Broad Street

Today I ran my 8th consecutive Broad Street Run. It feels good to be able to write that. While there has never really been anything too spectacular about my running, I am proud to say that I am consistent.

Over the eight years I've run this race, I've watched it more than triple in size to just over 23,000 finishers. That's a lot of runner butts chugging from North Philly to the Naval Yard.

Seebo couldn't join in the fun today as he had to attend to his godfatherly duties. Amy and I made arrangements to go down together to the race. This was Amy's second Broad Street and while she loves the race... she is much much less enthusiastic about the subway ride to the start. I think it's fair to say that Amy has an abnormal aversion to subways, particularly crowded ones. The reason for that, I'm not sure... you'd have to ask her. But for anyone, being crammed like a sardine into a subway with thousands of other runners for a solid 30+ minutes can be a less than pleasant experience.

Given the enormous number of registered runners, it seemed like the organizers really stepped up their efforts to make things go smoothly. They had shuttle buses from the parking lot to the subway station to help move people along. Amy and I tried to board one of the buses only to be turned away just as the people in front of us boarded. "All full", the driver said, "Take the next one." Grrr. So we headed to the next bus and were the first ones on. Amy, being the smart cookie that she is, grabbed the front seat. Yeah, I know, the cool kids ride on the back of the bus, but those in the front get out first... and, turns out, get to commander the bus. Sort of. I'll get to that.

As we sat and waited for the bus to fill with runners, the bus driver casually mentioned that instead of taking us to the subway station, that she might be able just to take us up to the start. Amy's eyes went wide with excitement. Could it be that she would be able to escape the subway?!?!? I'm not sure how many Our Fathers and Hail Marys Amy said while we waited for the driver to get confirmation/permission.

I've known Amy a long time. We've done a lot, been through a lot together. But I have never seen Amy as excited and overcome with pure joy as when the bus driver confirmed that she would, in fact, be driving us to the race start. I didn't know it was that deep, but apparently for Amy, it was.

Our excitement was quickly tempered when we soon realized that our bus driver had no clue where she was going. She had followed another bus onto 76W, but lost him soon afterwards and was not sure how to get where we needed to go. Amy sprung into action and along with me and our fellow front seat compatriots, navigated the bus successfully to the north end of Broad Street.

Pre-race was typical... throngs of people, long porto-potty lines. The race was started in waves this year, according to color-coded corrals. I think this worked beautifully as there was not nearly as much bobbing and weaving around other runners those first few miles. Kudos to race organizers for addressing this issue.

As usual the energy during the race was amazing. This is the reason I run this race every year. Everyone is upbeat and joking and just having fun - despite the skies looking like they'd open up any second. I love the transition of spectators too - from the unsuspecting North Philly residents leaning out of their windows, to the Temple students cheering on their friends, to the City Hall mob of supporters. It's easy to let the momentum of the crowd just pull you down Broad Street.

And that's kind of how it felt for me. I had fairly low expectations going into this race. I am not in the same running shape I've been in the last few years and was content to run something around a 1:30. Of course, I went out a bit fast... first mile was something like 8:47. But I felt good and really just felt pulled along at a nice clip by the energy of the crowds... runners and spectators alike. Subsequent miles came in about the same.

Around mile three, I started to think that sub 1:30 was a distinct possibility. Every mile that came in under 9 minutes was like a little extra cash in the bank I could borrow against later, if need be. And I know what it's like to run out of steam around mile seven. It's certainly happened to me before. But not today. Things just seemed to go well. I felt good... the rain was holding at a light drizzle... and my legs felt reasonably good. I crossed the finish line at 1:27:32.... can't complain about that.

Soon after I finished, the skies opened and down came the rain, in sheets. The hardest part of this race was waiting to meet up with Amy afterwards and walking back to the car. That was a long walk. But eventually, I was dry, warm, and with a belly full of food. Now I'm just waiting for my chocolate chip banana bread to come out of the oven. Mmmmm.

Looking forward to next year.

Like a NKOTB

...Hangin' Tough, that is. Oh yeah, I went there.

So, I'm still running. I'm trying to reflect back on the week. That seems like a long time ago, but now that I think back on it, Tuesday's run was worthless. Literally. I had some very uncomfortable tightness in my anterior tibialis and didn't make it for more than two miles. No biggie. (I'm doing my best to not just say that, but to really mean it). Thursday was better. Ran 4 1/4 on the treddy and didn't hate every single step. Saturday I made it out to Tinicum and did the figure eight loops. The mud on the Interesting Part of the trail slowed me down a bit, but I was totally fine with that... one, it gave me an excuse to be slow and two, I took a minute after emerging onto the connector trail to find a stick and rediscover the tread on my shoes. The remainder of the run was nice. I made a conscious effort to try to be in the moment and enjoy the scenery, the fresh air, and the exercise. Too often I find myself wishing my runs away... just waiting for them to end. That's no way to be.

Still a long way from where I was and where I want to be, but at least I'm hanging tough.

Uninspired

That's basically how I've been feeling about my blogging and, to a lesser extent, my running. But I'm going to try to stick with it (blogging and running) and see what happens.

Did the Art Museum loop yesterday all by my lonesome... ran it last weekend with Stacey and it was much more fun. The run itself was okay - weather was good and I felt decent. My splits were okay (9:07, 9:05; 8:53, 8:53; 8:40; 8:44; 8:46; 8:46). I don't want to be a speed whore, but it's hard not to be, especially with the company I keep. I don't know that I'll ever regain the speed I had a year ago and, really, I'm not sure how much I care about it. Of course I care, but not to the point where I'm willing to put in the work necessary to get there.

I think the hardest part for me right now is that I'm a lonely runner. I am fine running by myself during the week, but I miss having someone to chat to and commiserate with during those long runs.

So, that's where I am for now. Still running, but with less enthusiasm than I'd like. We'll see what happens.

Beat the Clock

First and foremost.... Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. No presents, no religious pretense.... just good food and lots of it. I was lucky enough this year to be invited to Steve's family friend's home for the holiday. Of course I couldn't show up empty handed, so I offered to make and bring a pecan pie - my momma's recipe.

The pie takes about 50-55 minutes to bake, giving me the perfect window to fit in a run. Of course, this then puts a bit of pressure on me to make sure I get back in time to ensure the pie isn't overcooked. My usual West Philly loop takes me about 45 - 47 minutes, giving me adequate cushion in case I didn't have a good run.

Luckily, I felt good throughout the run and made it back in just under 45 minutes, allowing for a nice cool down walk around the block before heading back into the kitchen to retrieve my perfectly cooked pecan pie.

South Street Bridge sign was up announcing its closure on or around December 8th - that's gonna suck.

Gym Rat

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I went looking for a picture of a hamster wheel and found this video, which is kind of silly and stupid, but made me laugh, so I'm sharing it for what it's worth.

All of that is a rather lengthy intro to what will be a brief post about my runs this week. As you may have already guessed, I did all three runs on the treadmill. I ran four miles on Tuesday, four and a half on Thursday, and a grueling nine and a quarter treddy-miles on Saturday. As much as I hate the treadmill, I hate the wind even more, so I suffered for the 9+ miles and called it a week.

Untitled

I'm having trouble getting this entry started. Not sure where I want to begin or end and I only have a vague sense of what I want to say in between. My body is tired from running the Tinicum figure eight a few hours ago.

My runs earlier in the week were very rushed... Wednesday's run was through the dark and rainy streets of West Philly. A much needed stress reliever run... one where I just wanted to keep going, but I had things to do and was a bit worried about slipping on wet leaves or tripping over some uneven pavement, so I cut it short. And I couldn't find my watch. My best guess was that I ran somewhere around three and a half miles.

Friday was, again, a beat the clock run. I had hopes of running at Ridley Creek State Park as I made my way home, but I soon realized that I didn't have nearly enough daylight minutes left, so I opted for East Goshen Township Park, which is about a half mile down the road from where I work. There is a paved loop around the west side of the park that is about a mile long. I was glad to have my iPod, as four loops around that thing was not the most exciting run ever. But, hey, at least I got some sort of run in.

This morning, I had designs on the Art Museum, but given that I was in West Philly and my running shoes were in Prospect Park, I ended up running Tinicum again... and, really, I was happy to be there. It was nice too, not to be constrained by waning daylight or anything else pressing upon me (except for the usual Sunday chores).

I'm getting better at being nice to myself when I run. I am doing a better job of just letting myself relax and not worry about speed. I run. I push it sometimes. I take it easy other times. I walk if I want to and I don't worry about it. My only goal for today was to do the figure eight loop and to run for at least eighty minutes. Done. My body is tired, but in a good way.... and with so few remaining glorious autumn mornings, I am glad I got out there.

Steady as She Goes

The good news is, I'm getting some consistency back in my running. The bad news is... I'm S.L.O.W. I know, I keep saying I'm not going to obsess over that anymore and I'm trying not to, truly I am.

So this week, I've run the usual four or so miles twice during the week. Friday I woke up obscenely early and made it to the gym when it opened at 5am to get a treadmill run in. I've been helping Amy move into her new house, so an after-work run was not in the cards. I miss working out in the morning. I miss the familiar faces, yes, even the annoying ones. Yes, I even miss Bruce.

This weekend, I had a wedding on Saturday evening so I wisely chose to get my long run in on Saturday morning. I set out to do a Seebeka loop, but ended up doing the whole figure eight loop around Darby Lake. Again... it was pretty slow going... probably averaging around nine minute miles, but I was really glad just to get the miles.

I love Tinicum. I know I've said it before and I will likely say it again. I love that I see more members of other species than I do of my own. I am fortunate to have that as my backyard and will be sad when the day comes when it is no longer so easily accessible.

So slowly I'm starting to settle back into some sort of running routine. Next week, I'll likely revive some of the old West Philly routes.

Art Museum

Its been a while since I've run the drives and given that it was such a beautiful fall morning, how could I resist? Of course there was some sort of regatta silliness going on and possibly a 5k run or something, making for nearly mob-like conditions. Luckily the parking gods smiled upon me (I had a weird feeling they would) and I found a spot across the street from Lloyd Hall.

It was one of those autumn mornings where it is crisp and sunny, making me unsure whether to wear warmer clothing. I was later glad that I left the long sleeves behind. I wasn't sure how this run would go. I haven't run more than six miles since late August. Most of my runs have been around four. Still, I wanted to run the drives and I figured that one way or another I'd get myself around the loop.

Not surprisingly, it was slow going the whole way around. I averaged about 9:10 miles which is a bit humbling, but I was really more focused on getting in the distance and trying not to feel too beat up.... Oh yeah, and enjoying the beautiful day. I've been having a bit of back pain recently and I found myself stopping to stretch my back out a few times as I made my way around the loop. I NEED to strenghten my back more. I really do not want a repeat of last June's torture.

So, I ran 8 of the 8.5 miles of the loop (73:15) and was happy enough with that. The best part of the run was stretching by the Lincoln statue and watching happy dogs chase frisbees and each other.

Somehow it wasn't as bad as I thought

You know it's bad when you're fighting to stay awake during a therapy session at 3pm. Luckily I think I managed to fake wakefulness pretty well. Yes, it was a beautiful fall day... a nice one for running... with one exception. It was windy... one of my most hated weather conditions. The Weather Channel said the winds were blowing at 18mph, gusting to above 30.

I called Seebo for a pep-talk. He wasn't immediately available, but his return call was, lets just say, less than inspiring. Now I'm sure I'm interpreting this a bit liberally... but it was something along the lines of "Get yer fat arse out the door!". No, of course, Seebo isn't THAT stupid... he didn't say that.

A nap sounded much better, but somehow... despite being tired and wind-shy... I made it out the door and headed to Tinicum for yet another trip around the lower loop. Yes, it was windy - so much so that I had that running-in-place feeling much of the time. But, as the title suggests, it wasn't all that bad. My legs felt pretty fresh and my lungs felt kind of actually good. Huh.... who knew?

I've long since given up trying to figure out when a run will go well and when it won't. I almost wanted to start timing my runs again....... I said almost.

Full Circle

Once again.... the blogging has been less frequent than the running.

I've run several times since my last entry.... nothing terribly notable. I've done the lower Tinicum loop a few times and maybe a treddy run or two. It's been a slow process, trying to regain my fitness.

Most of my runs lately have hovered right around the four mile mark, so yesterday I decided to try to go longer. I wanted to do something I used to call the Seebeka loop - essentially, the lower loop of Tinicum with a mini upper loop, without going around the lake.

Looking back in my blog, I see that I ran this loop almost exactly a year ago. Reading that entry is depressing me right now as I was in such a different place with my running. I also see that I was about to begin dealing with some hip pain that put running on hold for a while. I had a mojo going then that I have yet to regain.

Seeing that I did the same loop a year ago about four and a half minutes faster than I did yesterday does not leave me with a good mind set. Ironically, as I was finishing my run yesterday (and feeling pretty wiped) I was thinking about how I'm working on being more accepting of myself when I'm not running the way I wish I were. It's not easy. I tell myself that I should feel good that I'm continuing to be consistent with running, that most people can't run as far as I can, and that the purpose of my running is to stay and shape, relieve stress, and be outside. Still, it's hard to not be competitive with myself.

It's been a rough year for me running wise... with the hip injury, then my back, then the pneumonia... and I guess I should cut myself some slack. As I get older, I'm realizing that I'll be a much happier person if I do so.

I didn't head into this blog entry with the notion that I'd be reflecting on the past year... though, for some, this is the end of the year. Given how I felt this time last year, I would have never predicted that I'd be heading into such a disappointing year, running wise. So, perhaps, given how I'm feeling about my running now, I'm heading into a great year of running.. and hopefully other wonderful things as well. One can only hope.