Just as it is every other spring, I am all about running the trails in the Wissahickon. I jumped back in there Thursday night on legs that were still shaky from Tuesday's workout. Regardless, I felt peppy and ran a fairly hard pace most of the way. I didn't log the run and my memory is a little hazy but I think it was a little shy of 70 minutes. The entire time I was running I knew it was going to hurt the following day but I had some great tunes on and it was the perfect evening for a trail run so I didn't hold back.

Friday I took very easy and stayed on Forbidden Drive running around 8:15 pace. Things were sore but loosened after got in a few miles. 56 minutes.

This morning I met VP Steve for another run in the park. We jumped on the trails right next to the golf course and bumped into a few guys from the Wissahickon Wanderers. It was nice to catch up with a couple of the guys I haven't seen in a while. The Wanderers are again hosting Thursday night trail races in the month of May and I hope to make it out for a few.

We stayed on the trails all the way down to Lincoln Drive, a couple of the Wanderers had dropped off and it was just Steve, Chris and I to make our way back up Forbidden Drive. It was warm and the hard running this week was catching up with me. Had Steve not been there I would have definitely taken a walking break on the way up Rex but that's what friends are, they can drag your ass up a hill without even knowing it. 85 minutes.

I was in the mood for a hard workout this evening. Heather and I drove to the top of Forbidden Drive at Northwest Ave on an absolutely beautiful spring afternoon. I couldn't wait to get moving on the trails and quickly took off on the first available, up a long steep hill. My lungs were burning by the top of the hill, a warmup would be better next time.

After catching my breath I pushed it to a hard tempoish pace and decided to the follow the course for the Wissahickon Trail Classic, a race I ran last summer. This is a killer course with five lung busting hills. If I wanted to introduce someone to a hard trail run in the park I would take them out on this. I piled the frustration I have had with my running lately into my legs along this course, I almost felt as if I was racing myself. I feel like I need more of these runs that just totally kick my ass and bring a little fire back into my workouts to get my running to or above the level it was last spring. To often as of late I just feel like I am just going through the motions when I am out there for a workout. Maybe a time trial along this course every few weeks would do the trick.

I've had plans in my head for time trial routes in the past, where I could hopefully gauge my fitness across a few months but I have never stuck to it. I am really going to make the effort this time around. The bar was set at 46:51 today (with a wrong turn that I won't make the next time out there) for what I think is 6.5 miles. Only 7:20 pace but it felt more like 6:20.

For the day 7.5 miles in 56 minutes.

After posting to the blog yesterday I decided to see how quickly I had run the clean air 5K last year. (this is a good thing about running a race year in and year out. It can act as a barometer of your fitness as long as you take any variables into consideration). So...

2005 - 19:10
2006 - 18:21
2007 - I had to run this Boston Marathon thing which falls on the same weekend.
2008 - 17:56
2009 - 18:28

2005 and 2006 are suspect because I know that the course was measured incorrectly and short for the 2007 running. I would guess they used the same course for 2005 and 06 until this issue was brought to the race directors attention in 2007. What I can say for sure is that I ran the race 32 seconds slower than last year, or roughly 10 seconds a mile. That is a lot. Last year I was coming off of a winter with no marathon training, I was gearing up for a half-marathon that never materialized. I think my training was more conistent through March and April and I am guessing this is the major cause for the change. These days just putting in the miles doesn't lead to a PR at any distance.

In 2008 I was very close to a sub 60 in the 10 mile Broad Street Run until stomach ailments hit. This year I think that the 60 mark will be unreachable but hey, you never know.

Back to actual workouts. I dragged my mountain bike out of the basement on Saturday afternoon, dusted it off and checked it over. I forgot what kind of shape it was in when I tucked it away for the winter and was surprised to find that everything was working perfectly. On Sunday morning I took a spin down Forbidden Drive to meet Seth and Ron from the Philly Runners for a ride. The pace remained easy which is a good thing because, as I expected, I am not in great bike shape. The ride definitely piqued my mountain biking enthusiasm and got me out on a beautiful and cool spring morning. I think it was 13 miles or so.

This morning I got into the gym at my work for the 4th Monday in a row. Hot Damn. For me and the gym, that is consistency. It is paying off, things are easier, I am not as sore the next day, and the amount of weight I can push up and down each time keeps increasing. It isn't much but it is nice to put that missing piece back into the fitness puzzle.

Run for Clean Air 5K

I arrived at the race to find the truck that delivered the race tents pulling away belching clouds of blue tinged oily exhaust, what a fitting way to start the run for clean air. It was probably the warmest morning of the year so far with temps into upper 50s at 8:00 am. I was there early for the 9:00 start but I like to get there early to chat with runners I haven't seen in a long while and it leaves me plenty of time to warm up.

The warm-up was 2.5 miles with a few pickups for 200 yards or so and a little stretching on the run. I felt decent but I wasn't sure what kind of shape I was in for a 5K. I like to forecast my race time to the second just to see how close I can get. Today I guessed 18:12.

I was on a team consisting of a couple Kevins, a Steve or two and Rick. Apparently we were defending the Philly Runners 1st place finish from the last 4 or 5 years. Before the race I really wasn't in the mood to race I had an odd indifference about the whole thing. I don't think this really effected my finish, maybe I could have shaved a couple seconds with a more mental fortitude.

Anyhow, the gun went off, the rabbits went out and settled in to what felt like the right pace. Mile 1 went by in 5:44 and I was well back from the leaders with about 20 - 30 people ahead. 5:44 felt good and I didn't feel like I had hit the gas to hard to start. I spent half of mile 2 trying to catch the small pack in front of me and tucked in just before the turn around when the small pack got strung out with me at the back.

Along this stretch I just tried to hold my own. Mile 2 went by in 6:04. I felt as if I was running a consistent pace but evidently not.

Over the last mile I was dueling with another guy from "Students Run Philly Style". He received never ending support from the student racers heading out on the loop. He soundly whooped my butt with a half mile to go as he pulled away and I had no answer. I had my guard up for any surging runners behind me in the last 200 meters as we crossed the Schuylkill river but luckily I was on my own. Third mile in 6:03 and finish in 18:29. I had missed my race predicted race time but I didn't put to much thought into it.

I wanted to run more mile so I jogged right over to the Saturday morning Philly runner group and ran the loop with some folks I haven't seen in a while. I really have to make more of an effort to keep connected with the group. My isolated runs out in Chestnut Hill are scenic but I do miss taking a spin around the drives with a crew.

As for the Philly Runners Team. I think we lost our perennial crown and finished in second place but I'll have to wait for the results to pop up to be sure.

14 miles for the day. The biggest day since the marathon and it felt great.

As expected, a tough week for running. If I had really had the urge a few miles in the morning on Tuesday or Wednesday could have happened but cold temps and rain drowned any chance of that. Instead, this morning was the first run of the week and it was short one at that.

The clouds have broken and the rising sun filled the wall to wall blue skies. There was also a setting half moon. With the sun on one horizon and the moon disappearing at another it is easy to see how the moon and sun relate to each other in space and why I can only see half of the lit moon from my vantage point. I pondered this relationship as I cruised around Chestnut Hill on on very happy and well rested legs. 4.7 miles in 36 minutes.

Back to work on Monday morning on what promises to be a long week both at work and at home. It's doubtful that I'll to log to many miles this week. Hopefully I can sneak in a couple runs in the morning. I can't wait until this semester is over.

Over the weekend I was able to put in a few miles. On Friday evening Heather and I took Boomer into a very muddy Wissahickon Park for a trip up and down Forbidden Drive. Despite the growing baby Heather is still making it out for runs and I am impressed. We ran five miles which included some walk breaks and some pee breaks. For Boomer, not for us. The dog has to stop and investigate nearly every puddle, if only to dip his snout into it for a seconds. You can imagine how many puddles are in the park after all the rain we have had lately. 5 miles in 60 minutes.

Sunday was trip by myself into the park on the trails and on Forbidden Drive. I had Marah's "Kid's in Philly" album on the iPod and for whatever reason my running and that album often connect for a great run. Sunny, breezy, 48 degrees a perfect morning for a run. I pushed the pace on the trails which included some light steps crossing a couple streams on exposed rocks and a jumps from the top of boulders back to the trails. Fun.

After 40 minutes I was on Forbidden Drive for the trip home. At Valley Green I mixed in some drills. I call the first drill "Park Benches". This involves standing in front of a park bench lifting the right leg, stepping on the bench, bringing up my left leg standing on the bench for a second and then stepping back down. Repeat 20 times alternating the leg you start with, take a break and then do it again. I continued on my way to home to the bottom of Rex.

Here there are a couple picnic benches right next to each other which made for a great spot for the next drill I'll call "Picnic Benches" From a stand still do a two legged jump onto the first bench, then bounce up to the table, jump off the table onto the bench on the other side and then jump to the ground. Jump onto the bench on the next table and up and over in the same fashion. Go back forth 4 times, rest and repeat. This drill was much more a of a workout then the last and had me gasping by the end of each set.

After this I recovered by walking half-way up the hill at Rex Avenue and then ran the rest of the way home. About 9.5 miles in 86 minutes. 34 miles for the week in 5 workouts with a trip to the gym on Monday morning.

This morning I read this article over my bowl of Cocoa Krispies. It's not every 10K that you can run under 32 minutes and finish somewhere between 100-200th place. Of course not every 10K has Martin Lel toeing the line and bull as a grand prize either. The level of running in that region of Kenya is ridiculous, I can see how that must make them push each other to levels that are just a step above most others around the world.


I did a little of my own pushing this morning hopefully to a slightly better level of running. A trail run in the Wissahickon on an overcast and calm morning with temps in the upper 40s, perfect weather. The goal was a hill workout. I ran to a hill in the park that I thought would fit the bill, a long even slope that was void of ankle twisting rocks and roots. I charged up (under 5K pace) for 30 secs and recovered on the downhill as slow as possible before repeating. 3 x 30 secs and I was on my way. I kept it short because I knew the remainder of my route would have plenty more hills to charge. Four more hard uphill intervals between 20 and 45 seconds. The workout left me feeling energized and ready to take on the rest of the day.

Overall these workouts aren't extremely hard because they are over so quickly but I think you can reap some large benefits. All other portions of the run were run around 7:45 pace. Oddly I didn't see one other person on the trails. On mornings much nastier than today I always see at least a couple. 5.8 miles in 46 minutes. Happy Good Friday.

A crisp beautiful morning made me glad I'd gotten up early for a morning run. Temps were in the upper 30s, calm, and not a cloud in the sky. It's been about month since I've hit the roads on a weekday morning and the sun has quickly rebounded from the hour we stole for DST, it was nearly dawn at 6:15. Actually dawn is 6:32 this morning and we are gaining 1 - 2 minutes every day.

An easy run and I was hoping to throw in some running drills that I posted about a few weeks before the marathon. I watched a demonstration of several of these drills on YouTube last night but after a 1 mile warmup I couldn't recall many of them and was stuck with faking my way through the two drills that I thought I remembered correctly. One from the video and one from an article I read a while back. Adding these dynamic run-like exercises is supposed to increase overall speed and fitness, reduce injury and make you a better more consistent runner.

I suppose if I want to do this properly I should work on the drills at a track or in a place where I can read about what I am supposed to do just before I do it. That seems like a little to much effort when I really just want to run so I'll instead keep it to these half remembered efforts once or twice a week. Things will eventually begin to stick and maybe become routine.

This morning was "Getting the knees up" where you take quick steps lifting your knees high and snapping the heel of your foot to your but for 25 meters or so. I repeated 3 times through my run. I also bounced up a few hills. This is very much a running motion but instead of lightly pushing off with each step you push off hard trying to get some air and sort of bounce up the hill. It is difficult to sustain for long but a perfect way to get the blood pumping on a cool morning.

Other than that easy miles on this route. 5.7 miles in 47 minutes.

There are few races on my calendar including the Run for Clean Air 5K on Apr 18th and the Broad Street 10 Miler on May 3rd. To race well I don't want to sit on my laurels for an extended period and let my fitness ebb further. Also, I am very energized to put in some more miles, if anything the marathon performance fired my interest in running. I find myself perusing more running websites, blogs and books, not things I normally do a few weeks after a marathon.

So last night I put in my first real workout in weeks. 8 miles with 3 x 1 miles at 6:00 pace or at least an attempt at 6:00 pace. I ran along Forbidden Drive for 2 miles and then picked it up for a mile in 6:06, 1/2 mile easy and then a second mile in 6:00, 1/2 mile easy and the third mile in 6:00. The intervals were hard but not ridiculous and overall I was happy with the workout. 8 miles in 57:30.

I'm finally feeling back to normal after a few ugly runs since the marathon. I think the poor runs were a mix of fatigue and the leg workout at my work's gym this past Monday. My legs haven't seen any weights since around 2005 and it showed all week. Despite my attempt to "go easy" I was waddling for a couple days and then just generally sore for a few more. You mix that with some hilly trails runs and it makes for a tough go. I walked toward the top of many uphills and sucking air at easy paces.

Today was sunny and warm. I went out with a little trepidation that I was going to repeat my performance from Friday but it didn't happen. After 4 miles I finally felt decent and even extended the run a couple times to enjoy the day. Around 9 miles in 80 minutes almost all of it on the trails.

I am still kicking around my marathon performance and what might have went wrong. I really feel my training was adequate for the performance. My speed was definitely there, shorter races predict at marathon time in the low 2:50s and I believe my endurance was there as well if the spectacular 23 miler I ran 3 weeks prior to the race was any indication. Everything just didn't come together on race day. Now this sounds like a poor excuse but I am leaning more and more towards what I ate both before and during the race as the culprit to me hitting the wall.

I'll save the details for what I should have eaten vs. what I did eat over the past few marathons for another day but I think it is the key to a better performance. I feel foolish for not reading into this more in the past. Understanding what I should eat and actually doing it is so much easier than running all those miles in training yet it can have just as big of an effect on race day. Why leave it to chance and just do what you think is right instead of doing what is right?