Finally back home from Washington. I always feel a little let down after the holidays. The break from work is over, it’s early January and now we have nearly 3 months of winter to look forward too. I do have the marathon out there on the first day of spring as my carrot to carry me through the dark and cold months.

Heather and I got home around 5:30 on Saturday evening and by 6:30 I was back out the door getting reacquainted with Chestnut Hill. The night was clear and calm, I was feeling good and itching to pick things up but I kept things easy. I knew I had a fast finish long run planned for Sunday and I was trying to save my legs for that. 7.3 miles in 59 minutes.

I was feeling jet lagged on Sunday morning and decided to have a big breakfast before heading out in the afternoon for my long run. I ran through Chestnut Hill, Mt Airy and then into Manayunk where I took some very steep downhill onto Main Street. I then made my way to into the Wissahickon Park.

Once I hit Forbidden Drive I sped things up to marathon pace. The first mile went by in 7:00, a little slow. The next 4 miles went by somewhere between 6:30 and 6:50. It is difficult to gauge an accurate pace using the poorly spaced markers in the park. The goal of this run was to challenge myself on tired legs and regardless of the actual pace I definitely did that. I was feeling slightly nauseous when I finished the fast portion of my run at the top of Forbidden Drive. I turned around and ran the final two miles very slowly home. My legs were tired. 16.8 miles in 2:04.
I have been running on new sneakers for the past two weeks. I made the change not because I thought it would make a difference but because that I couldn’t find my Gel-Cumulus and I was tired of looking. I picked up Asics Gel Landreth per the running store owner’s recommendation. I was initially apprehensive but they really have made a difference. The calf problems I normally have at higher mileage completely went away. I hope it keeps up.