6 Days

I haven't posted since last Thursday so I have some catching up to do.

Thursday - Heather and I ran over to the Chestnut Hill track for a workout. When we arrived, there were 20-30 kids running the track in what looked to be a elementary-middle school track workout. The options were to either run over some kids and piss off the coaches or run somewhere else. We opted for the latter and headed over to Wolcott Hill for a workout.

I had done 8x30 second hill repeats my last time here. For no good reason I decided on 5x60 sec hill repeats. Nothing to exciting just banged them out. I can say that I feel more fluid and strong on the hill. These once a week workouts must be having an effect. 7.5 miles in 66 minutes

Friday - Easy run on trails and Forbidden Drive in the Wissahickon. 8 miles in 62 minutes

Saturday - I joined Deirdre and Steve for a long run. I had gotten up a little early and ate but just before we started the run my stomach was grumbling for some more food. Not a good way to start a 16 miler. A long loop out through Manayunk to the Belmont Hill and back through Farimount Park. I had come more for the company than for the miles and it was nice to hang out with Deirdre and Steve for a couple hours.

At Montgomery Avenue, they continued on to the Fire trail in Fairmount park and headed down to MLK for a trip to the Art Museum. I have to admit I was really dragging by this point and my pace slowly eroded the closer I got to the end. 15.5 miles in 2hr 5 min. I thought the average pace was faster than this but physics doesn't lie.

Sunday - 40 easy minutes in the pool. Haven't swam in a while and it felt good.

47 miles for the week

Monday - An Easy trail run with Heather on a damp and still evening. We found a few new trails and I really enjoyed the run. About 7 miles in 62 minutes.

Tuesday - I normally don't run after class on Tuesday but the weather was warm and I saw literally about 15 runners on my drive home so I couldn't resist. I went out the door just as it got dark for a loop around Chestnut Hill that included the 5 1/4 mile tempo run I have done over the past few weeks.

My legs felt fresh and fast and I had high hopes of squeezing some seconds off of the 32:25 tempo time I ran the past 2 attempts. I again passed by the roadside digital speedometer which lit up as it started tracking me. 9-10-9-10-9-10-11. I gave a little burst at the end to get 10 11 miles an hour.

I tried not to hold back much and by the second half of the run I felt like I was really cruising, eating up the road with each stride. It was great. However, as I crossed the imaginary finish line at Waterman street my watch read 32:25. The same exact time as my last two attempts. 5-1/4 miles over hills, streets, and traffic lights. Three different attempts, different weather conditions, feeling different before and during the workout, I managed to run the same exact time to the second. I am in no way boasting, I was hoping to shave 10 seconds off last night. It just seems odd. It will now be my mission to go sub 32:20 on this loop. 8.1 miles in 56 minutes.