Was it the goat cheese?

Another hard-to-get-out-of-bed morning.... but I'm glad I did. We were blessed with absolutely beautiful running conditions this morning - cool, but sunny, with a nice breeze. I headed out to the track - as has become my Wednesday custom lately. I took it a little easier this morning heading out to the track than I normally do. There are a few inclines... we'll call them hills... en route. Normally, I'm somewhat of a hill charger (so I've been told, but I don't really believe it), but today I consciously took it easy - I'll have enough hills to contend with come Friday when I Run the Monk.

I did the same routine as last week (5 x 200s with a 200 meter rests in between) - again, keeping track of my splits as I just figured out last week how to do it. I thought about doing 400s today, but decided to at least do one more week of 200s in an effort to a) get more used to trying to run faster and b) get a better sense of my baseline at this distance (since I'm new to keeping track of the splits thing). It went something like this 53.7; 54.2; 52.7; 52.6; 52.7. I don't know if you're supposed to keep track of tenths of seconds... I'm not sure it really matters... but since I was able to remember it, I figured I'd put it down. Can't hurt, right?

I don't recall off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure that that is a few seconds faster than I did last week. Not sure what to make of that. I definitely felt better (and dare I say faster) than I did last week. Don't know really what made the difference - maybe it was because it was cooler, or maybe it was because I was wearing my lucky shorts... Couldn't have been the wind because, actually, I was running into a noticeable headwind. Maybe it was the hummus and delicious pear and goat cheese salad from last night's dinner that was fueling me. Who knows, but I'll take it.

The run home was good. Again... the beautiful weather was helpful and I felt good. Friday evening is the Monk 5k - which promises to be a challenge. Touted as one of the toughest 5k courses in the Commonwealth, the brochure for the race says that 0.1 miles of the course is flat. Sounds like fun... yeah. I'm sure a LBRR will follow from the likes of me, Seebo, and Ian.

Like last week, a little over 5 miles. I forgot to stop my watch, so I'm not sure of the time overall.

Club Red

In a futile attempt to beat the heat, Amy, Stacey, and I met at Lloyd hall at 7:30 this morning. We all agreed that the goal would just be to do the loop and not be SPRNTC about it. So we started off slow and just enjoyed some conversation... discussing dating, kids, exes, etc. We also decided that it would be a good idea to form a Redhead Running Club, since the three of us are, in varying shades and textures, proud redheads. Of course, we quickly decided that it would be a "natural redheads only" club. In thinking about a name for the club, I suggested the team name we have for the Monk Run next Friday - the Red Rovers.... but now I'm also considering Club Red, I kind of like that too.

After crossing over the Falls Bridge, I think we all felt a little better, knowing that we were already past the halfway mark and noticing a slight headwind that helped to cool us off. We made it back to Lloyd Hall in just under 80 minutes which wasn't too bad considering that we started out quite slow.

Again... another enjoyable run with friends and I felt really good (physically) at the end of the run. Don't tell anyone, but I was actually feeling like running a bit more. But now I'm home with a belly full of frosted mini wheats, strawberries, and soy milk... I don't think there's any more running on tap for the day - especially since it's only getting hotter out there. But a bike ride or a hike to see the turtles again.... maybe.

Eyes of the World

Some mornings, I feel like I could run forever and some mornings I need a little extra motivation to keep me going. The 'run-forever' mornings have been few and far between lately, so I have to find ways to keep myself on track. It really doesn't take anything spectacular or out of the ordinary to do so... just that little something.

Today it was having the eyes of the early morning commuters on me that kept me going. This is an old 'trick' I've used oodles of times. I purposely stay on main roads and keep in mind that if I don't make it to the top of that hill or slow down too much... I'll look like a wuss... and we can't have that. Now, I realize this is a completely narcissistic and ludicrous notion, but hey, it works. I do know that the folks driving in their cars/trucks/suburban assault vehicles are really just going about their business of the day and don't give a rat's ass whether or not I have a good pace going, if I make it to the top of the hill in good form, etc... if they even notice me at all. I do know this, but somehow thinking that maybe, just maybe, I'm being watched helps to push me a little harder than I might otherwise push myself.

I did the Wawa circuit again - Prospect Park to Ridley Park... with some neighborhood meanderings... and then home again... conquering that last 'hill' by the CVS, then winding through the back roads to the pumpkin patch. I may G-map it later, I may not... but I ran for 50 minutes... and hopefully that was enough to get out a bit of recently accumulated (accumulating) nervous energy.

Silence is Golden

I'll borrow from sentiments expressed by Seebo this morning, which is to say that there weren't many really deep thoughts produced during this morning's run. It was back out to the track today for some more 200s. Again, the legs felt a little tight and wobbly at the same time, if that's possible. I am starting to question whether or not my track work is best placed the morning after I'm out salsa-ing until 10:30 at night. Maybe next week I'll switch it to my Friday run... just for shits and giggles.

So today I remembered that I had that nifty 'split' function on my watch. Don't know why it hasn't occurred to me before to use that to see how fast I was running my 200s, but it honestly hadn't. I'm reticent to list what those splits were for several reasons which I won't get into (58, 57, 56, 56). Suffice it to say, I'm still not looking for a coach. I'm just playing around a little bit on the track... see what, if anything, happens.

5 laps around the track plus the out and back... call it a bit over 5 miles in something like 46 minutes.

Pictures from Tinicum

I haven't been able to stop thinking about the turtles. They were/are so cool. Because I'm newly obsessed, I googled some information on how long it takes eggs to hatch once they are laid. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get a clear answer - seems that the gestation period can be anywhere from 9 to 18 weeks, depending on the weather. So much for visions I had of late night hikes with flashlights to see the hatchlings pull their way towards the water.

Anyway... I returned to Tinicum today after dropping my sister off at the airport. It was kind of spur of the moment given that I was in a skirt and flip flops (death before sensible shoes), but I managed to hike the initial loop and get a few good shots.

Tortoise vs Hare

There were a lot of 'races' going on this morning. The first one being the race to complete the post run meal preparations before Amy arrived - mission accomplished: crepe batter made, strawberries cut, Nutella ready for action, bananas set to peel. Amy arrived punctually, of course, and we set out around 7:30 (hoping to beat the heat - yet another race, of sorts).

Tinicum was on the menu for the day. Before leaving, I consulted with Amy about our strategy given the heavy rains yesterday evening and the likelihood of a soggy and possibly muddy course. My main concern was the 'interesting part' of the first loop. Experience has taught me that this part of the trail is most likely to get thick with mud and since the path is narrow to begin with, there isn't a lot of wiggle room to try to avoid it. She was reluctant, but I talked her (and me) into doing the 'interesting part' - reasoning that we hadn't had a lot of rain lately, so the rains from last night probably did not make the conditions too bad. Plus, the worst that could happen would be that we'd have to walk (**gasp**) and that we'd get muddy. So out we went.

True to its name, the 'interesting part' of the loop offered lots of good stuff. A machete would have been helpful to contend with the recent explosion of foliage. Given the 90% humidity (of course I checked), the rain was still clinging to the brush and as we ran through, it felt much like I imagine a car wash would. Before we reached the second bridge our shorts, legs, and sneakers were drenched, squishy drenched. Fortunately though, there was no real mud to speak of.

No, it wasn't the mud that stopped us in our tracks, it was the large turtle on the side of the trail that did it. She appeared to be actively laying eggs! So cool. And she was huge - Amy estimated about 10 to 12 inches lengthwise. Not too much farther, we saw an even larger turtle just off the side of the trail. Throughout our run, we spotted several more (and, yes, we were keeping track) some laying eggs, some just chillin' out, and even more nests, some of which had already hatched eggs strewn about (which looked like ping pong balls). We looked around briefly for some of the hatchlings, but to no avail. I'm sure they were long gone by the time we set foot on the trail.

As we ran the second part of the figure eight loop, we noticed that this was bunny territory. We counted those too. Amy was clearly pulling for the turtles to win - and they did have a strong lead, but I knew that the rest of the path was more hare habitat and did not have a good feeling about the turtles' chances of remaining ahead. Clearly, the rabbits had advantages too - they hop about and dart across the path and are, therefore, more easily seen and plus they multiply like, well, you know.

In the end, the bunnies were victorious: 8 to 6, I believe. The last mile or two was tiring, as usual. After we finished, I turned to Amy and was about to ask her if she had been peppered by the occasional gnat cloud. No need to ask. She had several dozen more 'freckles' in the form of gnats plastered to her neck and face. I knew I probably looked about the same - which Amy (and later the mirror) confirmed. There was even one or two in my teeth. Mmm... protein.

All in all a great run, our time was slower than I've done in the past, but that includes bushwacking and stopping a few times to check out the wildlife. A little over 9 miles in 85 minutes.

After showering and picking the gnats out of our teeth, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast. Crepes Reba: strawberries, bananas, and Nutella. Also on hand was some delicious and WAY overprice fig-spread from Whole Foods - which, along, with a touch of butter, made for a delicious new crepe. I also learned that Amy is addicted to powdered sugar... good thing I had just a little on hand. Next challenge: how to incorporate poultry seasoning into crepes. Hmm... I'll figure something out.

I knew it was coming...

I'm starting to feel some blog pressure. I knew it would eventually come to this and I guess I'm actually a little surprised it hasn't happened already. Pressure to write something interesting, witty, insightful. Sometimes a run is just a run... a get-out-and-get-'er-done run. That was pretty much how it went today.

A late night out at the Mill Creek Tavern and other factors conspired to keep me in bed longer than I had intended (I feel like I write this a lot). I even thought about skipping the run altogether, but I knew there was no way I'd run later in the day as it's supposed to go up to 90 degrees. So I went out and ran around the neighborhood back streets of Prospect Park and Ridley Park and whatever is between.

Pointless to G-map it since I have no clue where I went.. but I ran for 45 minutes and there were a fair amount of rolling hills. Somehow I've convinced myself that doing these once a week rolling hills will prepare me for The Monk... don't mess with my delusion.

The best part of the morning (post run, that is) was the sourdough toast with fig-spread....Mmmm... and the three remaining fresh strawberries. Maybe I should make this a blog about food instead... I seem to get much more excited about that than running.

Seester is in town this weekend - going for her National rating as a lacrosse referee. I know less about ref-ing lacrosse than I do about track workouts (and we already know how little I know about that), but I'm excited for her as I know this is a big deal. She flies in tonight, but I won't get to see her in action until Sunday (up at Lehigh). Go Tammy!!!

Holding on to Spring

Another gorgeous morning. I could get used to this. But I know better and the armpit of summer will soon be upon us. Nothing too interesting to write about today’s run. I went out to the track again and pretty much did what I did last time – ‘fast’ and slow 200s – four of them and then another lap around the track at a medium pace, just for shits and giggles… and so I could lap the octogenarians again. Maybe that would be called a ‘tempo’ pace, but I’m still learning the vernacular and how it applies to me. Then home again, home again jiggity jig. I felt like I pushed it more today and my legs are certainly agreeing with that assessment, but I don’t think my times were appreciably better. Anyway… 5.18 in 46:30.

Thankful

I can’t express how excited I am that we are having a spring this year. If memory serves correctly, it seems like in the past few years we’ve gone from winter almost right into summer – just glossing over spring. There are a lot of reasons to appreciate this; having great running weather is just one of them.

I took advantage of the nice weather on Sunday and met up with Amy at Lloyd Hall to do the loop. Parking was surprisingly easy – don’t know why, but I’ll take it. The physiology of the run, itself, was rather uneventful. We didn’t set any land-speed records, nor were we aiming to. We kept a nice pace around 9:15 and caught each other up on the various goings-on in our lives.

Amy is someone I met through a mutual friend and we initially began getting together with the purpose of running. That was a few years ago. Since then, we’ve really developed a wonderful friendship and we’ve seen each other through some very high and very low points in both our running and our lives. I didn’t really mean to get all mushy here, but I do like to reflect on this as another thing running has added to my life.

So this post is a celebration of friendship as much as it is a celebration of running and beautiful spring weather. Amy and I have more than just red hair and freckles in common. We make each other laugh, help each other think things through, and – perhaps most importantly – discuss the importance of liking the color of your shoes.

The loop plus some – call it just under 9 in just under 80 minutes.

When you're right, you're right

This is a phrase which has been heard with disturbing frequency around the pumpkin patch as of late - especially since it's coming from my lips. I did not want to run this morning. I know, not an uncommon sentiment among early-morning-end-of-the-work-week runners. But I was advised by a wise old sage, that I should get out there, that I would feel better for having done so.

The question became where to run. This winter I logged far too many miles on the treddy, so I knew I didn't want to go there. Besides, the weather has been optimal for running lately and this morning was no exception - overcast, mid 50s, with a nice breeze. Tinicum was likely too wet from yesterday's downpours and Prospect Park is not known for it's glorious running routes, so what to do? Basically, I just winged it - I ran this route with the intention of exploring some of the neighborhoods of nearby Ridley Park.

As I wound my way through the bowels of Southeast Delco, I had a little competition going: Beer distributors vs. Wawas. It was close, folks, but ultimately the Wawas won it, four to three. I kind of liked this route as it presented me with something I’ve been quite unaccustomed to as of late (with all my treddy and Tinicum running) – rolling hills here and there. I dare say that I even enjoyed some of the hills once I was warmed up and in a groove of sorts. So much so that I actually extended my route a bit beyond what I had intended just to get in one more (sort of) hill…. wild woman that I am!

The closer I got to home, the better I felt. It was one of those days where I felt like I could have kept going for at least a few more miles. I haven’t had one of those days in a long time, so that was really nice. As I cooled down and stretched, I felt really good and wanted to hold onto that feeling. I made a mental note, “This is why I run.” And somehow, the morning just got better from there.

5.8 in 53 and change.