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

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

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

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

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

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

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