Day at the Beach

Today was the 20th annual Stone Harbor Lions Club 10k & 5k run. I spectated this event last year ... I had thoughts of running it then, but it was too damn hot and humid. I vividly remember last year being thankful that I was not running.

This year, the weather seemed a bit better - a warm start.. with temps in the mid-70s and the humidity as it always is on the Jersey shore in mid-August. The course itself is pretty boring - a flat out and back with a few turns and virtually NO SHADE. I knew it wasn't going to be fun and it wasn't. I had a bit of that tightness in my right lower leg for the first two miles. It was to the point where I was about to stop and stretch, but I just ran through it and, eventually, it went away.

The hardest part about this race was not veering off to the right to go into the 5k finishers chute versus going left to the 10k turn around. It would have been so easy... and the beach is just a block away... I could have kept running... beach tags be damned. If they wanted to chase me into the ocean, they could have done that.

But, of course, I didn't. I stayed the course... taking water at just about every water station - and there were several, thankfully. Finished in 54:14 - a time which neither impressed or displeased me. I was simply glad to be done and proud that I didn't beg off at the 5k point.

A special thanks to Bill and Ilene for their hospitality and letting Seebo and I crash at their place Saturday night. Nothing like watching the Olympic marathon, eating pasta, and not having to wake up at the crack of dawn to drive two hours to run for less than one. And it was nice to get one last dip in the ocean before the summer ends.

Short Long Run

I've been trying to up my long runs lately in an effort to prepare for the Philadelphia Distance Run. Last weekend I did a bit over 12 miles. This weekend, I'll likely participate in the Stone Harbor 10k on Sunday, so I wanted to try to get my "long run" in today. Of course, I also had to be at work at a reasonable hour and I didn't want to get up too too early.. oh yeah, and I didn't want to be wiped out for the duration of the day, so I opted to do a shorter long run this week.

Tinicum... of course... plenty of the usual suspects, a few fawns, a kazillion bunnies, and an almost albino groundhog. Did the same route as last Sunday - but with only one loop around Darby Lake. I was curious about the actual mileage of this route so I mapped it out - even though I really have no business taking the time to do that right now. So, if you're interested, here is the route.

Felt okay today... not great, not horrible. I had some of the tightness in my right lower leg again, but not as bad as it was the other day. I didn't need to stop and stretch it out - I just ran through it.

9.2 in 81:30

Delco cruising

Ran through the Prospect Park/Norton/Glenolden neighborhoods this morning. Sounds like I covered a lot of territory, but in truth, it was just about five miles total. That's just how it is in Delaware County... little towns butted up against each other, one blending seamlessly into the next.

What a glorious morning. We really have been spoiled most of this month with cooler temps. I still fear that summer will return with a vengeance before the month is out, so for now, I'll quietly give thanks and hope that my rejoicing does not arouse the heat/humidity gods.

So, lately... when I've been running this particular neighborhood route... I warm up for the first two miles and then I run the third mile as fast as I can. I'm still not real good at gauging that stuff yet, but I think I'm learning. As I was running that third mile, I wasn't feeling too great and felt like I was kind of going slow. I was prepared to see that my time was above an 8 minute mile - which would have been a bit slow for what I've been averaging other weeks (right at 8 minutes or around 7:50). I was surprised and, of course, happy to see that I ran it in 7:43. Huh, who knew?

Total of 5 in 41:30

Strife of the Purple Variety

That would be Purple Loosestrife to you and me. Apparently, it's quite a bugger. Click here to read how this Eurasian plant has been taking over our country. Tinicum has definitely fallen prey to the evil Loosestrife. What can I say... it's pretty.

Loosestrife and bunnies and egrets (oh my!) were plentiful this morning as I wound my way up the boring part, around Darby Lake twice, and then home again along the same route. Again, I brought along a Honey Stinger energy thingy. I allowed myself two walk breaks during this jaunt and, of course, a trip to the Tinicum visitor's center where they have water fountains and a loo.

I find that these long runs are easier for me - both physically and psychologically if I give myself permission to walk at some point during the run. Somehow if I plan to walk, it takes away (at least for me) the stigma of walking during a long run. Of course, I stop my watch during these breaks... wouldn't want to 'credit' myself for that time when, clearly, I wasn't actually running.

I felt pretty good throughout the run, somewhat slow... but still good. I was, of course, glad when the Loosestrife was in my rear-view and I headed home where one of Amy's cupcakes (okay two) were waiting for me.

About 12 miles in 1:47:10

More iPhun

After our not-terribly-informative iPhone workshop, Amy and I did a little perusing around Ardmore. We spent some time checking out the lovely things at a place called Blue Tulip (or Blue Plum, if you're asking Amy). Of course they had jewelry which meant of course they had mirrors. As we browsed, Amy and I discovered a really neat trick!!! Yes.... we were MORE than WAY too entertained with ourselves.




I still crack up when I see these pictures.









Oh yeah.... and this was our iPhone "wizard":













I don't think he liked me very much because I kept asking all the hard-hitting questions like, "Why didn't Steve (Jobs) create this thing so I can send cute pictures to my boyfriend's phone?" Of course he didn't have a satisfactory answer for me. Work on that, will ya?

I'm Sooooo Cool

I have officially arrived at techno-geekdom.... I am blogging from my iPhone. Yeah... I'm THAT cool. Of course, it might take me a kazillion years to write the dang thing, but that's okay.

Rather than sit here in total iSilence for too long with my friend Amy (she's got one too), I'll keep this brief. Did a treddy run yesterday after work. During the first mile I was having a lot of tightness in my right lower leg (mostly anterior tibialis). This was the same stuff I dealt with last spring, which is frustrating. So after the first mile I stopped the treddy and stretched for a few minutes. That seemed to help a lot because I did the next 4.5 miles at an average 8:20 pace. So, all told I did 5.5 in 46:22.

The Usual

I'm starting to get used to these beautiful, cool mornings - a girl could get spoiled with all this nice weather. The reality it, however, that we are just easing into mid-August and it's likely that at least one more heat wave is in the cards before summer is over. But for now, I'm enjoying the break.

I did the usual West Philly loop this morning and felt pretty good despite my inklings that it would not be a good morning. I don't know what I'm going to do if/when they close the South Street bridge... guess I'll have to find a new usual route.

5.15 in 44:37

Sweet the Sting

My siblings were in town this weekend for a party celebrating my Dad's impending retirement. Lucky dog. See Amy's blog for pictures of the delicious cakes we made.

One of the zillion things I like about my family is that we're a pretty active bunch. My brother, who stayed with me during the weekend, was totally game for a Sunday morning run. He's seen the lower loop of Tinicum and since he didn't really want to run 8 or 9 miles, I drove us to the upper loop which encircles Darby Lake. The weather was just about perfect - low 70s, not-out-of-control humidity, mostly cloudy skies and Tinicum was still in full bloom with loads and loads of purple flowers. As we made our way around the lake we could see a gathering of white egrets on the other side that probably numbered about forty or fifty. Really amazing.

Scott and I ran the first loop together - keeping a decent clip. I was trying to go a bit easy because I had aspirations of doing between ten and eleven miles, but he was pushing the pace a bit and far be it from me to let my little brother kick my ass. The plan for me was to do two full loops around Darby Lake and then head home from there which would mean half of the upper loop, the connector trail, and the boring part of the lower loop. Scott did two laps around the lake and then took the car and met me at home.

Towards the end of the second loop, I ate a honey energy gel-type thingy... except it's just fortified honey - its not a gooey gel. I usually don't take gels on long runs with me, but I figured that since this is something I typically do when I race longer distances (10 miles or more), it makes sense to do this on long runs of that length too. I think it helped because I was feeling pretty good even during those last two miles.

Made it back to the Pumpkin Patch (my place) in 1:37:04 just as the rain was starting to come down.

WaWaWhy???

This post will have very little to do with running. In fact, I'll just get it out of the way now - ran 5 miles in 42:30.... felt good and was happy with my pace.

So what is really on my mind today is a disruption in my morning ritual. Many mornings, I stop at WaWa and get a 16oz coffee with skim milk and two girl sugars. I love WaWa.. the stores are always clean and inviting and usually have some fun music playing to bop along to as I make that perfect blend of 3/4 Kona brew, 1/4 Hazelnut. I also pick up something for breakfast. Lately, I've been really digging on the PeakBar Breakfast-To-Go bar in the blueberry flavor. This bar has it all.... fortified with vitamins and minerals, chock full of fiber, not too much sugar, low in fat, and under 200 calories. So what if it kind of tastes like a blueberry dog biscuit.... if you take a bite of it and chase it with a chug of coffee, it's downright tasty!

I've noticed a trend in the last few weeks where my usual WaWa is out of my bar-of-choice. They sometimes have the Cinnamon flavor, but it's not the same and I'll often opt for something else, like a lame NutriGrain bar... but they're kind of wussy and they have too much sugar. I've noticed too at other WaWas, the same trend. Hmm. Well today... they didn't have either flavor and - to add insult to injury - they've taken up the shelf space the bars usually inhabit with stupid cereal cups! Who eats those?!?!?!

So now I find myself awash in a virtual wasteland of breakfast foods... most are overly sugarfied and almost completely devoid of any nutrients. Others are too high in calories for what I want for breakfast. WaWa... why have you forsaken me? Do I not adequately sing your praises?

It's hard to be disappointed by WaWa. There are so few bastions of perfection left in this world. I still love you, WaWa, but things are different now. Innocence is lost.

iWheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I ran.... yeah, it rained, no poured, for a decent ten minute stretch... yeah it was a pretty good run.

But the REAL news is....



I GOT MY NEW iPHONE!!!!

Sadly... I've been too busy to play with it much. So I'm going to keep this entry short... so maybe I can go play with my new toy.

5 miles in 42:15

The Color Purple

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. ~ Alice Walker

My original plan to run the Art Museum loop again this Sunday was disrupted, so I found myself headed out to do Tinicum. Again... I chose to avoid the interesting part of the lower loop due to the overgrowth. So it was to be an out and back along the boring part with a loop around Darby Lake.

The sun was shining brightly and, for a change, the humidity wasn't too oppressive. Lately it has been a struggle to enjoy my runs; I faced that challenge again today. Tinicum was beautiful as ever, and I thought of that Alice Walker quote as I rounded Darby Lake and took in the sites. There were a dozen or so herons grouped together, fishing for breakfast against a backdrop of trees, bushes, and some kind of purple flowering plant. Truly beautiful.

I don't have much more to comment on the run itself. While there were points where I was enjoying it, for the most part, I was just looking for it to be over. I did, however, try not to miss taking in and appreciating the beauty that surrounded me.

A little more than 9 (I think) in 80:24.

And... just because.... here's one of my favorite scenes from the movie The Color Purple.

The Leverage of an Ice Cream Sandwhich

Yeah, yeah.... I'm sick of complaining about the heat too, but it feels like it's just always there... in the way. I don't know what's harder, getting out of a warm bed to run in the cold or getting out of a cool/air conditioned room to go run in the swampy mess of the first day of August. Both have their drawbacks, I suppose.

As is typical on days where I don't feel like running, I make little bargains with myself to ensure that I get out the door. This morning it was things like, "You don't even have to run if you don't want.. just get dressed and get out there and move... you can walk the whole time if you want" .... and, "You're going to regret not going because at happy hour tonight you'll probably eat and drink a fair amount."

Those thoughts were swirling around and helping (sort of) to motivate me and then I remembered that last night I had an ice cream sandwich. I didn't feel guilty about eating the ice cream sandwich (it was about half the calories of the Hagan Daas Ice Cream Bar), I just remembered thinking when I ate it last night that it would be fuel for this morning's run. And so then I was out of bed and getting dressed.

I didn't walk the whole WP Loop, though I did walk on two occasions. And, really, I didn't feel bad about it. I kept the pace easy because I knew I was tired. I've worked out every day this week and worked late three nights as well, so by now, I'm pooped. I'm looking forward to taking tomorrow off.

All in all, ran for about 42:30 minutes.... we'll call it about 4.5 miles.