PSP

To paraphrase from Lily Allen's LDN:

You might laugh, you might frown
Runnin' round Prospect Park.
The sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why,
Would I wanna be anywhere else?

Lily doesn't sing about Prospect Park, but when that song came on the iPod this morning on my return run from the track (yes, I did say track... more on that in a bit), I easily adapted the lyrics to fit the dirty little blue collar town in which I live. And the sun was in the sky and I had a lot to be happy about despite all the little things nipping at my heels (i.e., work, getting licensed, bills, etc.)

Since I had my salsa class last night and didn't get home until after 11pm, I awoke a bit later than is typical for me. Given this, running in Tinicum did not seem like a real possibility due to the fact that the construction workers were likely arriving on the scene just as I was rolling out of bed. I thought about the track - a mere two miles away - and my half-hearted commitment to speed work, but really didn't feel like I wanted to go fast today. So I bargained with myself that I'd at least run over to the track and check it out... see if it was open, see exactly how to get onto the track, etc. I figured that I didn't have to do any actual track work.. I could just go and take a look see... which is essentially what I did.

As I got closer to the track, I realized that even if I did want to do any 'speed work', I didn't know what times I should be aiming for. It was easier when I did it on the treddy last week because I could increase my pace accurately (well, as accurate as the treddies at my gym are) and note the distance traveled at said speed. The track is foreign territory to me... are there markers for 200s? or do I just eyeball what is halfway around? And how fast should I be striving to do 200s or 400s? It sounded like a lot of math to me and at 6something in the morning, I was like, "Nahhhh."

But, I figured I had come all that way (okay, so it was a little less than 2 miles), I really should at least pretend to do some speed work... which is essentially what I did. I did four laps around the track: 200s at a regular pace mixed in with 200s at something faster than regular pace... which didn't feel so fast (and, no, I didn't keep time). My legs just weren't feeling it. I still got this foot thing going on. I'm hoping some new kicks (which should be arriving by late this week, early next week) will help that - and make me run faster, of course.

But, as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I was feeling pretty happy, so my tired legs and non-SPRNTCness didn't get me down. As I ran home, I thought about my upcoming day. I'm looking forward to a possible picnic (weather permitting) with Seebo this evening. If the weather does cooperate, we'll dine in the Azalea garden near the Art Museum... I believe that is called al fresco.

A little under 5 miles in a little under 45 minutes.

Steady As She Goes

I'll keep this brief - it's too nice of a day to be inside and I have to get work done... so the longer I spend on this entry, the longer it'll take me to get my work done and that'll mean less time outside.

Beautiful morning - I was really looking forward to running in Tinicum. I decided to do the whole figure eight loop. Seebo says it's about 9.5 doorstep to doorstep. That seems about right. My intention was to run it easy, which is pretty much what I did. A fairly uneventful run - no foxes or deer. Just one bunny and a heron flying high overhead. Also a dead mouse and a dead frog - cause of death unknown. I did encounter a fair share of people walking and even a number of fellow runners, of which there are usually surprisingly few.

My legs were really tired by the end. I think running on the rocky, uneven surfaces is hard on my legs. But I was, again, thankful to have Tinicum so close and was glad that I got out there on a beautiful day. While I didn't plot the route... we'll say it was, in fact, 9.5 miles, in 85minutes.

As it should be

No, this isn't a race report. Whew! I was getting tired of those too. This is just your run of the mill reflections on life post. Actually, it isn't even that deep - just something I wanted to share.

So, it's a beautiful Saturday morning and before I can bring myself to do any work (yes, unfortunately I bring work home with me many weekends), I decide to go for a walk to the local Wawa and get a cup of coffee. En route, there is a church whose claim to fame is that it played a prominent role in instituting the phrase "In God We Trust" on United States coins and currency. As is true of many churches, this one has a cemetery.

I've lived in this town for almost a year now, but have only recently begun exploring the nooks and crannies of it through neighborhood walks. Returning from Wawa, coffee in hand, I decided to check out this cemetery a bit. Old and newer headstones dot the grounds in no apparent order or pattern. I see more than a fair share of toppled over markers, old and new alike, and I'm sad at the thought that some local teenage punks likely had a hand in that.

The cemetery wraps behind the church and goes back farther than I had anticipated. Walking through, it's pretty clear that this is not the most well maintained graveyard and before long, I notice gravestones beyond the natural border of the cemetery, peeking through the ground brush and overgrown grass. At first I felt a little saddened by this, that these markers, and those whom they represent, have long been forgotten. But then almost as quickly came the thought, "As it should be" and I saw it differently. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, right? So it's fitting that nature has taken over, gathering the dearly departed back into her embrace.

Goofy Broad Street Pics

They always try to hornswaggle ya out of waaay too much money with race photos... and they do their best to try to keep you from being able to download the pics for free. But I'm too crafty for them! Anyway... here are a few from the race. They were taken around mile 9 - I know this because it wasn't until then that I caught up with Amy (who's just in front of me).... and I remember seeing the photographer up on the ladder. Even though they're pretty goofy pics (especially the one), they're better than usual since I'm actually smiling and don't look like I'm about to have a coronary.

Kicking my own A**

Woke up about fifteen minutes ahead of my alarm clock. I hate when that happens - especially when it's set for 5am. So I figured I'd get out of bed and get my day started... problem was, it was still pretty damn dark - too dark for me to run, especially if I was considering Tinicum. I decided it would be a good hamster wheel day. I've been wanting to do a little 'speed work' (shh... don't tell anyone) and I wanted to lift some weights since it's been forever since I've done that.

On the topic of speed: I am not fast. I have never been fast. I will never be fast. I am okay with that. Still, I will admit that I was bothered that my race times did not decrease this year (I'm referring primarily to the Allentown/Lehigh Valley Half and Broad Street). Every year that I have run Broad Street, I have improved my time - this year was the exception. I don't know who the hell I was last year. I don't recall actively trying to be SPRNTC fast, but I kind of was - at least by my own standards. I knew that I likely would not match and certainly not beat my prior times this year. I'm actually pretty surprised at how close I came.

So, all of this has given me some pause and has turned my attention to maybe trying (on purpose) to get faster. This month, Runner's World had an article on working towards this goal with only running three days a week. Perfect for me since I typically only run three days a week anyway. Someone, who shall remain nameless, seems to have accidentally threw out my copy. I'll have to pick up a new one. But anyway, it got me to thinkin' and plannin'. I figured today was as good as any to dip my pinkie toe into the fast lane. I'm even hesitant to blog about this for fear that I won't stick with it or it will seem like I don't know what I'm doing (which I don't).

Anyway.... so I warmed up for a mile and a half on the ole treddy. Since hanging out with Seebo and friends, I've started to learn a little track vocabulary (a very little). I now know that 400 meters is once around a track, which is a quarter mile - I'm embarrassed to admit that I did not know that before. Not knowing what I was doing and not having my Runner's World article to guide me along, I just made some stuff up. After my warm up, I decided I'd do 200 meter stretches at a pace that was very fast for me. I looked up my 'predicted' 5k time, based on my Broad Street performance... and those sillys think I could run a 5k in 24min and 16sec (7:49 pace). Going on that, I decided to do my 200s at 7.7mph (7:47 pace, according to the treddy). I think I did six 200s at that pace with a 200 at 6.5mph rest pace in between. The first two were not too bad... pretty easy recovery. The next few were rougher, in both the speed effort and the recovery. My intention was then to run another mile and a half, two miles as a cool down, but damn was I tired. I made it through about a mile and a quarter cool down - varying between 6.6 and 7.0 pace - depending what was jammin' on the iPod.

All in all, I did about 4.25 - and then I went upstairs and wailed on the free weights. Ha! Cracking myself up here... me..... wailing on free weights... that's funny. But I did lift a bit.

Pea Soup

When I peered out my window this morning at about quarter of six, I thought, "Damn, it's foggy. Wonder if I'll be able to see well enough to run at Tinicum.... Of course you can." This was my first post-Broad Street run and I wondered how the ole legs would feel. Turns out they were pretty okay - not too tight, but still remembering that I asked a lot of them just a few days ago. My right shoulder was acting up again - pain that - fortunately - had left me alone for a few days (including Broad street). I concluded that salsa last night - with all that turning, probably aggravated things.

I, again, did the initial loop of Tinicum - the boring side first. Not that it's really boring... after all, I did see a woodsie of some kind.. a woodchuck or groundhog or whatever you want to call it... and three rabbits streaked across the path as I ran. This part of the trail parallels 95 and I can see and hear the commuters whooshing past. After about 20 minutes of running (from home base), I turned onto the more interesting, bushwacking, single-track part of the trail... where I 'chased' the deer last time. About a quarter mile in, I rounded the bend and saw the red fox lounging in the middle of the trail about 25 feet in front of me. I couldn't have been more surprised if there had been a hippo blocking my way... well, maybe. Clearly, he didn't hear me approach (maybe he had his iPod on, like me). His back was towards me, he was lounging in quite the relaxed state... bushy tail and all. This stopped me in my tracks. I wasn't really concerned about being attacked, but the last thing I need is to startle some poor unsuspecting (and possibly rabid) beastie and have him bite me. That would ruin my whole day. So I stopped, took out my earphones, gazed at him for a few seconds and then shuffled my feet to make some noise. This got his attention and in no time he was off and trotting down the trail. How cool!... but I also felt a little guilty for disturbing him as he surveyed what is, truly, his territory.

Didn't encounter any more wildlife on my run, but I did see a few really beautiful dew-laden spider webs. I also ran through a few strands of web strewn across the trail. The humidity in the air clung to these strands and felt cool and wet across my face as I ran through.... an interesting (and not unpleasant) sensation. I also took note of more than a half dozen freshly hatched egg shells here and there along the trial - more evidence that life is burgeoning in Tinicum.

And... I made it out before the construction workers arrived!

4.6ish miles in... I forget... something like 41 or 42 minutes... guess I should pay better attention to those things.. but not today.

... and in marches summer

A little while back, I made myself some promises. Once Broad Street was over, I'd go to the doctor to treat my stress fracture and I'd get on my bike. You know, the one I spent several hundred dollars on almost two years ago. The same one that's a nice 'conversation piece' in the living room. I'm embarrassed to say that I could count on my fingers how many times I've ridden the dang thing (probably on one hand). It needs a tune up (derailer issues) before I ride it and I'm too embarrassed to take a bike that has clearly seen little use to the bike shop. I need to get over it. And, no, I haven't scheduled a doctor's appointment yet, but you know what... the ole leg is feeling pretty okay, so I'll likely ignore it again for a while.

And now onto the purpose of this entry: as if this needs stating... today was Broad Street. This race holds a lot of significance for me as it was the inspiration for me getting involved in this bloody sport. I always think of Polly, my dear friend from graduate school who I watched run Broad Street in 2001. She's in Indiana now raising a family and kicking some serious neuropsych-ass out there. I miss her and think of her when I run this race.

Going into today, I didn't have great feelings for how I would do. I'd been fighting off a cold and recovering from last weekend's half marathon. To add injury to insult, I did something - I have no idea what - to my left foot yesterday. Kind of feels like a mild sprain just below the outer ankle and I was keenly aware of it as I walked around pre-race this morning. But this was Broad Street, I'd be damned if I was going to let those things dampen my spirits too much.

Along with the typical excitement, I learned this morning that this was Amy's first Broad Street. How could that possibly be?, I wondered aloud. Subways, she said... she was intimidated by the whole taking-the-subway-to-the-start thing. I didn't even bother trying to wrap my head around this weird 'logic' that has kept her (a local and a long time runner) from ever running this race! Whatever. We did the usual pre-race wandering around...waiting in porto-potty lines (singing about 'workin' on our fitness'), pinning on race numbers, dreading taking off that last layer so we could stow our bag on the bus, and lining up with the 17,000+ other registrants.

I don't have much to say about the race itself. It's Broad Street!, so it's fun... lots of positive energy, drums, dance troupes, and it's downhill (and we had a nice tailwind much of the way). As I suspected it might, my foot felt fine during the race. I barely gave it a second thought. I was tired, though... around mile three I was thinking that this would be a long race. It was about at that point that Amy pulled away from me and Stacey caught up to and quickly passed me. It was fine... I was tired, glad to see my friends having a good race. I tried not to have too much of that save-yourself-I'm-wounded-on-the-battlefield mentality. To my surprise, I was sustaining pretty good splits - around 8:20. It felt like work though. I had some slower miles, but nothing too far off.

Just before mile 9, I spied Amy again. I was surprised, but happy that I had caught up. I didn't want to catch her too soon for fear that I wouldn't be able to hang on and she'd smoke me like a salmon in the last half mile. I held on and caught her within the last half mile. We entered the Navy Yard together and were both glad to be just about done. This being her first Broad Street, Amy asked where the damn finish line was (she had had enough). I told her it's always farther than you think, but that it should only be another minute or so ahead. We pretty much ran it in together... I think she finished just before me, but I won't be sure until we see the results. Seebo marvels at how we truly don't have that end-of-race competitiveness with each other.

Of course, it was good to be done.... and much to my delight and surprise, I finished only about 30 seconds behind my time from last year - and still in the 1hr 23min time frame. I could not have been more surprised or pleased. Well, of course that's not true - I could have been more pleased... if I had bested my time from last year, but, really, considering that I didn't even think I'd come close, I was very happy with the outcome.

We caught up with Kevin and then Seebo near the awards stage. Seebo, doing a fine OMW (old man walk), but otherwise looking good after another SPRNTC performance. Amy asked how long he'd walk like that. I estimated 'til Tuesday (good 80's band, incidentally) - we'll see how my prediction fares. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice post-race party at Matt's place - just a mile or so from the Navy Yard ("Hey, there's boats!", Amy marveled as we walked back to the car. Seebo was glad to know he's not the only one to space such things.)

So now we're unofficially off to the summer. The spring races are all but over and racing will slow, if not stop, until the fall. While I'm glad for the break, I'm sad in a way. It's been a good spring.

P.S. Sad news about a fellow runner.

Reba and the (snot)Rockets

Woke up grumpy again this morning. I used to be a morning person... I hope that is not changing. I like being a morning person - greeting the day with a smile, accomplishing things when the day is still fresh, and, of course, I especially like how it pisses off the non-morning people. Well, this morning was not one of those greet the day with a smile days. I think my cold, which has settled nicely into my lungs (definitely not allergies, I've determined), had a lot to do with that. I just did not want to get out of bed and run. Plus my stomach was feeling a little unsettled due to the ball of goo I burdened it with last night (in the form of an Oreo sundae).

But, of course, I did. I ran the first loop in Tinicum (just over 4.6 miles... I tried to link to the Gmaps route, but something went wonky with it... so screw it). I was a little nervous about going to Tinicum because they are doing some construction there and Seebo kind of 'got in trouble' the other day when he ran there. But I was figgerin' that those construction boyz wouldn't be there at 6am-ish. So out I went. I did the boring part of the loop first and it was, well, boring.

The second part of the loop was more interesting. I chased a lone white tailed deer for a while. Poor bugger. I encountered him (or her) on a narrow stretch of the path where there is water on either side, so the deer would scamper ahead a few dozen yards, stop to graze, only to be disturbed by me again in short order. This happened about three times until (s)he grew tired of my pursuit and just took off. Not too long after I saw a red fox! (and, no, it wasn't my reflection in the water - HA!). He scampered down the trail for a while before I lost sight of him. Very cool. I marveled for a bit at how Seebo seems to always spot hawks. Me, I don't look up for fear of tripping over a root or stone or something. Now that spring is upon us, there is quite a bit more foliage to contend with on this part of the trail and, at times, running it feels like fast-paced bushwacking. But, to me, that's fun and I caught myself actually smiling and enjoying this second part of the run, in spite of my grumpy morning mood.

As I headed out of Tinicum, the first of the construction dudes were arriving.... so I avoided getting scolded.. at least for today. Running back along 420, towards home base, I caught the scent of a lilac tree (or bush... or whatever) right about at the spot where I'm usually inhaling a whiff of the latest road kill - quite a nice change... I'll take it. So that was my last run pre-Broad Street. Not feeling all that great about Sunday - mostly due to this cold. As the title of this entry suggests, I'm not having such a fun time with the congestion. But screw it... BROAD STREET IS SUNDAY!!!

No parkin' on the dance floor

My allergies or cold or whatever it is has been making it really hard to get out of bed in the morning to do my usual workout stuff. Such was the case yesterday morning. I was planning on doing part of Tinicum, but a sore throat and stuffy head kept me warm between my covers. But I knew that if I missed a run yesterday, I would not feel happy, so I packed my gear and aimed to run after work.

Finding a parking spot at Lloyd Hall at 6:30ish on a beautiful afternoon/evening is no easy feat. There were lots of lurkers. Just as I was about to try to figure out a plan B for parking and/or running, I lucked out and found a spot. And finding a parking spot may have been the most momentous part of this run... I just did about 4.5 - out and back.

Lots of folks milling about. I spied quite a few Broad Street t-shirts which started to get me fired up for Sunday. My legs felt pretty good during the run - my right leg was tight, but dealable. I had more trouble with my breathing than usual, which I attribute to whatever is going on cardiovascularly for me right now. I was initially thinking it was allergies, but it's hung around a bit too long for that and I can now feel it in my chest. On the upside, I have a sexy, raspy phone sex voice. Not sure what good that'll do me on Sunday, but I'm planning on getting good rest between now and then. As evidence, I've already forfeited my salsa plans for Friday night. **Gasp** I know... it's serious when that happens.

Looking forward to the weekend. Amy and I are going to hang out Saturday night, do dinner, and have a pre-Broad Street sleepover. I made her promise not to tell scary ghost stories or dip my pinkie in hot water when I'm asleep.

A quick addition

I was feeling a bit beat-upish on myself for not beating my time from last year's half marathon in Allentown - though I kind of knew I wouldn't. Still, Seebo broke things down for me a little and this made me feel better:

I came in 1319 out of the the total 2784 who were running (i.e. under 12 minute pace meaning not walking); 411 out of 1334 women running; 54 out of 197 in my age/gender group running.

So I guess that ain't bad.

I also forgot to blog about my piddly little run on Friday. I don't remember much other than it was on the hamster wheel and probably about 4 miles.