Strength-The Alarm
Seldom a dull moment in the world of Kevinrunningfree, one minute I'm logging my first 5 day training week in ten weeks the next I'm on the DL{Disabled List} for ten days leading up to the final third of the Spring Triple Crown and the first leg of the Big Three in Philly road racing circuit{Broad St Run,Philadelphia Distance Run and Philadelphia Marathon}
Monday April 14th An easy 5 miler to kick off the week 44.26.2 off 8.53 mile pace w/ splits of 8.24-8.40-9.08-9.21-8.53
The auld adage goes music soothes the savage beast and a good run helps clear the head, I had missed a potential long run over the weekend due to coming home from work on Friday to a ''Notice To Vacate" on the inside of the front door......it's a long drawn out saga that's been rumbling on for almost a year now but I'm happy to say while I was out running that lunchtime the situation was correcting its self to the point where I now have a new lease for the next 12 months and potentially the freeloaders in the building will leave or be moved on, this has been my home for better or worse for the last 12 years,it's far from Shangri la but its home and I'd prefer to leave when I'm good and ready and not b4 time
Tuesday April 15th An untimed 5 miler to keep things ticking along not only for the long overdue 5 day week but the equally long overdue triple digit mileage month,at this stage halfway through the month I was now on 42 miles and seemingly well on course to brake the now 13 month drought since I clocked 154 miles last February.......a week's along time in politics so they say.....it can be a lifetime in Masters running.....
Wednesday April 16th A tempo run no seasons best this week off a 41.49.4 thanks to 8.20 mile pace and splits of 8.14-8.43-8.29-8.27-7.55
While I was some 1.23 shy of last weeks seasons best time{40.26.3} I could at least hang my hat on negative splits out in 21.29 back in 20.20 at 3.5 months into the season I feel I'm slowly getting into a groove,I'm painfully aware that the"big picture" needs to be addressed here,blowin' the shaggin' doors off now won't mean shite come November when I hope to conquer the Philly Marathon on the 40th anniversary of my marathon debut so for now it's small victories
Thursday April 17th An easy 5 miler at a modest 43.53.3 off 8.47 mile pace w/ another negative split out in 22.45 and back in 21.08,more importantly this was my first four in a row since Feb 10th-13th and had set me up nicely for my first 5 day week since the start of February.....however little did I know what was lurking below the surface ready to bring things crashing down around my ears.....
Sunday April 20th Not the 12 mile run I had set out to do but w/ hindsight I can now see why things went tits up on me
Things began well enough as I clocked 8.29 for the opening mile on my way to Powelton Avenue, the next two splits were close to identical 9.19-9.18 b4 somehow mile 4 ballooned upto 11.06, there was a Garmin malfunction where I didn't reset it after getting caught at the junction of 34th St and Spring Garden and didn't realize till I reached West River Dr
I haven't had the pleasure of training on West River Dr in eons, the longest construction job ever on the section below Spring Garden St bridge for the past two years has thrown a spanner in the works there hence the 34th St/Landsdowne Dr to Sweetbriar Lane to West River Dr route,the malfunction w/ the Garmin meant I would have to head further north bound on West River Dr b4 making the turnaround between Strawberry Mansion bridge and the Conrail bridge b4 Falls bridge
9.24 at mile 5 and 9.33 at mile 6, 56.29 at halfway as I made the turn around......9.40 for the 7th mile and like that I stopped,w/ hindsight I thought I had made a balls of my prep by not drinking enough water the day b4 or that morning and that's how I framed it as I managed to tack on one more mile at 9.46 to settle for 8 miles in 1.16.36 off 9.35 mile pace
Glass half empty another long run/double digit run up in smoke and another setback in my quest to get double digit miles in, glass half full at 28 miles my longest weekly mileage week this year,equaling the 28 miles I logged the week of The Love Run three weeks prior
Over the next ten days I came to realize I had gotten sick which might explain the sub par long run Sunday,initially I blew off Mondays 5 miler as I felt sore....the proverbial cheque was in he mail as I woke up under the weather Tuesday and by Wednesday it was full blown, I don't get sick often but when I do its usually a doozie, the last time I was this sick was probably 8 years ago.....and if it's another 8 years b4 I get this sick again I'll be ok w/ that........
Wednesday April 30th Back at it after a ten day hiatus w/ an untimed 5 miler in glorious mid 70 degree temps
Having been on pace for triple digit mileage this month till I lost ten days I now had to settle for 65 miles a dip from the 78 I logged in March but that couldn't be helped period and as I keep saying last year I began all guns blazing only to see my season taper off over five of the next seven months so if it takes another month {or two} to get there so be it.....
Thursday May 1st Another untimed 5 miler to kick start the month period but also hopefully rebuild my monthly mileage
I didn't realize until I was looking at last years log that my only miles in May were the 10 I clocked in last years Broad Street Run, so at least w/ this run and hopefully Sundays Broad St Run I'll be ahead of the curve
Hopefully the 10 days I lost won't come back to bite me in the hole, I have no pre race goals other than to cross the finish line in South Philly in the Navy Yard Sunday morning, a reasonable time is just Gravy
In closing I feel compelled to mention the passing of The Alarm's lead singer Mike Peters on Tuesday,I was a huge Alarm fan back in the day and enjoyed seeing them live maybe a dozen times, Mike Peters was as genuine as they came, walked it how he talked it and I was fortune enough to meet him several times after an Alarm gig or during his solo career, several years ago at a show at the Hard Rock Cafe here in Philly he saw me down front w/ a tshirt from their first headline tour in 1984 and pulled me upon stage and asked me what Alarm song I wanted to hear.....who does that?......I'll tell ye who does that Mike Peters he was the real deal and will be sadly missed but he left a legacy of music and memories for those of us who followed The Alarm......as the lyrics go in "Majority" "it was all those words, that saved my dreams, there were times when I felt like a human being"........ Rest In Peace Michael thank you for the lifetime of Love,Hope & Strength...
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