U Penn 0 Palestine 1

 Nothing like running a race on your doorstep and your own backyard, the 4th annual Penn Relays 5k, for once NOT  part of a double header, in 2021 and 2022 it was the day b4 the Run For The Blue 5m race on Market St in late October and last year it served as a November double header w/ the Bridge Run 10k, thankfully this year it stood in its own

Franklin Field holds a special place in my heart when I moved out to West Philly in 06 it became my home base and pretty much all of my prep for Indoor and Outdoor Nationals between 06-16 was conducted on that track, I also got to run a few Masters 4x400m relays w/ my former club at the prestigious Penn Relays there and in 2010 ran my first ever sub 16.00 5,000m in something like 15.58 at a college meet.....yeah Franklin Field and I have a history

While Franklin Field and I have a storied past me and the University Of Penn don't see eye to eye, their treatment of students who were Pro Palestine this Spring was nothing short of shameful in a country where Freedom Of Speech and Freedom Of Expression are not only encouraged but also part of the Constitution  anyone who set up on the main campus to oppose UPenn's  backing of Israel's shameful behaviour  in the Gaza Strip and West Bank were either arrested, threatened w/ expulsion or not allowed to sit end of year exams, eventually the Campus brought in Philadelphia Police to brake up the make shift camps students had set up to demonstrate the Genocide in Palestine and drew the wrath of the Governor of Pennsylvania one Mr Josh Shapiro.......you don't need to " join the dots" to work out who's side of the conflict he was on or whom he would lend unequivocal  backing....., to that end this felt very much the race to wear my Palestine running vest that I wore in Dublin and my Ireland/Palestine t shirt as my warm up shirt

Franklin Field is roughly a mile from where I live so it's an easy get to the morning of a race, I was out the door at 7.30am and on the infield picking up my race number by 7.50am, conditions were sunny and mild for mid November in what was my 11th race this season, as I missed the deadline for entries on next weekends Rothman 8k or Philadelphia Half Marathon this was my second to final race of the season, the year ending Schuylkill River Loop 8.4m will bring the curtain down on a frankly mixed bag of a season, I had said last week after the Rocky Run 5k prior to the 10 miler an hour or so later that I couldn't really gauge where I was at over 5k, today would give me a better idea based off last years results in the 60-69 age group I needed to run in the region of 22.30 at 7.30 mile pace to have a crack at a top 3 finish and getting on the podium

In a field of 217 I knew I needed to be near the front when the siren went off on the south side of the track as we did a lap of the track b4 exiting through the gate onto the sidewalk of  33rd St and towards Penn Park behind Franklin Field , I got a clear start and went through the opening mile in 7.17....although my Garmin aka Hal The Little Bollix didn't register the opening mile till after the official 1 mile marker.....in a season where so much hasn't gone to script this felt like the least of my woes..... 

7.50 at mile 2......again after I went through the official 2 mile marker now for the fun and games.....I can't say for certain the runner  ahead of me cut a loop of Penn Park but I didn't recall seeing him in front of me the last 2 miles now all of a sudden when he should've gone right for lap1 he went left for lap 2.......I don't object to getting beat by runners who are faster and better than me but I draw the line at people who cut loops off a race period muchless a 5k......., not content w/ that infraction he then cut the corner of the turn towards Franklin Field.....everyone else went around the turn he went across it....small potatoes  when ye've cut out an entire loop of Penn Park I guess but it was the incentive I needed to dig deep w/ roughly half a mile to go..... and promptly dropped him like a bad habit.....

Back into Franklin field up the back straight around the top turn  down the home straight to the finish line, 22.22.12 off 7.37 mile pace, 51st overall but 3rd in the 60-69 age group 11 seconds behind second but more importantly 34 seconds ahead of 4th, to compound how off Hal The Little Bollix is when I crossed the finish line which is 3.1m it read 2.94.......like I said Little Bollix.......

For only the third time this season in eleven races I made the podium it's not something I take for granted, I don't have a divine right to rock up at a race and think " oh yeah Top 3/Age Group Award" it has to be earned and worked for, if I can finish out the season in three weeks time on the podium at the Schuylkill River Loop it will be a good way to end a frustrating season, to that end I need to knuckle down this week and resume lunchtime training runs, since returning from Dublin I've raced more times {4} than I've trained {1} I am still in that " mile a day recovery from a Marathon" mindset as of today it's been 20 days, come Friday my " statute of limitations" expires time to get back to basics

Aah Bisto.....It's All Just Gravy At This Point

 For the final time this season up at Silly O Clock  for a race, after today my final two races are at 8.30am and 10am, when ye're up b4 the birds and sunrise at 5.30am to be out the door by 6am to be at the Parkway by 7am for the 5k at The Rocky Run it's always a "Rocky" start to yer day!, but if I wanted medals #9,#10,#11 for the season and #252,#253,#254 for the career that was the price I had to pay.....

Down to the Ben Franklin Parkway by 6.30am ample time for one final pit stop at the Portajohns b4 getting into the corral, I'm not sure if this was the first year or second year the Rocky Run had sold out, it is growing in popularity since I began racing it in 2017, granted 5ks are a " dime a dozen" these days but outside of Broad Street I can't think of too many 10 mile road races and having been shut out of the Rothman 8k in two weeks time for leaving it too late to register I should be grateful I got my {Sham}Rocky Run registration in b4 I got fecked out of this also....

Despite being in the A Corral I didn't make it into the first wave, which was grand as I knew I'd only be standing around waiting for the 10 mile race to go off at 8am....an extra 2.5 mins rest wouldn't hurt any...the issue w/ running two races in roughly an hour is I can never get a true reflection on what either race is, can't go balls out in the 5k knowing a 10 miler is around the corner, next Saturday at Penn when it's  the Penn Relays 5k I'll get a truer reflection of where I'm at over 5k, 7.28 for the opening mile I honestly hadn't given any thought to speed, pace time for either race, at this point in my season it's just about adding medals to the collection and getting ready for the off season

7.55 at mile 2 after the turnaround followed by a 7.54 third mile and 53 seconds for the .1,- 24.10.1 hopefully next week on a flatter course and only one race my time will be quicker....

The 5k runners were still going off when I returned to the start so I knew an 8 o clock start to the 10 miler wasn't happening and while an extra 15 mins recovery was grand and all that it allowed me and everyone else doing the Italian Stallion Challenge of 5k and 10 miles to stiffen up.....

Again I hadn't given much if any thought to pace, time, speed for the 10 miler, when I saw 8.28 for the opening mile I kinda knew what to expect, frankly 1.30 off 9 min mile pace would be ok........9.08 at mile 2 going up Brewery Hill and over Girard Ave bridge b4 hitting West River Dr via Sweetbriar Dr three sub 9s of 8.47-8.42-8.57  on route to the turnaround at the Conrail bridge and mile 5.......

Mount Friggin' Drago a series of  up hills, three, maybe four but what goes up, must come down so while mile 6 ballooned up to 9.59 mile 7 dropped back to a semi respectable 8.39, once back on the flat  of W.River Dr I knew I had one uphill off Sweetbriar and Lansdowne after mile 8 b4 the downhill of Brewery Hill to Kelly Dr, mile 9 and then the slight uphill towards the Art Museum and the finish......in front of the Rocky/Art Museum steps

9.02 at mile 8 and 9.25 at mile 9 at this point beating whoever was around me wasn't a concern.......hold my Guinness Zero.......while negotiating the final incline on Mount Drago I was somewhat agitated by some gombeen having a full blown conversation on his phone via his ear buds " I'm at the top of the hill" " I went out too fast" "I'll be at the finish in half an hour"..... fuck up and get away from me if I could've sped up to spare myself from his auld shite talk I would've but I was happy for him to be ahead of me out of earshot.....cue the final half mile uphill towards the finish.....Gombeen wasn't talking now and judging from the stain on the back of his grey Rocky sweat pants he'd either pissed himself.....OR a fart had followed through....maybe it was sweat either was I was happy to have at least beaten him to the finish line

9.04 for the final mile 1.30.24 off 9.01 mile pace

Three more medals to the collect, three closer to #300 which if I'm lucky will be by the end of the 2027 season, to aid and abet that I'll be back here next year on November 9th for another{Sham}Rocky Run and Italian Stallion Challenge and another 3 medals

One Down, Forty Nine To Go.......

 Given the season I've had it would have been very easy to draw the proverbial line in the sand after Dublin and say that's it.......however having reached the #250 medal plateau in Dublin I'm now looking down the road at #300 so w/ a potential seven more medals up for grabs between November 3rd and December 8th there was no time to sit back and call it a season so while the masses were off to New York City for the marathon the rest of us were heading to Camden for the Cooper Norcross Run The Bridge 10k

Another Sunday I got an extra hour in bed as our clocks went back this week and another Sunday the race didn't begin at Silly O Clock {8.30am} that said I still had to be up at 6am and out the door by 6.30am to get to the Camden side of the Ben Franklin bridge by 7.30am to give myself an hour to prepare

Good conditions for the first Sunday of November, between my socks, calf sleeves and knee sleeves I'm well insulated from the cold from the waste down but I went singlet and no shirt, short or long sleeved....how long I can continue that between now and Dec 8th remains to be seen.....it can be a crap shoot running over the Ben Franklin bridge in early November in the morning I've lucked out the last few years since adding the Run The Bridge 10k to my Fall race season, I recall its predecessor the now {sadly} defunct A To Z 10k from the Camden Aquarium to the Philadelphia Zoo that went over the Ben Franklin bridge one year in particular my hands were frozen coming off the bridge on the Philadelphia side b4 cutting thro Chinatown to the Parkway and eventually the Zoo

Got my customary clear start from the gun and made my way through the field on the left hand side of the bridge knowing the turn back across the bridge would be to my left, even though for whatever reasons this season I'm not running at the pace I have been my brain is still as sharp and if I can run less distance w/in the parameters of fair play to shave a few seconds off my time fair play to me

I was a bit bemused there were no mile markers on the bridge to indicate miles 1 and 2 I believe the 3 mile marker onwards was posted and while it's no big deal as most runner have Garmins I just think that just one of those things as a runner you expect, again not a big deal more of an observation

I had no agenda today other than to finish so when my Garmin said 8.16 for the opening mile I was non plus w/ that, knowing the opening mile is uphill it was always going to be a little conservative, since mile 2 was downhill the 7.45 split helped balance that out

7.59 at mile 3 I was give or take on 8 min mile pace and looking at 48 mins, again I wasn't overly concerned w/ pace, splits, speed overall/age group finish, take Dublin out of the equation I'd have come into this race off the back of the Run For The Blue 5 miler on Oct 20th and probably 2 weeks of solid training w/ maybe a 10 miler last weekend inbetween as it was this was my first run since Dublin and I probably still had some marathon miles in my legs, hopefully this week leading upto the Rocky Run on Saturday I can flush out any gunk in my legs during the week.

7.33 at mile 4 I'd taken advantage of the downhill off the bridge and now flat terrain on route to the USS New Jersey behind the whatever corporate name the concert venue in Camden is these days and heading back along the Delaware River towards the Ben Franklin bridge, 8.03 at mile 5 at this point any one I could pick off ahead of me was a bonus while it was a race I wasn't in " race mode" like Dublin last week if ye beat me ye bete me fair fucks to ya, just getting to the finish was enough 7.57 at mile 6 and now the approach to the track for the new finish this year maybe 150 meters or so....the track runner in me couldn't resist a kick coming off the turn and up the home straight to the finishline.

49.38.4 off 7.55 mile pace, 9 weeks ago at Philly 10k I ran 48.55 off 7.53 pace so throw in a marathon a week ago I guess it balances its self out, overall I finished 204th out of 1620 6th in the 60-64 age group 3.06 off the podium

It's another medal closer to #300 and another 6 miles onto my yearly mileage tally which is creepin' closer to beating last years tally, hopefully I can  log a couple of lunchtime 5 miles this week b4 Saturdays 5k and 10 miler at the {Sham}Rocky Run.....