friday morning to run. When I left work Friday eveningit was 33 degrees and pouring, about the worst running weather possible. Luckily the rain stopped around 6:30 and I got out for a few easy miles with Boomer. 3.2 miles in 27 minutes.

Saturday I was going to meet Deirdre and Seebo at the AM for long run. I initially got Deirdre to change the start time from 9:30 to 8:30 and lost Seebo who couldn’t make it that early. On Saturday morning I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do even the 8:30 run. So I backed out and pretty much ruined the group run for Seebo and Deirdre. Sorry.

I instead ran from home on a long hilly loop over Harts Lane, down River Road, then up over Shawmont Hill. I cut through Manayunk and then over Walnut Lane Bridge, through Mt. Airy and home. It was cold but I was comfortable. The pace started very easy and I slowly sped up through the run. I pushed myself up the hills and tried to run around marathon pace for most of the last five miles. It was a great workout. 17 miles in 2:04.

On Saturday night an ice, sleet, snowstorm made for messy, slippery conditions on Sunday morning. I pushed off my run until 3:30. The sun was now out and the ice-coated trees were melting creating tiny rain showers under every tree. The light from the setting sun also glistened off the ice making the trees sparkle. It made for a scenic run. There were a number of icy patches on the street, which had me running like an old man with a short sliding gait. I nearly went down at one point when some ice caught me by surprise. 7.5 miles in 6 minutes.

For the week, 60 miles in 7 workouts including a fast finish run, a track workout, and a somewhat hard long run. A great week of training.

Over the holidays I travel out to Seattle to visit the in-laws. I am going to make every effort to get all my runs in out there. I’ve heard that they got hit with a foot of snow and I’m hoping a lot of that will melt before we get there.

The track near my house is not lit so I thought a workout there was going to be difficult. Last night I decided to swing by the track and see what was doing, if it didn’t look good I’d continue on for a hill workout. Luckily the street and school lights provide just enough illumination so you can see what your doing. Only the back corner was a little sketchy but after a couple times around it was fine.

I took the long way there so my warm-up was nearly 4 miles. I felt light and bouncy and was excited to get to work. My track workouts are sporadic at best so I‘m always a little out of sorts, unsure of pacing and what workout to do. For no reason at all I decided to do a pyramid type workout starting at 400m building to 1600m and then coming back down with 400 recoveries between each interval. Instead of aiming for a goal pace I decided to just do what felt natural.

400 – 1:32 slooow, maybe I hadn’t realized I was on the track or something. I chalked it up as a warm-up lap.

800-2:53 that was in the range that I expected. I was pushing but not to hard.

1200 – 4:22. Right on track, I was in the groove and the 400 recovery after this interval felt just right.

1600- 5:47 Faster than expected and I felt like I had held back slightly in the last two laps. My recovery lap was slow at 2:18 but not horribly slow and surprisingly I wasn’t dreading the way back down.

1200-4:18 Faster than the first.

800-2:50 keeping up the trend.

400-1:17- I let it loose on the final lap, close to all out.

Thinking back I’d say this was the best track workout I’ve had to date. It might not necessarily be the fastest but I beat my expectations and I felt strong the whole way through. The interval portions totaled 6400m so that definitely makes it the largest volume I’ve done in one workout and it didn’t feel that way. I’m definitely going to stick to this workout my next time out.

I felt energized on the 1.5 miles back to my house. 11.7 miles in 1:24

This morning was a very easy loop around CH. The sky was clear and I caught the beginning of a beautiful sunrise. Cold, damp and misty, I felt like I was in the northwest. Ryan Adams was the perfect musical backdrop for the run. 6 miles in 50 minutes.

I woke up to heavy rain hitting the skylight and thought about bagging this morning's run. I'm glad I didn't. By the time I got out the door the rain had slowed to a light misting and the heavy held off during my 6 mile loop around CH. My legs felt good but I took it easy. 50 minutes.

I wrapped last week with a 14 miler on Friday night, and two easy 5 milers on Saturday and Sunday.

I was dreading the longish run Friday night and the first half lived up to my dread. My left headphone finally bit the dust about 8 minutes into the run and at the very beginning of my favorite solo on the Kind of Blue Album. For the remainder of the run John Coltrane sounded like he was playing in the far corner of gymnasium.

I didn't feel like I had any kind of rhythm and decided that I better shoot for a long out and back because any loop run would tempt me to cut it short. I decided to run to my old house and back. At least 12-13 miles and then I could add one or two on. An hour into the run everything started to click and the pace began to drop until I was in marathon pace range. I kept this going for the last 4-5 miles and felt great. 14 miles in 1:40.

Saturday an easy, early 5 miles with Boomer in the Park, 40 minutes. Sunday an easy late run by myself around CH 5 miles 40 minutes. 45 miles for the week. I was looking for 55 miles but with finals last week and a trip to NYC last weekend I am happy that I could get to 45.

This morning I was out and running only 9 hours after I finished Sunday evening's run. No headphones to distract me, I had my thoughts and my running to keep me company. I decided to do a progression run and started off things very easy as I slowly warmed up. At about 3 miles I'd say I was at my normal pace, by 5 miles I was at fast normal, then marathon pace, then tempo pace, and for the last bit I was sub 5K. I left 1/2 mile for cool down. 8.8 miles in 64 minutes.

Things are going well.

Cold drizzle greeted me as I stepped off my porch this morning. Really it wasn't even a drizzle but a cold mist that quickly coated my face and clothes. I tucked my iPhone into my glove and hoped that the heavier stuff would hold off until I could finish the 7.5 miles. I found my mind drifiting to no place in particular this morning as my eyes focused on shine of the streelights off the wet road in front of me. It wasn't until I was nearly finished that I felt warmed up and into the run. 7.5 miles in 58 minutes.

The cold weather broke yesterday and by the time I got out for a run in the evening it was 50 degrees. Perfect running weather. The last few runs have found me fighting with my headphones trying to get the left ear to work. After tapping, smacking, bending and cursing I have been able to get things working again. These headphones have logged many miles with over the past three years and I am past due for a new pair.

I planned on a tempo run but during the 1.5 mile warm up I wasn't feeling to fast, I knew I was going to be pushing to get through this one. I tried to ease into the speed and after a mile I was feeling decent. That is until I hit the hill that is in the middle of my tempo stretch. It knocked the wind out of my sails and left me hanging on and yelling at myself to get in at least 30 minutes. Luckily a good song came on during the final stretch and was able to keep things going until that ended. The tempo portion was 4.9 miles in 32 minutes. Ugh! 6:30 pace, not very tempo in my book but I'm glad I was able to get it done. That time will get quicker as training progresses.

The total run was 10 miles in 71 minutes. Not the best run I've had lately but it's done.

This morning was even warmer and I took slow loop around Chestnut Hill in the drizzle and into a muted sunrise. 4.2 miles in 33 minutes.

I just finished a cold night run to wrap up the week. With the wind howling and temps in the mid-20s I feared a frigid run but the wind wasn't as bad as expected and the run went well.

Running has been a great outlet for stress over the past few weeks. While my mind mulls things over it is almost like I can drive the anger, frustration, and pain through my legs and right into the road.

For the week:
54 miles in 6 workouts.

Two good runs to report:

Friday night after work I headed out for an 8.5 mile loop around CH. Mile goal was to finish in an hour so I had to hustle. Started with an easy 1.5 miles and the surged for about 1 mile, slow again for 1 mile and surged again. I felt great and was having a hard time holding back on the easy portions, just tons of pep in my legs. I ran the final 2.5 at tempo pace and finished in 58 minutes. After almost a year I'm picking up the nooks and crannies of this loop, every bump, hill and house getting burned into my memory. I also know many of the distances between points in the run which allow me to gauge how fast I'm going.

This morning I met Lee at the top of Forbidden Drive for a long loop on a cold but calm morning. I ran a very similar loop with Seebo and Deirdre in the opposite direction several weeks back. This run was very similar to that, easy pace and almost relaxing. My legs were fresher than expected and felt like I had finished an 8 mile run rather than 15 miles run when we stopped. 15.6 miles in 2:05.

A cool morning run around CH. An easy pace while the Beatles "Abbey Road" album kept me company. My Iphone insists on playing every album in shuffle mode so Abbey Road, which has several songs that blend one right into the next, had a very disjointed feel. 6.5 miles in 50 minutes.

The Thanksgiving weekend and a busy work/school schedule has me way behind on blogging. Luckily it didn't interfere with my running.

I travelled to Nashville for Thanksgiving weekend and got in some great runs while I was down there.

A long run on Saturday that had me looping streets together and trying not to get lost. Luckily I found a road that went on for several miles and I stayed on that for an out and back that included several detours into sub-divisions to get the miles up. Mostly rolling hills and an easy pace. Towards the end I pushed it to tempo pace for some short bursts and also took advantage of some hill by charging up them on tired legs. It all made for a good workout. 15.8 miles in 1:59

That run was followed by and easy 8 on Sunday and an easy 5 on Monday. My legs were dead so I was content to plod along in the 8:00 pace range.

For the week I overshot my goal and ran 56 miles. For the month of November I got in 196 miles. The longest of the year, that is until we get through December I hope.

Tuesday was a DNR due to work, school, and sick wife that needed a little TLC in the evening.

This morning I got up extra early to squeeze in 10 miles. After a 1.5 mile warmup I pushed the pace to what I thought the marathon would be. This was all done by feel so I have no idea if I was accurate but it felt right. Maybe in the 6:45-6:50 range. I took the long loop around Chesnut Hill, this only gets me 8.5 so I had to tack on some extra miles at the end by runing up and down a few blocks. 10.3 miles in 1:14.

Turkey Trot - 5 Miler

I've never run a Turkey Trot before but when I found out there was one starting just 2 miles from my house I couldn't pass it up. I was hoping for a solid effort that would provide a good gauge of my fitness.

I ran an easy 2.5 miles to the start. The morning was cool and calm with temps right below 40 degrees, great racing weather. The race was bigger than expected with I'd guess over 200 and I quickly signed up in a well organized registration area. There was a band of high school guys rocking the whole area and it made for a good pre-race atmosphere They played a lot of Red Hot Chili Peppers and they weren't to bad in a garagey sort of way. I am sure all of the neighbors loved it.

The start was very abrupt and I quickly found myself about 20 people from the front. I expected to reel in 10 or so within a 1/2 mile but I was surprised that there were only a couple that went out to fast. I settled in at about a mile and made it my mission to try and pass the five or so guys that were shooting range. I deleted my splits but I think the mile markers were inaccurate anyway so they are irrelevant. It felt like steady effort and I think I paced things well.

By 3.5 miles I was able to pick off four of the guys ahead but the last guy remained tantalizingly out of reach. I'd gain on him and then he'd pull away, never really getting closer than about 20 yards. It gave me something to focus and forced me to keep pace over the last miles which finished with an uphill right before the line. 30:37

I was slightly disappointed with my time. I predicted a 30:28 in my last post and really believed I was going to hit that or maybe a little faster. I guess I am being a little neurotic about 9 seconds but that is the way runners are right? In any case it lets me know where I am at and helps me decide realistic workout paces for marathon training. In the running calculators my finish time lines up very closely with the 5K I ran several weeks back and the Philly half-marathon. All these races predict around a 2:58-3:00 marathon. If the past is any indicator I know I want to be in 2:50-2:55 shape to have a good chance at breaking 3:00 hours. I have some work to do over the next 3 months.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Slow and steady this morning. I mixed up my normal route with a couple twists and turns and one road I haven't run down yet. I don't know if I have officially run every block in Chestnut Hill yet but I know I'm getting close.

I'm stuck in a morning routine that allows me only 45 minutes or so to run before work. That works for few days a week but I need to push that to 60-90 minutes to get some longer runs in mid-week. This morning was 6.4 miles in 50 minutes. I caught a beautiful sunrise just before I wrapped things up.

Tomorrow I'm going to head down to the top of Forbidden Drive for a Turkey Trot. It is a 5 mile trip down to the Valley Green Restaurant and back. I looked up results from previous years and it is a small field but there is some competition that should help me push things. It is a most flat course, I'll be happy if I can get under 31:00. I'm predicting a 30:28.

Action News meteorologist Brian Murphy told me not to worry about the rain this morning because it would be light and I shouldn't even need an umbrella. He was right. After a few sprinkles in the first mile the remaining 5.3 were rain free.

Felt like pushing it a little this morning and after a slow first mile I was able to bring the average pace down below 7:00. 6.3 miles in 44 minutes flat. I'm glad I didn't bring my umbrella.

Once you get past how bad it sucks, running in the morning really is a great way to start the day. Another loop around Chestnut Hill, nearly the same loop I've run every morning with variations at the end to give me the mileage for the day. This is usually more dictated by time rather than how many miles I really want to run.

I'm beginning to see the same things every morning: Hello to the lady walking the two mean little dogs, Hello barking black poodle that seems especially excited see me every time I go by, and there is that guy with the big white car who always has his windows down and flashers on as he drives down the road.

6 miles in 44 minutes.

15+ miles is officially a long run for me and I put my first one in the books today since July12th. Finally having a marathon on the horizon really has me excited for running and I enjoyed all 2 hours out there in the freezing cold today. Even the trip up that damn Rex hill was not as bad as normal.

I ran the first 5 with Boomer who, I found out today, loves to eat snow and reminded me of that every time we passed by a patch clinging to life shadows of the park. I made the trip all the way out the park and back home to drop him off. At this point I had 40 minutes knocked out of my 2 hour goal for the day. A quick drink and I was back out the door and onto the trails in the Wissahickon.

The park in the winter is lonely compared to the summer, the trees are bare, people are rare, and the winds howls through the trees. I had my iPod to keep me company as I stuck to the lower trails all the way down to Lincoln Drive. From here I took Forbidden drive home and expected a slow slog up through the park into the biting wind. I caught a glimpse of a runner way ahead in a bright glowing fluorescent green and I made it my mission to pass him before we got to Valley green. This kept my mind and legs occupied as I tried to keep the pace just fast enough and succeeded in passing him as we approached the water fountain.

I kept the momentum going for the last 2 miles up and out of the park. I had to take a detour around my block at the end to get in the full two hours. A conservative 15.5 miles.

That makes 42 miles for the week, a total I have hit for the past three weeks. I feel good and I think it is time to push things into the 50s next week.

"I"m bad ass, if I run in this shit" This was going through my head on the way home from class yesterday evening as the temperature dropped and the snow picked up, I was trying to talk myself into running in this sloppy weather instead of plopping down on the couch for a late dinner. Had I not been signed up for the marathon in March my ass would have been on the couch but instead I quickly changed and headed out.

The weather only got worse as the run progressed but after a few miles the liquid on my face changed from melting snow to sweat, I was warmed up and enjoying the run. In fact, it is fun in an odd sort of way to run on a night like this, it gives you that "If I can get out here to run now I can get out here any time" kind of feeling. That carried me through7.5 very damp and cold miles.

Hopefully this fall weather isn't a prelude to what the winter is going to be like, only much colder and more snow. But if it is, I'm not to worried about, I'm bad ass.

This morning made yesterday feel relatively warm and it took an extra half mile to get comfortable out there. I thought about pulling out the long pants but I'm glad I didn't as I was just fine in my running shorts. 20 degrees might be the "pants threshold".

The same loop as yesterday with a small addition that added a large downhill and uphill. There was a nice sping in my step and for the first time in quite a while I was surprised by pace after mapping the run out at home. 7 miles in 51 minutes.

The head cold I mentioned in my last post is now lodged in my chest and is only slowly departing. I felt it yesterday morning and it was the only excuse I needed to justify skipping the run and getting an extra hour of sleep. I slightly made up for it with a brief run yesterday evening with Boomer. I had about 30 minutes to spare and I squeezed 3+ miles in 25 minutes. I was feeling great and wishing I could have gone for another 30 or more.

This morning I was able to get out of bed although it was slightly later than I was shooting for. For the fist time this year I would really classify the run as "cold" as it was about 30 degrees and there was a stiff wind for the first mile or so. It'll take a while to get back into a cold running routine, as of now I am still trying to remember what clothes I need to wear for a morning like today. Shorts, shortsleeves and light running jacket did the trick.

This one started slow but got faster the entire way. The last 0.5 mile is slightly uphill and I was really pushing by the time I finished. 5.5 miles in 39 minutes.

I've wanted to become more regular with this blog but I didn't do a good job of that over the past 10 days. So let's catch up.

Last weekend I had two solid runs. First was a loop run with the Philly runners. I went hoping to have group to push the pace a bit. I got it in new to PR runners John and Austin. The pace hung right around 7:00 dipping under for miles than it was over. 11.6 miles in 1:25. On Sunday I joined Seebo and Ian to catch up on life, talk about a future marathon and enjoy an easy run. All things went as planned. 10 miles in 1:24.

On Monday I woke up with a nasty cold that felt as if it was going to really knock me out for a while. I fell asleep curled up on the couch at 7:30 on Monday night and thought my running prospects for the week were bleak. On Tuesday morning however, it felt like nothing more than a head cold. Tues-Thurs was a mix of morning and evening runs between 3.5 and 7.5 miles, covering all areas of my "easy" range.

I partied a little harder than I wanted on Friday night, slept in, woke up late with a headache and pushed off an early running commitment to the late afternoon. 8 miles in 61 minutes. I finished just before dark.

Sunday. A cold a blustery afternoon reminding me that winter was quickly approaching and it really is time to pull out the winter running clothes. A couple blogs on my weather geek website are predicting the coldest December in 20 years. The running half of me hates this idea but the other half of me is looking forward to it. 13.5 miles in 1:42. Felt good.

During the week I also signed up for the National Marathon in Washington D.C. on March 21st. Seebo, Ian and I are all in. Hopefully a few more will jump on the bandwagon through the winter. I am optimistic for a good marathon. The key will be getting out in the morning to run. If the last two weeks are any indication, it might go as planned.

A quick bounce in my step took me around Chestnut Hill this morning. Four attempts to run in the morning this week resulted in four morning runs, I just need to keep this going as the weather gets colder and the mornings get darker. Cold was not a problem this morning as I was sweating in shorts and shortsleeves. 6.5 miles in 48 minutes.

This morning was a little warmer and a little wetter than the previous two. I spaced out for the first couple miles but came around and finished things a with some pep. 4.5 miles in 34 minutes.

Getting out of bed early to put on your shoes and run is difficult. Getting out of bed to sit down with a cup of coffee, browse the Internet for 15 minutes and then put on your shoes to run is just a little bit easier. At least that is my conclusion from the last two days.

This morning was nearly the twin of yesterday morning, 50 degrees, calm and overcast. I took a slightly longer loop around Chestnut Hill and saw some long lines at the polling sites. People were lined up at 6:30, a half hour before the polls opened.

I really felt good during this run and it showed as my average pace was 7:23, the quickest easy run I've had since mid-October. The nice thing about morning running is that you really can't go fast out of the gates because everything is a little stiff. It forces you to ease into the run. This one ended much faster than it started. 6.1 miles in exactly 45 minutes.

I took an extended "Phillies Hiatus" from running last week. So Mon-Fri were DNRs. I happily watched the World Series every night, drank far to many beers, and generally was a sloth for the week. My hard work paid off with a Phillies WS win!!!!!!! I made it down to an extremely packed Phillies Parade on Friday afternoon and then a Haloween party on Friday night where the celebration continued.

By Saturday I finally had that all out of my system and got out in the afternoon for an easy 6 miles in the Wissahickon. 48 minutes.

Sunday I had the single most exciting training run of my life although nothing of note really happened with my running.

I was putting in another easy run and had just gotten to the top of Forbidden Drive onto Northwest Avenue. My plan was to go up to Germantown ave but that didn't happen. I heard a screech of tires in the distance and in a cloud of tire smoke I saw a minivan smash into a car waiting for the light at Germantown Avenue. That initially was shocking but then the driver hopped out and starting running across Germantown Avenue into the park. This was immediately followed by three cops pulling up behind the accident. This guy was obviously on the run from something and the cops had not seen him run into the park.

I made a quick right back into the park and starting running through some fields after this guy. He was far off but I was quickly gaining and then thought "What the hell am I going to do if I catch him?". I decided to get a quick look at where he was headed and then try and grab a cop. I caught up with a cop that was sitting at the top of Forbidden Drive and told him where the guy was. He jumped out of the car and we set off down Forbidden Drive. Some walkers said they had seen him splash out of the creek, up the embankment, over the guard fence, across Forbidden Drive and clamber up the steep hill above us. I glanced up and found him near the top, exhausted, picking his way through the rocks and trees. The cop and some other guy with a gun, who I am assuming was off-duty, headed off after him. I couldn't see much but I heard them yelling at him to lay down and then silence. I assumed he was caught.

I continue on my run down Forbidden Drive, I get to the Bells Mill street crossing and here comes the same guy back down the hill. He had somehow eluded his pursuers and now was only feet away from me. I dialed 911, and the guy ducked behind a large boulder. I told them where he was and after getting switched around a bit on the phone they finally got someone on the line that new the area. By this time more cops had pulled up and were searching but the guy had escaped. I was pissed that I hadn't seen where he went, he was nowhere to be found. I did a little more running in the area to try and spot him but no luck. I still don't know what he was running for but I sure as hell hope they got him. 7 miles in 55 minutes, with some unexpected sprints.

Monday - got up and out before work for an easy 4.3 miles. Overcast and cool, great running weather. 33 minutes.

I am many days behind on blogging but sadly there were only three runs in there.

Sunday - a longish run with Seebo and Deidre. Click over to Seebo's blog for a good recount of the run. I'll just say a beautiful fall morning, good company, and some very cooperative legs left me feeling great at the end of this run. I was even able to scrounge up enough loose change in my car to stop for a coffee on the way home. 14.3 miles in 1:56

Monday - No run. I would have liked to get out for a few to loosen up some tight legs but I spent most of the evening studying.

Tuesday - An easy loop around Chestnut Hill. In my mind I was going faster but when I measured things out, the 8+ pace told my mind what my legs already knew; I was hurting from a 5K and a 14+ miler over the weekend. I just haven't been putting in the mileage to bounce right back from that.

Wednesday - Late class and no run.

Thursday - A long loop around Chestnut Hill. Back to the same route I followed on many runs last fall/winter/spring. Feels good to be back. My calves were extremely tight for much of the run, enought to make me stop and stretch. Surprisingly they felt better as things progressed and I had a brisk pace going in the last few miles. 7.5 miles in 56 minutes.

I am offically making my seventh attempt to become a morning run. I figure this is kind of like quitting smoking. It might not work on the first several attempts but eventually it is bound to work. Right? I'll start right after the Phillies win the World Series. The 8:30 game times make it difficult to get out of the bed to run.

Eastern Pen. Breakout 5K

I was shivering in my shorts while filling out the race registration. It was going to be a cool blustery race. The perfect temp for me to be running, but cold when your standing around waiting to race. Heather and I bumped into Steve G. and for the second race in a row I chatted with Steve before the race began.

My goal was to take the first mile hard but hold back a little and try to pick it up during the race. After the the initial rabbits dropped of I was in 4th place. #1 and #2 were quickly pulling away and definitely out of reach. The guy ahead of me was running about the pace I was aiming for so I just stayed behind and bided my time. Mile 1, 5:44. Seemed to fast for how good I was feeling and I decided that it was short, I'm not sure if it really was. The second mile of this race brings you into the campus of Girard College. We looped around and mile 2 passed in 6:07. That seemed about right.

I still had some gas in the tank and decided to make my move passed the guy ahead of me. I made sure to pass as quickly as I could sustain and I was lucky that he didn't answer. From here I just wanted to finish as hard as I could and I was thinking maybe, just maybe, sub 18:00. Down Corinthian Street and around Eastern State Penitentiary. I was giving it all I had but sub 18:00 was just a little to fast for me and I finished in 18:10. A decent time and a bit faster than I had predicted for myself before the start. A good race. More than 25 seconds off my PR but with the low mileage over the past several months, I'll take it.

I cheered Heather through the finish and she finished in third as well, just a few seconds off of last years time.

Late evening easy 4+ miles with Heather last night. We took the "Chestnut Hill Loop" at a very easy pace. The weather was quickly changing and I think the run ended 5 degrees cooler than it started. 4.2 miles in 38 minutes.

I start most runs by wondering what I want to listen to on my iPod. Five years ago this search would start in front my CD rack but now it begins with the twirl of a little wheel. Once in a while I have an album in mind, sometimes I search until something strikes my fancy and other times I'll try to find an album that matches my mood. Slow and mellow or fast and loud. Today it was Pisces Iscariot by the Smashing Pumpkins, I have not listened to this one in a while. This album came out in 1994 and brought me right back to my freshman year of college. I realized I could actually remember where and when I bought the CD. It pulled out many other memories as well.

The run started slow and a little stiff but after 4 miles things smoothed out and I settled into a nice pace. I think Philly is in the last burst of warmth before the cooler weather really takes hold and I built up a good almost summer like sweat by the end of the run. 7 miles in some unknown time because I forgot to restart my watch at 37 minutes.

I got 6 miles in with Heather on Thursday evening. All at a very easy pace with a nice stroll up Rex to finish things off. That hill has turned into a thing of dread for both Heather and I on many runs. Knowing you have half mile hill at at the finish when you aren't feeling to hot can make things tough. I try never to walk (at least when I am running by myself) but it still happens once in a while.

Saturday, I was a bit hungover from a long night of watching the Phillies and hanging out with some friends from work. I thought I had cleared my system by about 3:00 but the run told me otherwise. What's funny is that I didn't feel to bad until I stopped, then some slight nausea would sneak in and my headache would pop up. Of course the only solution was to keep moving and try to run over any hikers that got in my way. Unfortunately a couple kids got lost over the side on some narrow sections. Luckily there is water at the bottom and I think they were fine. 9+ miles in 71 minutes.

Sunday I was feeling much better and the weather was just perfect, not a cloud in the sky. I started the run with Heather and then off on my own after 4 miles. The fall foliage offered some sneak peaks and it looks like it might be a good year. After 5 miles on Forbidden Drive I hit the high trails. I kept the pace in the easy range and explored a few branches of the trails that I usually run by. I found a couple interesting little side jaunts but nothing to exciting. Around 11 miles in 87 minutes.

Last night I had 40 minutes to run between school and the start of the presidential debate and I made the most of it. It was an ideal evening with the temp about 55 and nearly no wind. I had a general loop route around Chestnut Hill in mind, along the way I constantly adjusted it in my mind to get me back to my door in exactly 40 minutes. My legs were itching to pick things up so I made it somewhat of a progression run and finished the last leg down my block at 400M pace. 5.8 miles in 40:27.

Heather and I got out the door late for a few miles. It was a tough evening in the Wesner household and it felt good to get out the door, run a few with Heather and talk. The more you run the more you realize that running has a lot more uses then just keeping you fit. 3 miles in 28:48

My unwillingness to get out of bed in the morning is putting a damper on the mileage totals. I end having to squeeze in evening runs and rushing my workout. It is an event filled weekend which only allowed me to squeeze in a 5 miler on Friday night in about 38 minutes.

Saturday was a DNF due to a family function.

Sunday was one of the best runs of the year and not because of the run but because of when the run occured. It just happened to start directly after the Phillies beat the Brewers to advance to NLCS. Go Phils!

The run was a hilly hard trip starting with the hill behind the Indian Statue and rolled the rest of the way. I finished with 1.5 fast miles on Forbidden Drive and I felt like I could have kept up the fast pace for a few more miles but had to get home. 8+ miles in 62 minutes.

Waning Daylight

A quick 6-7 miles in the Wissahickon this evening, I only have a few weeks remaining in the park, soon the early sunset will kick me out of the park and back onto the roads. I'll have to save the trails for Saturdays and Sundays. Tonight I ran 3 miles out on some of my favorite trails and the 3 miles back on Forbidden Drive. Not to hard and not to easy. 48 minutes.

Just before I left work last night Lee asked me if I was up for 10 miles or so in the Wissahickon. After a fairly hard 9 miles the night before I was mildly up for it and agreed. As expected my legs felt heavy in the first couple miles and I thought it was going to difficult run.

We quickly jumped onto to some hilly trails and my legs began to feel better despite the rough terrain. It turned into a decent run. The thought of the big dinner that Heather was cooking, powered me up Rex hill to the finish much faster than I expected. 10+ miles in 84:00.

I waited for the rain to abate for much of the afternoon but by 5:00 I decided it was just going to be a wet run. Heather and I headed out into a complete downpour but it was warm enough and the rain was a nice break from the runs earlier this week. After about 3.5 with Heather I continued down Forbidden Drive to 4.5 miles and then headed back. 36 minutes on the way out, 33 minutes coming back.

This evening was a second trip out to the trails I talked about in the last post. The thermometer on my car ticked up from 90 to 97 degrees by the time I reached the park, I was in for a hot run. This being practically a desert, the humidity was way down and for the first time I could really see if it was the humidity and not the heat that made the difference. I can say for certain it is definitely the humidity. It wasn't a comfortable run by any means but I'll take 95 and dry over 85 and horribly humid any day of the week.

I stayed away from the hills I ran on the other day and stuck to the relatively flat trails I could find in the area. Despite the warning signs I happily didn't see any mountain lions. 7-8 miles in 60 minutes.

Disneyland

I am out in Anaheim California for a work conference. The conference is at the Disneyland hotel and really Disneyland is not as fun when you have to go to eight hours of meetings every day. Also, Anaheim is not conducive to running. The entire area is covered with big boulevards lined with parking lots catering to an endless stream of stores. It's similar to very congested areas of Jersey but continues on for miles.

I was hoping for a better spot to run than the Disneyland Loop so I jumped on google.maps and found a large park 10 miles due east. I hopped in the car with a bottle of water and some hastily written directions and was on my way. The first park I tried had a 3 dollar parking fee and of course I had two dollars so I continued on down the road a little let down. One mile later I saw some serious looking mountain bikers hopping on to a trail and my spirits were lifted.

I eventually found a place to park in "Irvine Area Park", a green gem in a very parched landscape. I started off in the general direction of where I thought these trails might be. With a little luck and the help of a mountain biker I hit the jackpot, miles of trails twisting and winding up steep hills with fantastic views at the top. It was way better than anything I had hoped for. The serious part of my loop started with "Goat Hill" and ended with "The Three Bitches". With trail names like that you know it was a good and difficult run. Much longer and steeper hills than anything I find in the Wissahickon.

In fact I went longer than I or my legs expected. After about 1:20 I was happy to be done. I might have to take another trip out there later this week.

Philly Distance Run

I jumped into the first corral before the race and chatted with Steve Gelman as we waited for the run to start. We'd be running through a picture perfect morning, you could not ask for better weather for mid-September in Philly. Legs had felt tight during a warmup mile on MLK and I decided before the gun sounded to make an extra effort to take things easy in mile one.

The first mile went by in 6:45, good. I bumped into Yellowshorts and said high as we rounded City Hall into a very bright, very low sun on Market Street. Mile 2 was somewhere around 6:20, I took stock and decided I was feeling good. It was early and I was worried that lack of mileage in training would get me in the last few miles. I decided to push it out of my head and just run. I spilt the miles but really I didn't pay to much attention to it, it was always somewhere between 6:20 and 6:40.

At mile four I noticed that the girl in front of me had shit her pants and was still cruising along. I don't need to go into to much detail but she had on short shorts. We had just run by 300 hundred beautifully blue porta potties and the girl in front of me shit her pants. I can understand mile 12.5 maybe, about to qualify for New York marathon maybe. But at mile four? Running nine miles with poopy pants at PDR just seems insane. Unluckily I was yo-yoing in front and behind poopy pants several times going up MLK. In my opinion one glance at that was one to many. I bumped into Jeff (Ian's Friend) go up the drive and he said "Lets get the out from behind her." He is very wise.

With the exception of the above I was really enjoying the race. I was running maybe a few seconds slower per mile than I was probably capable but I was content. I talked with a girl who is in the NYC Central Park running club, I chatted with a coworker who was there to run some with his son but not really to race, I ran by Bob a Wissahickon Wanderer and I basked in the beautiful morning and a superb run.

We ran over Falls Bridge with just over 4 miles to go and I pushed things a little bit harder. All the way down Kelly Drive I was slowly passing people and feeling great. Instead of the miles feeling interminably long, like they often can at the end of the race, they went by quickly. Suddenly I had two miles to go and decided to push a little more. We ran up the hill to the Art Museum and now I was feeling it. There was probably a grimace on my face but we were nearly done. In the last 400 M I gave it all I had trying to pass a guy just in front of me. He sensed me coming and matched my pace, keeping just ahead.

We came around the final 100 degree turn (why the hell do they have a 100 degree blind turn 100 M from the finish of a 13 mile race?) and up the final straight away. I have been out kicked many times at the end of a race and it has always pissed me off. Today I was able to do the kicking. Suddenly I was sprinting and easily passing the guy in front of me. It felt good. That is until I crossed the line and nearly booted.

In the finishing chute I noticed an older but very fast guy that I often run by in the Wissahickon, he introduced himself and we talked for a couple minutes. It turns out that he is friends with poopy pants who finished not far behind me. Before I knew it, I was saying hi and shaking hands.
In the last post I said I'd be happy to break 1:25. Final time 1:25:09. Oh well, I was still very happy. Based on the way I raced and how felt from start to finish it was one of the better races I've done.

It's been awhile since my last post, 11 days to be exact and I wish I could say I had some exciting runs which totaled many miles between then and now.... but I don't. This is the first time in a long time that I have not recorded my runs and mileage on a daily basis in some kind of log. I haven't even opened my log up since late July. Memory is notoriously lousy at recalling runs especially over an 11 day period but I'll highlight one that sticks out.

Last Thursday I joined Lee for a longish run in the park. Lee is in training for the Philadelphia Marathon. He completed an Ironman about one year ago but this is his first shot at a marathon. He is just hitting that sweet spot in marathon training where the higher mileage is starting to pay off in more than just tired legs and you surprise yourself during workouts. We ran 10 miles through the park on a mix of Forbidden Drive and trails. I don't get out there much with other runners anymore and it was fun to shoot the shit about many topics while time quickly passed.

I turned off to finish the last couple miles on my own and my thoughts drifted back to Philly Runners group runs and "Thursday Nights" when we'd have anywhere from 2-10 people running anywhere from easy to break-neck pace. Sadly, after nearly two years of hardly ever missing a Thursday the crew started to break up due to marriage, moves, injuries, life. In that moment I was really missing those nights, those runs and those friends. But, things move on and so does my running. It just doesn't move along quite as quickly at the moment.

I got on here to not to talk about all my runs over the last couple weeks but to talk about a race coming up on Sunday. The Philly Distance Run. This was my very first race 10 years ago. Back then it started on Market Street and now, just like nearly all races in Philly, it starts on the Parkway. Back then I was nervous of the unknown and now I am nervous about my loss of fitness over the past two months. My PR at this race is 1:30 so I should easily break that, the only question is by how much. I'll be happy to get under 1:25 but I really don't know if that is possibility, I'll find out in two days. I hope to see some of the Thursday Night Crew at the race as well. Good Luck.

Friday evening I ran 4-5 miles with Heather, all at an easy pace. In fact we walked the last mile home.

Saturday was rained out. I thought about a wet run but in the end went for a wet swim instead. 35 minutes and undetermined distance.

Sunday. I haven't been doing much specific training for the Philly Distance Run on Sept 21 st. I figured the least I could do was to put in some longish runs on the weekends. Over the past couple weeks I have run 75 minutes and 90 minutes. Yesterday my goal was 1:45 or about 14 miles. Instead of mapping the distance out I just struck of for Forbidden Drive and planned it was I went along to get home in 1:45.

I took Forbidden to the top of the park and kept going up the street and across Germantown Pike onto a road that parallels an extremely verdant golf course due to all the rain on Saturday. It was warm and sunny, enough to make the run uncomfortable but I was enjoying it. After 10 minutes I turned around and ran back to the park.

The remainder of the run was up and down on Forbidden Drive. I didn't measure my pace but I would guess somewhere in the 7:20 - 7:30 range. In the last few miles I really started to feel fatigued and had to keep pushing so the pace didn't drop. I saw Heather with a couple miles to go and she said I was looking a little pastey. (She mentioned this later in the day not when I saw her during the run.) I was feeling a little pastey too. I blame this more on the 6 beers I had the night before than the run itself.

Fall Migration

I ran later than usual last night to try and avoid the heat from what is hopefully the final hot gasp of summer. The run was mostly in the dark and therefore not in the Wissahickon but on the streets. From April through most of September nearly every one of my runs is in the Wissahickon Park, from October through March I avoid the spooky darkness of the park and opt for the less spooky darkness of my neighborhood.

By the time March rolls around I am tired of the lonely evening streets but last night I welcomed the change of scenery and the feel that comes with it. It was still warm and humid but bearable. I felt strong and steady running around the "Long" Chestnut Hill Loop. With the decreased mileage all of my runs have had this fresh, urgent feel. More of a spring in my step and smoothness to my stride.

8.5 miles in 62 minutes.

PhillyMTB

I joined a few guys from Philly Mountain Bike Crew for a ride through the Wissahickon last night. The ride was labeled as "fast, few stops" and truthfully I was apprehensive about whether I'd be able to keep up.

I rolled down to Valley Green at 5:30 and after about 15 minutes, six us of us headed out on the trails. We were soon stretched out on a long hill and happily I could see I was going to be able to hold my own. There were a couple guys that kept me pushing most of the way but it was a pace I could handle.

For the most part we were on some very familiar trails until we got to Lincoln Drive. We crossed the Drive at Rittenhouse Town and onto a strip of trail that I have run many times but never biked. After a 1/4 mile a sudden left hand turn took us onto a long stretch of singletrack that I'd never been on. It reminded me a lot of the twisty trails off of Belmont Avenue in Fairmount park but this trail was lot newer, looser, and more difficult to ride. The pace was slower but I fell to the back of the pack as I tried to negotiate a much more technical trail. I had two very low speed falls that left me no worse for wear.

After about 10 minutes on this trail we emerged where we started and hopped back onto some more well worn trails. I turned off before we got back to Valley Green for a quick exit that would avoid any more major hills on the way home. I was spent. Once home I enjoyed a long shower and a big dinner.

The Fall semester starts tonight so that will be my one and only Tuesday night ride for a long while. I have class every Tues, Wed, Thurs night from now through December which will definitely put a damper on my normal evening exercise routine. I'll either have to run early or run late 3 days a week.

Labor Day Weekend

No huge or spectacular workouts this weekend. I kept things easy and enjoyed the weather.

Saturday was 4 mile run/walk with Boomer. We hopped around the Wissahickon on some trails and Forbidden Drive. Boomer maybe it a double by swimming in the creek, chasing a stick. I remained on dry land and kept clear of the shaking dog when he got out of the water.

Sunday was a very lazy day for me. Couldn't get motivated to do much other than watch the Phillies game and strum the guitar for most of the morning and afternoon. After the Phillies win I finally decided to jump on my bike. I took my normal route which involves getting up to Bells Mill and then the upper trails on the Forbidden Drive side of the park. This route maximizes speed and downhill runs as there isn't as much technical rocky terrain.

The good thing about a bike is that you can always slow down and take it easy but you are still getting somewhere . When running your only option is to walk and usually I don't see that as much of an option unless I am totally spent. After trail riding, the rest of the way home was at a leisurely pedal. About 1.5 hours.

Sunday afternoon I delayed my run until the day was at its hottest at about 3:00. Luckily the higher temps have not come with high humidity and although it was in the upper 80's the run wasn't to bad. A little over 5 miles in 40 minutes.

Still Got It?

Thursday night I made it out for 8 miles on Forbidden Drive. Felt good. 61 minutes.

Friday

I took advantage of a day off and got out for a longer run. My goal was to run 90 minutes at whatever pace my body felt like doing. I started easy and warmed into the run on a couple miles of trails. This eventually led me to the top of Forbidden Drive at Northwestern Avenue. I decided to run all the way to the other end at Lincoln Drive and then home, should give me a little over 90 minutes.

I was really feeling good, cruising along at a pace somewhere around 7:05-7:15. I made it to Lincoln Drive, 8 miles in, still with a lot of pep in my legs so I decided to see what I could do and picked things up to a pace I felt I could hold in a half marathon. You lose touch with your fitness after about a month off and I didn't know how things would go.

I was very surprised and happy that I was able to run the next three miles in the 6:15-6:20 range without pushing to hard. If felt a little easier than tempo pace. Maybe the mountain bike rides kept me in better running shape than I thought they would. This bodes well for PDR. I don't if I can run that pace for 13 miles but at least now it feels like a slight possibility.

12.5 miles in 91 minutes.

Checkin In

A long hiatus between posts makes me realize how long it’s been since I’ve put in any real mileage, well over a month. Since my last post I have run but only 10-20 miles per week. Any runs I have completed were untimed and unlogged. Just out there running when I feel like it.

I have been out more often on my mountain bike. I’ve earned a few bruises from a couple low-speed falls, and some tight quads from pushing up the steep hills in the Wissahickon. The workout on a mountain bike is a lot different from a run, bursts of high output on the hills following by aerobic breaks as I try to navigate down rocky rutted hills. I’m not really sure how these rides translate into running fitness but I definitely feel like I worked my ass off when I get home.

The Philly Distance Run is only a few weeks away and I figure it’s time to start running more miles to get myself prepped for the race. This started on Sunday with a solid 8 miles on Forbidden Drive. My pace was steady in the 7:15 range, the weather was nice (as most of August has been this year) and I felt great. I expected to feel the miles in my legs the next day but I surprisingly felt fresh.

I went out for a very hard 15 miles on my bike Monday evening. I ended up pushing more than expected after meeting another guy at around the same speed. We raced up down the park keeping each other motivated on the hills. All in good fun.

Last night was an easy 6 miles with Heather. I wanted to pick things up but kept the pace easy to run most of the way with Heather. When we reached the exit to the park up Rex Hill, I took off and pushed hard up the hill for home. Just over 6 miles.
I’ll hopefully keep the mileage in the upper 40s for the next couple weeks and see what happens on PDR on Sep 21st.

Seattle...

I'm back from a 10 day trip to the Seattle area and trying to burn up some of the jet lag which has me wide awake and bouncing of the walls at 10:00 pm instead of yawing with a book in front of me in bed.

Seattle was great. Heather and I went canoeing, kayaking (twice), travelled to the San Juan Islands and saw some Orca, went for a hike in the Olympic National Park that started at 2,500 feet and ended with spectacular views at 6,000 feet, slept 2 nights on a sailboat, went house hunting, saw the Mariners get crushed by the Orioles, cooked Dungeness crabs, raced, biked, and ran. A full vacation that has left me totally relaxed but still not looking forward to work tomorrow morning.

We ran a race on Saturday July 27th. A 5 & 8K event that I think kicks off Sea Fest, a week long celebration that consists of tons of events in and around Seattle. Heather's mother signed us up for the 8K and as I expected it was fairly big. Well over 1000 runners in the 8K (A hair under 5 miles) and from the looks of the competition I knew I wasn't going to be anywhere near the front.

The course went all around the downtown. Due to my limited knowledge of Seattle I was unsure of what the course was going to be like but I was sure there were gonna be some hills. They are hard to avoid when running around Seattle. I held back slightly in the first couple miles and they went by somewhere around 6:00-6:05. From here I decided to pick up the pace and passed a couple guys, this mile went sub 6:00 but there was a bit of uphill so I was working hard. The fourth mile continued generally uphill and I was officially in hang-on mode, not passing but not getting passed. With a mile to go the the loop course which had been generally uphill finally turned the other way and we were quickly headed down. I jumped at the chance to pass the guy and front of me and nearly got another but the course flattened out and I couldn't catch him. Final time 30:16. I was hoping to get under 30 but I was happy with the time.

It was well run race, with a great course and I am sure it is a favorite out there. The heavily downhill at the end really made for a great finish. I ended up in 53rd place but Heather won her age group. I would have been excited for such a win at a big event but Heather just kind of blew it off. Oh well.

Other than that I only ran one other time out there. An easy 6-7 mile trip around some trails that a guy at the local running store told us about. I definitely got plenty of exercise through other outlets, but not running.

In fact over the past couple weeks I really haven't run that much. The new mountain bike, vacation, and just not a huge urge to lace up my shoes has put a damper on the mileage as of late. My marathon training was going along very well but suddenly I didn't feel like doing it anymore. These thoughts come and go through the course of training but this time it was persistent. I figured I'd take it easy, ride the bike, go on vacation and mull things over before I really decide to drop training. I've mulled and still feel the same way. No fall marathon.

In fact on the flight home I was looking forward to jumping on my mountain bike and not running on the trails. Odd. I'm not going to fight it but just go with it. The training was something I was starting to dread rather than look forward to. In the past I have made prognostications that my my training was going to take a backseat to other things such as school, family or other sports but I have been wrong in the past so I will make no such predictions this time. The only fact is that I am no longer in marathon training but I am still going to get out the door and do something nearly everyday.

Jim Thorpe

First off, Heather kicked ass! She placed second in her age group at the Anthracite Olympic Distance Triathlon. She was one of the fastest in the water, male or female. On the bike, even with a horrible lack of experience and an extremely challenging course consisting of 3 long climbs she did well. And of course had a decent run to wrap things up. Final time 2:55. It was great to see her nervousness building up to the race dissolve in a great performance. Go Heather.

I took my mountain bike up there to take advantage of the Jim Thorpe mountain biking scene, which I've heard is one of the best in the area. I stopped in a local bike shop to hopefully get a little guidance. I found out after the fact, from a local rider, that the shop I stopped in really sucks and I would have been better off checking the Internet. In any case, the shop did give me a couple routes to try and with map in hand I set off on a sunny and hot Saturday morning to try it out.

Things started off with a climb and then moved onto a climb. From there I climbed to a climb. After 30 minutes I finally made it to the top of this mountain/hill all the while still on roads, there hasn't been a bit of off road to this point. I finally jumped on some trails and with the help of my quickly sweat covered, and tattering directions found some halfway decent runs. This included a very steep 0.5 miles on a rocky downhill that the woman at the shop had extolled as one of the best in the country but in reality was to challenging for me to enjoy.

Overall, a good ride that lasted nearly 2 hours. There was no running on Saturday.

On Sunday, I didn't run until 7:15 pm trying to beat the heat. It sort of worked. A 9+ mile trip through the Wissahickon. The first couple miles were a little rough, my legs were reminding me of the hard bike ride from the day before. Eventually things loosened up and the remainder of the run went well.

The week:

Mon - 10 easy 1:20
Tues - 4.5 easy miles with the dog. 35 minutes
Wed - 8 miles with 4 at tempo avg 6:13 pace.
Thurs - 70 minute hard bike ride
Fri - 14 miles easy 1:52
Sat - 1:45 hard bike ride
Sun - 10 miles of biking in the morning. 9.2 miles of running in the evening 1:12

Only 46 running miles for the week but my goal was only 56. With the bike rides I am calling it even.

On Thursday night I headed into the Wissahickon for a mountain bike ride. I had a little over an hour and I put together a fun and challenging loop. Mountain biking is bit like an interval, or fartlek workout. Fairly short intense bouts of exercise on the climbs, steady state pushing on the flats and hold on tight recoveries on the rock downhills. It really is a blast and I think it was a good approximation of the 5 miles running workout I had originally planned for the evening.

This morning I met Deirdre and new guy Scott for a long loop in the Wissahickon. It was not surprisingly hot and humid when I met them at 8:30. We set out on some hilly trails and kept the pace easy. We kind of wandered through the park and made up the route as went along eventually ending up on Forbidden Drive about 4.5 miles from the car.

At this point we were all dragging and conversation ebbed as we tried to keep things going in the heat. I peeled off with about a mile to go and headed up that damn Rex hill to my house. A great run. I was tired and spent by the end but not dead like I was at the end of the long run last week. I will call it a conservative 14 miles in 1:55.

This afternoon Heather and I head upstate to Jim Thorpe, PA. Yes, the town is named after the Native American athlete who is considered one of the most versatile athletes ever, playing both professional football, baseball, basketball and competing in the Olympics. It's a small town on the edge of what passes for mountains in Pennsylvania. Heather is competing in an Olympic distance triathlon. I am looking forward to cheering her on and hopefully putting a couple runs in.

This morning was my second tempo run of this training cycle and I set out on the same route I ran exactly two weeks ago. A 2 mile warm into the Wissahickon to the Valley Green Restaurant. After passing the restaurant I speed up to tempo pace for two miles more on Forbidden Drive, turn around and 2 tempo miles back then an easy 2 miles home.


This time around the run definitely wasn't as smooth. I was struggling to keep the pace between 6:10 and 6:15. My last time out here I was running 6:05-6:10. It doesn't sound like much but I was really pushing this morning, while last time it came easy. Instead of dwelling on it I just did what I could for this morning, that 4 miles at an average 6:13 pace. Glad to have my workout done for the day.

Two easy runs over the last two days. 10 miles yesterday evening on Forbidden Drive in relatively cool weather. I ran the first 7 miles with Heather. My legs felt better than expected after a long bike on Sunday. When we got back to Rex avenue, Heather went up the hill to home and I continued on trails up to Northwest Avenue. I then headed back down Forbidden Drive to Rex for my long trip up the hill and home. 10+ miles in 1:20.

A cool evening turned into a cool morning and I went out for 4.5 miles with Boomer on a mix of Chestnut Hill streets and trails in the Wissahickon. We stopped for a water a couple times but kept a fairly brisk pace, for Boomer at least. I ran into Russ, a former Philly Runner, with his dog on the way out of the park. As usual Boomer spazzed out at the site of another dog and did everything in his power to get closer.

It was a nice morning run. 4.5 miles in 35 minutes.

Dealing With the Heat

I ran an easy 5 uneventful miles on Friday evening keeping things slow and relaxed. I felt decent, not great, not horrible, neutral.

Saturday was another long run with Deirdre and Seebo. We followed a route from a few weeks back that enabled us to hit a few water fountains along the way and also a couple good hills, both up and down. I felt great in the first 3/4 of the run, pace was right around 8:00, sun was beaming down, and the sweat was dripping.

We eventually made our way back onto Kelly Drive and the pace picked up into the low 7:00's. This pace really shouldn't be a problem, even at the end of a long run, but I was definitely struggling to keep it up. There were only a few miles left, I figured I could just hang on until the Art Museum. We made a quick stop at the water fountain and suddenly the heat hit me like a ton of bricks. After we started off again I began to fall behind, I just couldn't keep it up. I dropped about 100 yards back, felt a little better and decided to push to catch them.

I got within 10 feet and thought "No way am I keeping this up". I felt kind of like I was redlining, pushing myself to the limit, I felt exhausted suddenly. I pulled off the path onto the grass and actually sat down for a for a few seconds, dumping what remained of my water over my head. After a breather, I started running again but now very slow and relaxed. I had planned to run to the Art Museum giving me a little over 16 miles but stopped short at Lloyd Hall, filled up my water, and relaxed in the shade. 15.2 miles in 2:02.

Obviously not a great way to end a run. I felt crappy for at least another 5 hours after the run. Drained, like I had run 23 miles not 15. I am blaming it on the heat and possibly the fact that I donated blood on Wednesday afternoon. I don't really think this should have much of an effect 3 days later but possibly.

Time for some good news. Heather gave a me new mountain bike for my birthday and we picked it up Saturday afternoon. A Cannondale Caffeine, a hardtail bike that is a big step up from my current 8 year old bike. 29" tires, disc brakes, and 27 speeds. I took it out for a spin this morning and was planning on riding for an hour. I ended spending over 2 hours out there and loved every minute of it. I could feel the fatigue in my legs on the uphills but just dropped the gear and went slowly.

The new bike kills my old one in just about every way. I did however take a spill in the last 20 minutes which bent my large sprocket but luckily didn't bend or break anything on me. I'll have to get that fixed. I am definitely looking forward to many miles on this bike but maybe only once a week or so in marathon training.

The week

Mon - 10 miles with 10 striders,
Tues - 4.2 miles
Wed - 8.5 miles w/ 4x800 in ~2:53
Thurs - 11 miles
Fri - 5 miles
Sat - 15 miles
Sun - 2+ hours on the bike. I am guessing 22 miles.

54 miles for the week with a long bike ride.

The humidty has broken in Philly, at least for a few days, making my 11 mile run through the Wissahickon more than bareable and almost downright enjoyable. The aim was to just take it easy and pile up some miles. I ran a majority of the route on the trails, taking it very easy on the up hills and running the remainder sowmhere in the 7:45 pace range.

This run felt better and better as it went along. I definitely was peppier in the last two miles than in the first two miles. I love when this happens. It is a signal that I am getting into better shape and it keeps me motivated to continue.

11 miles in 1:25

Speed Before Breakfast

With a little help from Heather I got up just before 5:00 this morning. We went out on a loop around Chestnut Hill that has become our standard "Morning Loop". At just over 4 miles it's a good distance to get the blood moving but still short enough that Heather can squeeze it in before work.

After stopping at home to get some coffee going and slug a glass of water I was back out the door headed to Chestnut Hill Academy track, about 3/4 of a mile away. I have been trying to add speedwork to all of my Wednesday runs and heading to the track actually seemed like a good idea this morning. I thought a 4 x 800 workout with 400 recovery would be a reasonable thing as it was my first trip to the track in a long while and the first time I'd ever done any speed workout on a morning run. (I guess that is with the exception of races).

After 5 + miles I was more than warmed up when I arrived at the track so I got right to it. Here is how it went down. 2:53, 2:53, 2:54, 2:51. Recoveries were all about 2:10.

I was shooting for 2:55 - 3:00 but the faster pace came naturally and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to knock them out fairly easily. Not to say they were a breeze but they felt like the appropriate amount of effort. I was more than happy with the workout and glad I had knocked it out all before 6:30 in the morning. It is possible to do speedwork before breakfast. Who would have thought. 8.5 miles in 68 minutes.

Monday Evening - 10 Miles with 10 striders, up and down a very wet and gritty Forbidden Drive. It was damp and steamy, with an ethereal mist, spiked with shafts of sunlight throughout the park. I felt strong through the finish as I raced up Rex Hill to catch Heather and Boomer. 73 minutes.

Tuesday Morning - 4.2 miles. It was tough to pull myself out of bed this morning. I was shaking off the cobwebs from my legs and my mind in the first couple miles but felt good by the time I finished. 39 minutes.

Week 2

Howdy Folks. As usual I have fallen behind on posting so here is the week Fri - Sun.

I was happy to only have 5 miles planned for Friday. I kept things slow but felt good and jumped onto some trails to mix things up. Marathon training has kept me away from the trails but I think easy trail running is good for the legs and ankles, contrary to what one might think. It's a break from steady straight ahead pounding that you get running miles on the road. If I have tight calves or sore ankles they often feel better after several miles on the trail. 5.8 miles in 46 minutes.

Saturday was another long run with Seebo. This time around we had Deirdre join so the group of two has become a group of three. Hopefully we will pick up a few more as we move through the summer and closer to the fall marathons.

Seebo planned the route this week which included a trip onto an abandoned rail path for about 3/4 of a miles. I relaxed, enjoyed the run and the conversation and just followed the route. In the last few miles I was really dragging and was glad when we got back to Lloyd Hall to wrap things up. A total turn around from the way I felt at the end of last weeks run.

Why? I think it was due to more miles this week and poor sleep the night before. My body will adjust to the mileage over the next few weeks and I'll just have to sleep a little better the night before.

Sunday afternoon I went out for an easy 5 miles. I felt really good from the start and had to hold myself back to keep the pace easy. A good place to be. I ran a mix of trails and Forbidden Drive. The weather has been fairly cool, upper 70's, all weekend but so damn humid that even after a really easy 5 miles I am dripping with sweat. 5+ miles in 40 minutes.

For the week.

Mon - 10 + easy 1:15
Tues - 4+ easy 32
Wed - 8 with 4 miles at avg. 6:07 pace.
Thurs - 11.3 in 1:28
Fri - 5.8 in 46
Sat - 16 in 2:08
Sun - 5.1 in 40 minutes.

60 miles for the second week of training. So far things are going well.

Picking Things Up

Wednesday night was my first tempo run of the training cycle. I lucked out with the weather, it was relatively cool and the humidity was solidly in the bearable range. Heather and I ran into the park together. Our plan was to run 2 miles easy and then I'd pick it up for 4 miles at tempo pace. I would turn around after 4 miles but Heather would turn around after 3 miles, putting her about 6-8 minutes ahead of me. My goal was to catch her before we got back to the house.

I was unsure of what low 6:00 pace during tempo was going to feel like so I decided to go out easy and adjust. For the first mile I was aiming for 6:25 or so. It came in at 6:05 and felt good so I just kept it up. The next 3 miles ticked off in the 6:05 - 6:10 range. I was keeping up the pace without pushing to hard, I could have kept it up for 1 or 2 more miles I am sure. I hope to build on this work out in the coming weeks getting up to 7 miles at tempo pace.

I didn't slow down to much after the 4 miles knowing Heather was up ahead somewhere. I eventually did catch her just over the crest of Rex Hill but she was walking and I'm sure she could have beaten me home if she really wanted too. 8 miles in 56 mintues.

I had off on Thursday and took advantage by getting up early and enjoying a relaxing morning before lacing them up for 11 miles. My legs were tight from the night before and I just took things easy. I did some exploring in Montgomery County looking for the "Green Ribbon Trail" that is supposed to take you to Fort Washington State Park but it just kind of ended at an intersection after a 1/2 mile and I'm not sure they have completed the next portion. So I just turned around for the cooler confines of the Wissahickon.

I could feel the fatigue setting in by the end of the run but all in all a good workout. 11 miles in 1:26.

A 10 mile run was on order for last night. I headed out as soon as I got home from work on along trip down Forbidden Drive. It was fairly cool but, of course, humid. My step was a little quicker than most of my runs as of late and I cruised along somewhere in the low 7's. I also threw in 10 x 30 sec strides throughout the run.

40 minutes into the run, the album I had been listening to by Calexico ended and I attempted to dial up a new song on my iPod. I don't know if your familiar with this but when your fingers are wet they will not work that little dial on the iPod. My fingers were soaked with sweat and so were clothes I had on, leaving me nowhere to dry my hands. I tried in frustration for a couple minutes to spin up a new album but it wouldn't work. I eventually just hit play again and repeated the album. Oh well, at least it was a good one.

10+ miles in 75 minutes. In the last three miles I had some pain under mile right heal, to the point where I wanted to adjust my stride. I iced when I got home and felt better.

This morning I went out for short run around Chestnut Hill wearing different running shoes from last night. I had some slight heal discomfort in the first few blocks but it quickly went away. I think it is nothing but I'll keep my eye on it and stay away from that pair of shoes. 4+ miles in 32 minutes.

Looking Back

I wrapped up the week with an easy 6 miles with Heather on Forbidden Drive. For some reason we refer to route as the "Bridge Loop" even though there are about 10 other bridges in the park. The 16 miles from yesterday seemed long forgotten by my legs and I was itching to pick up the pace. Heather obliged for a couple miles and then we settled into a more comfortable pace. 6 in 49 minutes.

I keep hoping this marathon build up will be similar to my training for Chicago in 2006. I decided to begin reading my blog from the July/Aug/Sep leading up to that race. I just finished reading most of September. This is not something I often do but it was great to get a window into my training and mind during that period. September of 2006 was a ridiculously good training month. One workout and race seemed to go better than the last and just from that short read I can see why I was felt so good during that marathon. It seems odd, but I was actually wowed by my own training for that time period.

I'll have to pull some pointers for my training this September. A fast finish long run, a couple tempos and a few races seemed to work really well.

The Summer

I could go on about how hot and humid today's long run was but it is just something you have to deal with when summer running in much of the country, so I'll keep it to myself. Warm temps, full sun, and misty very humid air all portend a horrible run, like the one from last summer but it was not so today.

I met Seebo and the full Philly Runner group in front of the AM at 8:00 this morning. It was my first appearance at the group run in months and there were a lot of unfamiliar faces. Seebo and I started with the group and ran a few miles before branching off on a loop that would bring us back to the AM after about 15 miles. I mapped out the route to hit a water fountain every 4-5 miles. Frequent stops to refill a bottle I nuzzled the entire run made things more than bareable.

I felt great all the way through the finish of the run. I am not so sure Seebo was feeling so great towards the end, achy legs, but we balanced each other out and most of the run came in a little over 8:00 pace. Nearly 16 miles in 2:08.

Taking it Easy

It feels good to be focused on a race again. No actual race picked yet but the idea of a race somewhere in October. A 26.2 mile race. I've added a few more possibles to the list of races: Cape Cod Marathon(this one is put on by Dunkin Donuts. The idea of Dunkin Donuts putting on a marathon is funny but it gives me a good idea of what the post run food will consist of.), Wineglass Marathon (in rural New York, beautiful course and a small field). There were a couple others in the NY/MA/RI area that I was looking into but I can't remmeber them right now. What I need to do is pick and commit. Put the race on my calendar and plan around it, instead of planning the race around other things.

This morning I got up to run for the 3rd time this week. To many this would not be a big deal but for me this is huge. The threat of 94 degree humid weather is a great motivator and I enjoyed the relatively cool morning for 5+ miles through the Wissahickon in 42 minutes. My average pace has been hanging out in the 8+ range for the past couple weeks.

I don't feel bad during the runs but this just seems to be the pace that my legs are willing to do right now. In fact, for June my average easy pace is 8:09. Maybe I am finally learning to go slow on easy days. The thing is if you are going to go that slow on the easy days you have to work hard on the hard days and for that to happen you need to actually have hard days in your training. This is something I'll have to work on.

Yesterday evening I made a trip into the Wissahickon Park and onto Forbidden Drive. The plan was 8 miles with 8 x 30 second strides at a little better than 5K effort. It was warm but not ridiculous and my pace hung under 7:30 when I wasn't hitting the strides. I felt good and focused on form during the repeats. With a couple miles to go my energy waned and I slowed things down. I was in no rush to finish.

There was filiming going on in the park as evidenced by trailers, cameras, a food spread, and people with headphones. I found out it was a commercial and as I made my way along the trail I saw where they were filming. They had a tall, fit, older looking man with slicked back salt and pepper hair. He was dressed as if he was a ring anouncer at a high end boxing match but with a deep green tux on instead of black. He was tightly gripping an antique looking microphone and giving a mean stare into the camera. It seemed very out of place in the park and your guess is as good as mine as to what the commercial was for. Maybe I'll see it on TV in the future. 8+ miles in 61 minutes.

This morning I surprised myself by hopping right out of bed when my alarm sounded at 4:50. Heather, Boomer and I ran a 4.3 mile loop around CH. The humidity had risen sharply overnight and although it was cool I was dripping after the short run. Heather stopped home with the dog to get ready for work and I went out for a few more to give me 7 miles in 58 minutes.

I was looking over the calendar and was surprised to find I have 16-18 weeks until the marathon depending which I chose. For whatever reason I thought I would only have 12 or 13 weeks and its nice to have the unexpected extra training time.

So now what do I do with all of this time. I know from experience that I am just not good at following a strict plan, training for me is more effective when I kind of do my own thing. Looking back to past races, Chicago, although not my fastest, was the best marathon I have run. In the 15 weeks leading up to this race I had consistent 60+ weekly mileage with some tempo runs, fast finish long runs, and mid-week long runs that built up to 15 miles as I approached the taper. I dropped weekly mileage goals on the calendar and each week I would plan my runs to reach this goal. This year I plan to do the same thing with the major goals being:

1. Consistent mileage
2. At least one session of speedwork each week including, tempo, fartlek and intervals.
3. Easy miles on easy days

If I stick to these three simple ideas I think things will go well. Sounds easy, now I just have to put it into practice, get out there each day, and keep the enthusiasm up.

Last night I put in 8+ miles mostly on Forbidden Drive in 64 minutes. I felt smooth but a little tired at the end. The trip up Rex Hill at the end took nearly 5 minutes, more than a minute more than my best, I was moving slow at the end.

This morning 4+ miles around Chestnut Hill. I was surprised at how cool the air was when I stepped out the door and I was happy that I was able to get up. I definitely enjoy these slow, lazy morning runs when most of the world is still asleep. Especially this time of year when the sky brightening by 5:00 and I can run into the sunrise 36 minutes.

Getting Into It

It's been well over a week since I last posted so I'll give you the extremely abbreviated version and then move on to today's run and the future.

I spent a lot of days at the beach over the past 10 days including a long weekend with Heather and then last Wed-Sat with some friends in Sea Isle. This reduced my running totals to 33 miles last week and 27 miles this week. Not horrible but about 10 miles short of what I would have liked. It did however, give me a little mental and physical break from running and I am feeling ready to attack marathon training for the fall.

I considered today the official start of training, not only because I put it 12.5 miles but because I ran them with Seebo. Runs with Seebo generally mean that one or both of us are building towards a marathon and although it wasn't so long of a run today it was the first step toward building up the distance and the routine of the weekly marathon training ritual.

We started easy and we kept it easy which was just fine with me. There will be plenty of time for faster finish long runs in the future. We followed a loop on familiar territory from Llyod Hall out to the Belmont Hills and back through Fairmount Park. We were treated to the Philly Triathlon at the start and finish of the run. Conversation was easy, weather was decent and it was an enjoyable trip around some roads I haven't travelled in a bit. 12.5 miles 1:45.

I found my calves tighter than expected after the run. I at first blamed it on a few days off but then realized that it was the first long run on the roads in quite a while. I think my legs just aren't used to it and it means I need to make point of putting more miles on the asphalt and less on the trails.

As for a marathon this fall I am still undecided. I am looking for something in mid-October to give me enough time to train but will allow me to avoid training through mid-terms in November. It also has to be a driveable distance. Baltimore, Steamtown, and the Newport marathon look like good options. I am leaning towards Newport right now as it will allow some sightseeing and a totally different type of marathon than I am used to with a field of only 600 or so people.

I will break 3 hours.

Early Morning

I took a planned day off on Monday because of the heat. Going to bed that evening I swore I was going to get up and run in the morning (the only time I have to run on Tuesday) and I couldn't get out of bed. The entire day I was angry with myself for not having the drive to get out of bed.

I made a pact with Heather on Tuesday night to wake up early with her to run this morning. Heather has to leave for work at 6:20, this meant getting up 4:50 to run. Not normally my cup of tea but once we got up, dressed and out the door I was happy for it.

The sky was brightening when we stepped of the porch for a 4+ miles loop around the hood. We saw a couple large downed trees from the storm overnight, I guess it had been fairly nasty but I didn't notice asleep in my bed.

After dropping Heather off I went back out for 6 more miles that included a trip into the Wissahickon and Forbidden Drive. Generally a quicker pace than I had run with Heather but never to fast. After couple days off I was really feeling good.

I got home and still had some time to spare before having to get ready for work, it made for a relaxing breakfast. I definitely can get used to that, now I just have to get used to waking up that early.

10+ miles in 1:23

Wissahickon Trail Classic

Before a I get into a race report, just a few details about the week.

The week was filled with mostly easy runs with the exception of a tempoish workout on Tuesday. 3.5 miles in 22:30 or 6:26 pace. A little under my tempo and that is about how it felt, controlled hard. I was really just giving the legs a stretch and testing my skills at pace guessing after so many miles on the trails.

Race day was Saturday morning. Ryan took the train out to my neck of the woods to join me for the race. It was hot. Like mid-July in early June. Hot enough to make me sweat just sitting around. It was going to be an extra fun race.

It was quick run to the start and after 20 minutes Ryan and I were signing up and getting our numbers. I tried not to drip sweat all over the form as I filled it out. We had a bit of time and relaxed in the shade before race time. We glanced over the course map before the run and I was able to envision the race. It started with a big hill and ended with a big hill. My plan was to take it easy on the first hill and then pick it up. Prior to the race I really thought I had a chance at placing in the top 10.

First hill went as planned but at the top was a lot of singletrack and I was stuck in a long line of runners moving at a decent pace. I wanted to pick things up and was eventually able to get ahead of this pack and open up some running space. I figured I was in 20th place at this point. Down a long hill, up a bridge across the creek then up a hill on the other side. We were about 15 minutes in and I was hurting more than I thought I should be at this point. Thinking back this was about the point I just started to hold on. I kept hoping things would smooth out and I could make few attacks to try and get ahead of some runners but in reality I was the one getting passed.

Back up another long climb and now it took a lot not to walk. I thought I'd have an advantage with my knowledge of the trails but the way I was feeling I could put that info to work. The race eventually dipped back onto flat Forbidden Drive for a 1/2 mile and the people in front me pulled away the entire time.

The last hill was more brutal that I had imagined and I walked... a lot. We crested the hill and I knew the remainder was a long descent. I pushed the pace I was able to pass two runners and finish in 45:04.

With the hilly terrain and no mile splits it is tough to gauge your performance in a trail race. The only thing you can really do is compare your race against others that you know. In this regard, I didn't do to well. A few guys I know from the Wanderers that race my pace were up to two minutes ahead of me. Maybe the heat took a toll on me, maybe it just wasn't a good day or maybe these guys just hold back on the smaller trail races.

It was still a fun race and I had a good time. Ryan raced well and seemed to enjoy it too. After cooling down, eating some oranges and a slice of pizza, Ryan and I took a very slow, hot run home. A good way to start the weekend.

For the week. 47 miles running and a 14 mile bike ride.

For the first time since the Broad Street run in early May my run took me out of the Wissahickon Park and onto the road for an extended period. Things started in the park but after 2.5 miles I reached the top and just didn't feel like running trails. Instead of turning around I just kept going into Whitemarsh Township, through gold courses and across couple farms on a loop that dropped me back off at the corner of Northwestern and Germantown Avenue. From here it was long trip up the Germantown hill and home. Just over 7 miles in 54 minutes. From the map it looks like I should explore this area above the city a little more. There could be a few good long loops that are waiting to be run.

While I was out there my mind Wandered to marathon season in the Fall. I am again hoping that I get into the NYC marathon through the lottery. If not NYC then what? Maybe Steamtown.

Toleration

I was browsing a few websites on the Wissahickon Park Saturday afternoon and I clicked the link for statues in the park. I was surprised to find one listed that I'd never seen. The Toleration statue pictured above. All this time in the park and I've never happened upon this statue? My goal for today's run was to locate this thing. I wish I could say that I searched high and low, spending hours in the park until I finally stumbled upon it but I actually did a little more digging on the internet and turned up an approximate location. Just north of the Walnut Lane Bridge on the Eastern Side of the park. I've run and biked trails in that area countless times, that intrigued me even more.

I stole a little info about the statue from the Friends of Wissahickon website. "Erected in 1883, this marble statue of a man in Quaker clothing is situated on a ridge on the eastern side of the Park just north of the Walnut Lane Bridge. Standing atop Mom Rinker’s Rock, the nine-foot-eight-inch statue has the word “Toleration” carved into its four-foot-three-inch base. The statue, which was created by late 19th century sculptor Herman Kirn, was brought to the site by landowner John Welsh who is reported to have purchased the statue at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.Welsh, a former Fairmount Park Commissioner and U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, donated his land to the Park prior to his death in 1886."

I ran 4-5 miles there on some rugged trails and enjoyed another beautiful day. I took things very slowly as I approached and just began looking around. It didn't take long. I gazed up as I passed by a large rock, that I literally have run by 100 times, and boom there it was gazing out above me. I actually felt a little foolish for never noticing it just 50 feet above my head. I guess I am to busy looking at where my feet are landing and not taking in the scenery.

I quickly found a rough trail to the top of the rock and checked out the statue and the view. I also found some extremely fragrant wild flowers that filled the entire area with the scent of late spring.

After that I turned it around and headed home on a shorter route. I was dragging by the end. 8+ miles in 64 minutes. 54 miles for the week. A number I have run a few times this year but haven't topped.