Memorial Day Weekend

A beautiful Memorial day weekend. Almost exactly how I would have ordered up the weather if I was the one pushing the buttons controlling such things. Sunny, 70's, light breeze, perfect for running and biking.


Friday night I couldn't get myself motivated to run. The thought of a few beers and some grilling to kick off the holiday weekend won over my easily coerced brain and I took the day off.

On Saturday I ran a 10.5 mile loop on the trails in the Wissahickon. It's funny, now only a couple days gone, I can barely remember the route I took. Hmmm. I have feeling a majority of the run was on Forbidden Drive at a nice easy pace as I recovered from the race the day before. A look at the log reminded me that I ran 4.5 mile with my dog Boomer. Dropped him off panting at home and went out for 6 more on Forbidden by myself. 10.5 miles in 80 minutes.

Sunday. Heather and I took an out of the ordinary bike ride all the way out to Valley Forge Park and back. I knew we were in for a long day from the start. It is a mostly down hill ride to the Schuylkill river trail from my place. Start on Forbidden Drive, a left at the top of the park. Down the long and winding hill that is Hart's Lane and your there, about 3 miles. The trail itself is totally flat save for a couple under passes.

Once we arrived at the park we grabbed some junk food from the visitor's center and made our way to a nice shady locale with a view of a gigantic field with hundred's of picnickers. We relaxed in the shade and popped treats for about an hour and took in a truly perfect day.


Wow! My ass was sore when I got back on the bike for the ride home. I am not used to sitting on the bike for more than an hour and that is mountain biking when I am out of the saddle 1/3 of the time anyhow. We both sucked it up and took a slightly easier pace on the way home. Heather surprised me with her resolve on the way back up that horrible Hart's Lane hill. We arrived back at the Wissahickon and again treated ourselves to ice cream cones and Gelati. 41 miles over much of the afternoon.

Monday. I told Heather as I was leaving the house for a run. "If I feel good I'm gonna be out for a while. If I feel bad I'll be back in under an hour" I felt great and ran for 1:42. It was the first run of the year that I would officially call hot. Not so hot that my shorts were dripping with sweat but enough to embolden me to take off my shirt. In 6 weeks this will be considered a cool day to run. Funny how quickly perceptions change.

I had no route in mind and just looped trails together eventually ending up at my old house. I turned around and looped more trails together to get home. Along the way I stopped at a few water fountains and took in the beautiful day and the ridiculously crowded park. A conservative 14 miles.