Hangln' W/ Mr Berra

I know "social media" has become a daily part of the fabric of our day to day lives over the past few years and has some people devided on it's existence,some will wonder how they lived w/out b4 it came such a part of their lives,others wonder what all the fuss is about.
Granted when abused Facebook can be a pain,seriously NO ONE cares if you "just ate a Bagel" and I probably skirt the parameters of abuse w/ all the cat picures I post....what can I say"never saw a cute cat picture I didn't feel the need to "like" or "share""
But when used correctly Facebook can be a useful tool in setting up social gatherings....behold as I transport you to the "Facebook Zone".....

While I was on my competitive sabatical I tended not to read anyone elses blogs,or check Masterstrack.Com or even my clubs website but as I returned to the fold I began to revisit said sites,not only had my friend and team mate Nick Berra won the USATF Road Mile in Pittsburgh recently but also won the clubs Track Pentathlon something I know a little about as I won the 5 race event back in 2010 so I reached out via Facebook to offer my congrats to him and  ask if he had any plans to be in my neck of the woods anytime soon.
Over the past few years Nick and I have been able to sync our schedules to either do a track workout together or more often than not run upto the Art Museum and beyond along Kelly Drive when he's in my neck of the woods and even though we've been running in different circles this year Nick messaged me on Facebook on Tuesday to say he was in Center City on Wednesday if I was available to get together for an 8 miler.....ah using Facebook for good,see naysayers it's not all bad afterall!!

Even though I had a concert scheduled for later in the evening I figured I could do both,meet Nick at 5pm,run eat,shower and then hit The Troc at 7.30pm for The Mission show....#multitasking
Met Nick in the lobby of his hotel by 5pm and promptly began weaving our way up the Ben Franklin Parkway towards the Art Museum.
The pace was a little brisker than I've been running my 8 and 10 miles in of late{taking a leaf out of Francis Burdette's book and running 9.30/10 min mile pace} but comfortable enough to be conversational.
I haven't been in the same stratosphere as Nick in almost a year since we ran the Masters road 5k c'ships in Syracuse at the end of September so it was good to get caught up as we swopped injuries/aliments stories,trust me at almost 45 and 50 we have enough of those to last an entire run but b4 we even reached half way at just beyond the 2 and 1/4 mile mark just past St Joe's Boathouse I realized I needed my full lung capacity to run not gab....I'm sure Nick "Enjoyed The Silence" on the inbound leg of the run!!
Not sure of the overall pace,I'd guess 7.5-8 minute mile pace like I said a little quicker than I'm used to but it felt good to "step it up" a little.

Post run we both saw off a Burreto Bowl at a nearby Chipolte and gave the Ice Tea machine a good going over,Nick has his sights on 5th Avenue Mile in just over 2.5 weeks,me I'll sit this year out and hope to "tear it up" next year,not sure when our schedules will be compatable again but watch out Ben Franklin Parkway and Kelly Drive runners these two aging milers aren't done just yet as sure as I know we'll tear it up there and at Chipolte afterwards....you have been warned!