"You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to turn and walk away And know when to run you never count your money when you're sitting at the table There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done"
The Gambler-Kenny Rodgers
Warning, This weeks blog ends w/ a boot in the bollix.......wearing a protective cup is optional.......!!!!!!!
Truly a case of " the best laid plans of Mice & Men" this week, tis not my first rodeo.....nor my last but I will emphasize this well known fact.......when you argue w/ Mother Nature be prepared for the fact she always gets the last word............
Monday August 11th Off the back of Sundays grind em till ye find em 10 miles the mindset was easy/recovery 5 miler period but also knowing Monday was the only day this week w/ low humidity it was probably the only chance to get 5 miles in at lunchtime, I'd be pushing it like Salt N T Pepper to get 4 milers Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday......
86 degrees and 37% humidity as I made it out and back along Kelly Drive just beyond Girard Avenue bridge, I took the "road well traveled" today because I know where all my mile markers are, today was not a day for the Garmin and going via the Schuylkill River Trail to map out a new route, granted the trail puts me closer to the Schuylkill River and I can get the benefit of a breeze off the river.....but at only 37% humidity I wouldn't need it plus whenever I strap on ye auld Garmin there seems to be a compulsion to run quicker since I can see each mile splits and off the back of Sundays long run this didn't feel like the day for that
Tuesday August 12th the start of the 4 mile vs humidity along the Schuylkill River Trail trilogy........87 degrees w/ 56% humidity, if this were a cage match only was of us was coming out and channeling my inner Queen" I am the one the only one,I am the god of kingdom come,Gimme The Prize!!!!!"
8.42 for the opening mile up the Ben Franklin Parkway, slow and steady, hung a left onto the Schuylkill River Trail and began heading South towards Locust Street which I had eyeballed as give or take mile 2, 8.48 at that split but continued on a little to the water fountain for some much needed water, not so long ago I wouldn't have done that.....these day the friggin planet is heating up at an alarming rate each year{sidebar Heatwave #6 in Philly this week!!!!} plus w/ 62 getting closer I have to accept A i'm not as young as I used to be and B if I don't adapt I'll perish....
9.34 for mile 3 this was a grind at at this point the prospect of a 3 or 3.5 miler was a strong possibility......however I knew if I could get to the Ben Franklin Parkway and "work the lights"between 24th and 16th Streets I could get that respite I needed to see it through
9.13 for the final mile, granted aided by a few red lights in my favour that allowed me a much needed breather I completed 4 miles in 36.18.6 off 9.05 mile pace......not that those numbers carried that much clout, the most important number was the miles, 4 +5 = 9.....the dream was still intact......
Wednesday August 13th 89 degrees,57% humidity and 1.26 faster than yesterday........
My splits were:8.25-8.52-8.41-8.55 for a 8.43 mile pace time again not the big take away here in my opinion, don't bury the lead Bernstein getting another 4 miler in meant 13 miles for the week w/ the potential for 4 more more tomorrow to put me at 17 miles heading into Saturdays long run of 12 miles....dare I think it......29 miles for the week a new seasons longest tally AND my longest run of the year........." don't tread on my dreams.....my dreams are all I have"...........
Thursday August 14th It's been a while since Hal the little bollix of a Garmin got involved in one of my runs but today was the day he was an uninvited guest.......
86 degrees and 65% humidity.......not a typo.....65% humidity..... w/ it came low cloud cover which always seems to effect the Garmin so when mile 1 came up b4 I reached 24th St and the Parkway I knew things were about to go off kilter .....the 7.34 " mile split" underlined that fact, on the 37 year anniversary of getting sober I could say the Serenity Prayer "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference"......or the short version "God, grant me the serenity to ......ahh fuck it".....for the purpose of the run I went w/the short version, but let's not get it twisted I am only still here through the grace of God and the fellowship of AA celebrating 37 years of sobriety and that's something I don't take lightly
It feels pointless recording the remaining splits much less the so called mile pace based off said splits but for the record they were"7-34-8.41-8.25-8.43 for 8.16 mile pace.....mile 4 I went a little longer so I knew I had at least covered the full 4 miles not what Hal the little bollix was trying to convince me, 4 days 17 miles............short version of the serenity prayer incoming..............
Saturday August 16th remember what I said about Mother Nature always getting the final word......? Awoke once again on a weekend to insane humidity close to 90%,I know better than to fuck w/ that period much less for a long run,sadly by 1pm it only dropped to 56% and while I was desperate to at least "go down swinging" I dredged up an auld chestnut from my ex coach who once said " listen to what your body is telling you" the fact I hadn't even thrown on my running gear much less stretched told me " it's not your day"
Sadly tomorrow is an almost carbon copy of today plus I have something on my agenda in the afternoon so reluctantly i'm calling it a 4 day 17 mile week..... what boils my piss.....and no it's not the feckin' heat and humidity it's grinding so deep Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday to put myself in a position to have a crack at it today only to have it evaporate,yeah it sucks but as a wise auld lad once told me " bury it deep in the tough shit cemetery".......there are far worse thing going on in the world than a missed training run.
As it stands I have 52 miles mid way through August, I only logged 45 the entire month last year,so the potential for a triple digit month is still on, sadly at best next week I can only log 26 miles for the week if I can notch 4 times 5 miles at lunchtime Monday thro Thursday and then run my 10k race next Sunday,the bigger boot in the bollix is missing out on a long run,obviously next Saturday I'd prefer to keep my powder dry for Sundays race which means it won't be till Saturday August 30th b4 I can attempt my longest run of the year and it's one less double digit run b4 PDR on September 21st and potentially one less 20 mile run pre Philly Marathon on November 23rd
The desire to eclipse 28 miles for the week is a driving force for me right now,deep down I know i'll get there sooner rather than later,sweet and merciful Jesus this feckin' can't last forever {it can't....can it???}I know September can have a few humid days but hopefully w/ the "Dog Days Of August"behind us in a fortnight the temps and the humidity will drop and my weekly mileage and weekend long runs will go up......it's a simple dream but as I said earlier "don't tread on my dreams,my dreams are all I have"....
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