"I'm melting in the sun and this is what they call the life I suppose too much sun makes a desert Arab say and I really love this country and there's a lot I want to see"
Melting In The Sun-Inxs
What a week, first two runs reduced to 3 milers due to the weather, second two runs cancelled due to wankers but a Saturday long run at 8 miles to kick off August............
Monday July 28th Heading into the final 4 days of the month there was a remote chance I could set a new monthly record I logged 76 miles in February, 78 miles in March and 65 in April and as of last Saturday July's total stood at 61.........
Any hope of a 5 miler at lunchtime was snuffed out by the heat and humidity at 2pm, 91 degrees and 49% humidity,by the time I reached Lloyd Hall at Boathouse Row 1.5 miles in I knew going any further out along Kelly Drive was a fools errand so I reluctantly made the turn to head back towards the Ben Franklin Parkway and the office
Knowing this current blast of heat and humidity was going to last until Wednesday or Thursday meant 5 mile runs were flights of fantasy so if I was reduced to 3 miles till at least Wednesday that would be 70 miles w/ an outside chance of 5 miles on Thursday.....75 miles still #3 for the year
Tuesday July 29th.....Frankly this was Biloxi Blues weather 96 degrees and 40% humidity,I think I had said on my social media posts on Monday that usually I can tell by Lloyd Hall the 1.5 mile point of my run if I have it or don't have it for a 4-5 mile run.....by the time I hit the mile point on Ben Franklin Parkway I didn't have it today and upon reaching Lloyd Hall I turned back, 3 miles on the day felt better than nothing and at 67 miles I was now into third place for monthly mileage w/ two day left............
Three things ye can rely on, Death,Taxes.....and work fucking up your day, Wednesday I got lumbered w/ Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber at work......seriously these two couldn't work their way out of a wet paper bag on a good day so when a paralegal sent a nearly 4,000 page binder print job at 11.30am muggins here got lumbered by the time I finished the binder it was 2.30pm and too late for lunch so there went that run.......then on Thursday the powers that be granted three people off leave me w/ "Doodles"in the mailroom in his self written notes he's written "check emails".........I don't know what ye were checking cos of the 14 emails/print requests for the day I did 11 to his 3...........needless to say he couldn't be left unsupervised for an hour so no lunch again for muggings and w/ that my monthly mileage for July remained at 67 miles........
I was never going to get into the rarefied air of triple digit mileage this month sitting out the opening 6 days of July however it was frustrating heading into the final 4 days of the month w/ a legit shot at a new monthly record to have it snatched away from me by the heat and the humidity and work......however that said two years ago my July mileage total was 51 miles and last year it was 48 miles so to that end I should be pleased to eclipse them period but also log my third best month of training this year......a good omen kicking off the second half of the year
Saturday August 2nd Once again I had to wait out the humidity at 7am that was off the charts till 1pm when it was a comfortable 79 degrees and 44% humidity.....you could just feel the difference in the air quality
I also made good on my plan to utilize the extension of the Schuylkill River Trail from Grays Ferry which is just over a mile from here,making the turn onto the trail off Grays Ferry Avenue bridge I could feel the breeze coming off the Schuylkill River .....this maybe counter productive come Winter but for the remainder of the Summer and Fall training this is the way to go
I had no time/pace goal set for this,getting the 8 miles in was my primary goal.....for the record last Saturday I ran 6 miles in 54.56.7 off 9.09 mile pace so by that barometer I would be looking at roughly 9 min miles and 72 mins give or take
8.33 for the opening mile along 49th St which I'm not sure I'll use again I came back via 47th St which frankly had a better vibe even if it means crossing Grays Ferry Avenue exiting the trail....safety first, hard to run relaxed when you feel you're looking over your shoulder
8.21 for mile 2 as I was able to open it up on the bridge over the Schuylkill it was a nice day out so this brings out the walkers, runners, joggers, rollerbladers, skateboarders, cyclists etc so the next two miles from Christian St along the trail dropped to 8.45 and 8.44 respectively 33.43 at he turn roughly 68 mins if I could hold onto this pace
8.29 at mile 5 but I began to feel it catching up to me at mile 6 w/ an 8.51 split, I was now entering uncharted territory this summer, earlier in the year in February March and April I had one 8 mile and one 10 mile run to my credit b4 an attempted 12 miler that ended at 8 miles right b4 I got sick it's always a step up adding 2 miles to the previous long run but I impressed myself having the legs to get up and over the Grays Ferry Avenue bridge to mile 7 in 9.13 ok so the sub 9 min miles were gone for a burton but I was a mile from home now and solid 8 mile run to my name.
9.23 for the final mile for a 70.20 time off 8.48 mile pace a grand start to August's mileage quest ,is August the month I finally get into triple digits?........the one plus of today's run is w/ two 10ks coming up in the next 3-5 weeks is that I've gotten over 6 miles under my belt today and w/ PDR now 7 weeks away hopefully I'm building my mileage up,double digits next weekend? triple digits by months end...... in 2023 I logged 103 miles in August which began a six out of seven month triple digit mileage spurt for yours truly.....what I wouldn't give to repeat that one month at a time...
