"Ah! We come from the land of the ice and snow from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow, the hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands to fight the horde sing and cry, Valhalla I am coming on we sweep w/ threshing oar our only goal will be the western shore"
Immigrant Song-Led Zeppelin
Finally a double digit long run as the snow and ice continued to melt......only for another Winter storm heading our way this weekend......ah fer feck sake..........
Sunday Feb 15th hard on the heals of my seasons debut 5k on Saturday morning I nailed a 10 miler Sunday afternoon, it was never ideal to attempt a long run so soon after a race but my hand had been forced by the fact I'd missed opportunities to get any double digit runs in over the last four weekends and now the clock was ticking on the Love Run 1/2 marathon in 6 weeks time so I had to grin and bare it and hope I'd roll the dice and come up sixes.........
Early on into the run I was cognizant my pace was a little brisker than needed, the target was 1.30 off 9 min mile pace so the fact I went 8.12-8.06-8.19 might've explained the early negative thoughts about completing 10 miles, things settled down over the next 2 miles as I clocked 8.38-8.42,41.17 at the turnaround on Kelly Dr 1.22.34 pace
As I made my way back towards the Art Museum I began to entertain thoughts of bailing on the run and doing the walk of shame back down Powelton Ave thankfully I was able to silence those negative voices/thoughts and continue down the Schuylkill River Trail, rather than think of four more miles I broke it down into one mile at a time, approaching the on/off ramp of the South St bridge I had to make a choice exit the trail and head back the way I came via Spruce St/Baltimore Ave or continue on the trail to it's end at Grays Ferry and head down 49th St........I opted for the trail partially as I felt if I ran out of gas at mile 9 it would still be a step up from my previous long run of 8 miles on Jan 10th
8.48 for mile six, 8.55 for mile seven 8.40 for mile eight and 8.31 for mile nine,.......now for the mother of all uphills on the Grays Ferry Avenue bridge at this point it would've been unthinkable to bail and while it wouldn't have been the end of the world if the final mile crept above 9 min mile pace I was hoping to keep all ten at sub 9 pace.........to that end despite the uphill of the bridge and thanks to some knee lift and lengthening of my stride I clocked 8.58 for the final mile....
1.25.50 off 8.35 mile pace job done my first double digit mile run since November 23rd 12 weeks ago to say I was pleased was an understatement, the finish line of the Love Run 1/2 marathon felt it got a little closer today, granted I still need to log at least one 12 mile run and a couple of 14 milers between next weekend and March 22nd but the monkey off my back today felt huge
Monday Feb 16th I could've taken a rest day today but figured an easy/recovery/shake out 5 miles at lunchtime was probably what I needed if only to flush the crap out of my legs and hopefully ease any soreness away, in what would prove the be an ongoing theme throughout the week it was grey and overcast, however at 39 degrees it was mild enough to be comfortable as I logged my slowest timed run of the season,44.14.8 off 8.51 mile pace out and back on Kelly Dr
Time, pace, speed were secondary today the key was getting it done,sometimes mental strength is the difference between not just finishing a run like yesterdays long run but also starting today's, I'm a firm advocate that running is as much mental as it is physical ye can have all the physical attributes at your disposal but if ye aren't mentally tuned in it won't matter,also ye have to put in the physical work too no point having a positive outlook/attitude towards the run if the groundwork isn't there, some days it flows and others ye have to grind it out......but shur if it were easy everybody would be doing it........
Tuesday Feb 17th I do embrace the untimed run, as runners I feel we're so governed by the Garmin, how fast did we run? what was our mile pace? what were our splits?......shur they are important if ye're looking to track your progress but I also think it's important to have at least one run a week where it's about running on feel, as my former coach used to tell me if ye feel ye can pick it up pick up the pace, equally if ye need to back off and slow down do so, for me having one run a week where I can throw off the shackles of speed, pace, time and just embrace the run for what it is......just a run that's important
As is often the case West River Dr feels lonely compared to Kelly Dr, I know West River Dr was off limits for a couple of years while the bridge was being renovated but even b4 then and subsequently since it reopened runner do seem to favour Kelly Dr, not shur why maybe on a longer run l'd favour Kelly Dr as there'd be more runner to work off of but for a short five mile out and back West River Dr serves a purpose and allows me to mix up my lunchtime runs, a change of scenery never hurts
Wednesday Feb 18th after a hiatus of a couple of weeks due to the snow and ice I was able to tackle the hills of Sedgley Dr,Popular Dr and Kelly Dr for my tempo run as the thaw continued to melt away the snow and ice of Jan 26th
It didn't dawn on me at the time that this was my 5th run in five day and while I'm no stranger to a Sunday long run/race and then going at it Monday through Thursday in that scenario the tempo run is #4 so by the time Thursdays easy/recovery run rolls around on day #5 it doesn't matter so much if l'm running on fumes and muscle memory.......however when day #5 is not only a lung busin' tempo run to begin w/ and ye opt to throw in the hills to boot it has the potential to be ugly.......
Opening in 7.43 I was already "suckin' air" and it was going to be a dig deep kinda run, 8.24 for mile 2 heading up Sedgley Dr, Lemon Hill Dr still appears to be "off limits" it's no hardship to swing over to Popular Dr and back but I prefer the challenge of the hills on Lemon Hill Dr.......either I'm a masochist which as a runner comes w/ the territory or I subscribe to the "running is a metaphor for life and ye only get out what ye put in and there are no short cuts" mindset.....or both!
20.37 at the turnaround at the foot of Popular Dr at this point a sub 40 time wasn't on and negative split seemed unlikely......or in my case himself saying "hold my feckin' Guinness Zero" if yer gonna exit the battlefield at least let it be on yer shield as I channeled my inner Viking.....
Not gonna lie or front I worked the shit out of the red lights coming back up Kelly Dr and subsequently down the Ben Franklin Parkway any respite and momentary breather I could muster I took w/ both hands and somehow managed an inbound time of 20.08 to finish in 40.45.8 off 8.01 mile pace
I know the benefits of the tempo run, I doubt my pace for Cupid's Chase 5k would've been 7.01 mile pace if I didn't routinely put in a weekly lung bustin' tempo run, short term pain and discomfort for long term gain......but feck me if I'm glad when it's done and dusted period, much less on the 5th day in a row of training........
Thursday Feb 19th I will confess during the previous days lung buster of a tempo run it was lost on me it had been my 5th day in a row.....I guess when oxygen is in short supply clarity of thought tends to fall by the wayside so at some point on Thursdays recovery 5 miler out and back on the Schuylkill River Trail the penny dropped this was my 6th run in 6 days which might explain the 43.43.6 time off 8.31 mile pace
Another day the sun hid behind the clouds but at 43 degrees I marveled at how much of the snow and ice that had been omnipresent underfoot for the past going on four weeks had melted.....however the Schuylkill River is still frozen and to add an exclamation point to that fact I spied a gaggle of Geese out on the frozen River just b4 I hit the Septa railroad bridge on route to the turnaround at the South Street bridge
Sadly as I sit here here now at my desk at 3.30pm on a Sunday afternoon it's beginning to snow again, according to the weather peeps on the local news our area can expect between 8 to 12 inches of snow from this system which not only means my inability to get up yesterday morning to attempt my 12 mile long run has cost me any shot at a triple digit mileage month again I'm also looking at potentially another week of inactivity ........feck my life!!!!
At 63 miles for the month I'm below the 76 miles I logged last February, however unlike the clattering we got at the end of January there doesn't appear to be a deep freeze for 9 days following this snowfall so maybe b4 the end of the week some 5 milers might be doable which would be welcome, hopefully come next Saturday or Sunday I can get a 12 miler in to stay on pace for the Love Run 1/2 marathon which is now only 5 weeks away
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