First week of the new year in the books/blog
Monday Jan 1st As is my won't I like to get out there on New Years Day period to start the New Year on the front foot, also the fact it fell on a Monday and again as is my won't I like to get out there on a Monday in case something jumps off during the week and I miss a day...........
Ran at 2.30pm having gotten up early on Saturday for my final 12 mile long run of 2023 and then gotten up early on New Years Eve to run to round out the previous week at 5 days/36 miles I felt a lie in was due 6 miles out and back along Powelton Avenue/Mantua Avenue towards 34th St in 52.34.1 off 8.46 mile pace, not earth shatteringly fast but to be honest off the back of a 12 miler on Saturday and a 6 miler on Sunday I just wanted to log the miles, speed, time and pace were secondary.....as it was I was 1.46 quicker than Sunday
Wednesday Jan 3rd Remember the comment about the importance of getting out there on a Monday.....? Tuesday got scuppered at work due to a large print job that took me till 2pm to complete, normally my one co worker leaves at 3.30pm however he needed to leave at 2.30pm on Tuesday so that was me fecked for the run, the drawback of currently logging 6 milers on my lunch hour until the clocks go forward is that if we're short handed at work or I get stuck on a time consuming job like yesterday I'm screwed, while I appreciate my running schedule has to fit around my work schedule and not vice versa it can be frustrating and so for the second week in a row{ I took Christmas Day off the previous week} I was going to have to run Saturday and Sunday
Out and back along the Schuylkill River Trail in a brisk 48.01.3 off 8 min mile pace, negative splits out in 24.29 back in 23.32....the rest day on Tuesday allowed for fresher faster legs today
Thursday Jan 4th I've been utilizing my lunch hour to run for a few weeks now, once the clocks went back in early November it became an issue trying to run after work so I figured I'd take advantage of being in Center City it's roughly 3/4s of a mile up Market St to the Schuylkill River and then along the River Trail towards and beyond Girard Avenue bridge to the three mile mark and back, since I get an hour for lunch I have enough time each day to knock out a 6 miler, on a good week it's 24 miles Monday through Thursday however losing Tuesday meant it would only be 18 miles w/ the prospect of Saturdays long run over 14 miles followed by another 6 miler on Sunday
51.18.2 off 8.33 mile pace, again negative splits out in 26.17 back in 25.00, not overly concerned it was slower than Wednesday the bigger issue was just logging another 6 miles towards my weekly tally of 38
Saturday Jan 6th w/ four 12 miles under my belt in December it was time to " up the ante" and make the long run 14 miles, as well as prepping for the Dublin Marathon in October I have the Love Run 1/2 marathon coming up in 11 weeks so I need to be in reasonable half marathon shape
As is my won't on the Saturday long run I was out the door by 8am, I prefer to get out there and get it taken care of rather than have it hang over me all day, granted in the dead of Winter I may have to back up my start time to allow things to warm up but thus far these past five weeks I've been out there by 8am
The biggest issue today was the extra 2 mile, I'd found a good 12 mile course for December and fingers crossed next month when I get up to 16 miles I have an old route I used to knock out Saturday 16 milers on so today was going to be a little " trial and error" ever the Boy Scout I'd done my due diligence and looked up Google Maps to figure out a route that incorporated the start of my 12 miler and middle/end of my 16 miler......however as the old adage goes "theory and practice are often the horse of a different colour"........
By the time I hit mile 5 I was on my way towards the Mann Music Center in Fairmount Park, according to Google Maps if I went around the back of the Mann Music Center up N. Georges Hill Drive this would lead me to Chamounix Drive which then would lead me to W. Ford Road and Greenland Drive, Greenland Drive becomes Strawberry Mansion bridge which then takes me over to East Falls and eventually back to Girard Aveune bridge and home, give or take 3 more miles
As I said in theory it all looked good actually executing the run was another matter but I'm happy to report my map reading and navigation skills are still in good working order and I notched my first 14 mile run since Oct 5th of 2022 in 1.56.10 off 8.18 mile pace
I won't lie I was pretty much bollixed for the rest of the day, post run I knocked out a trip to Aldi made brunch and settle down to watch last years Dublin Marathon on You Tube to get a feel for the course....I remember them going through 10k in 32 mins.....next thing they were 1.45 into the race.....clearly I'll be going back to rewatch what I slept through.............
Sunday Jan 7th time to " pay the piper" having lost Tuesdays run I needed to get out this morning and log a 6 miler if I wanted my 5 day/38 mile week which I did, first week of the new year it felt important to start off on the right foot
While a lie in not to mention a rest day were tres appealing to yours truly I also knew an easy/recovery/shake out 6 miler would help flush out any crap in my legs from Saturdays 14 miler.....at least that's what I told myself when the alarm went off at 8am and I was out the door by 9am!!!!.......Out and back along the trusty Powelton Ave/Mantua Ave 3 mile course towards 34th St an easy 54.08.9 off 9.01 mile pace, again time, speed pace not the goal, the 6 miles very much the goal
So first week of the new year in the books/blog a successful 5 day/38 mile week, start as you mean to go on as they say, there was a prospect of snow yesterday which thankfully never came to fruition and became rain, there's talk of more rain Tuesday which means for the the third week in a row I may be looking at having to run Saturday and Sunday this coming week but I'll cross, burn, paint, jump from that bridge when the time comes........
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