Heather has been battling plantar fasciitis for a couple months and yesterday evening was her first run since November. I joined her for an easy 4 miles around CH. Luckily she felt good the whole way.

This morning I joined a couple new people down at the Art Museum for a long run. WE connected on the Philly Runners message board and the plan was a 17 mile loop out and over the Belmont Hills. Both Cassi and Luke are new to the area and enjoyed a little break from the monotonous drives along the river. Cassi was training for her 4th Boston Marathon and Luke is training for the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach. He’s hoping for a BQ.

I am always a little apprehensive running with new people as you don’t know their personality yet you know that your going to be running with them for two and half hours. If you end up with a nut it could make a real long run. These concerns are always unfounded as most runners are very down to earth people and have things in common. This was definitely the case this morning, the constant conversation made it feel like a shorter run.

Pace was generally in the upper 7s and it felt good. The last couple miles along MLK drifted into the low 7s, it reminded of the old Thursday night runs and I wanted to push things harder. I Finished feeling the best yet this training cycle for a long run. What a difference from last week.

17.7 miles in 2:18.