The past week has been a good one for workouts. I was in the pool twice, nearly a mile on the first dip last Wednesday and over a mile on the second this past Sunday. Both were solid swims and I really feel like I've made some progress on my technique. Who knows this could even turn into a triathlon at some point.

I've also run four times in the past week. Two were lazy trips around Chestnut Hill with my dog. As the temps go up his ability to run goes down (similarly to mine) and we had to walk the last mile home on Monday. I thought he might have a stroke and I was looking for a large puddle that he could lay down in, his favorite thing when he's hot, but none were around. I'll either have to leave him at home over the summer or head straight for the park so he can swim in the creek.

On Saturday morning I joined a large group of Philly Runners for a long run. The run included Seebo, Deirdre, Devon, Jamie, and many others. The group is training for marathons in the fall and are just beginning to run longer on the weekends. I am not training for a marathon but thought it would be good to join them on the shorter weeks, less than 15 miles. Half of me wants to run 15 miles for fitness and the other half thinks it is a good reasons to hang out with friends and enjoy the morning. And that is exactly what it was.

After some easy miles through East Farimount Park and up through Manayunk the pace picked up going up and over the Belmont hills and the group split up leaving myself, Kevin, Seebo and Deirdre to pick our own route through West Fairmount as the threatening skies opened up with a steady, heavy rain. It was the kind of rain I don't really mind, warm with no wind. I actually enjoy being out this mess. 14.5 miles in 2 hours flat.

Last night I took a hilly route through the Wissahickon. I ran a little harder than I have been lately and was really feeling good. Five miles into it I was in front of Valley Green with two+ miles to go. At a moderate pace I know it takes me 16 minutes to run home from here. I had 15minutes 30sec until I'd be running for 1 hour and decided to try and get back home in under an hour. I pushed up Forbidden Drive to the hill at Rex and then tried to keep things going up the hill. The pace was slower then I'd hoped and I knew 1 hour was going to be close. I haven't raced the clock home in a long while and I forgot how motivating it could be.

Instead of resting at the top of the Rex I kept pushing up Seminole and the few blocks to home. Total time 59:53. I stopped my watch, a wheezing sweaty mess. The urge to push myself finally seems to have returned. At least for an hour last night.