Character-Building - 5 miles (110 total)

Distance: 5.35
Time: 45:54
Pace: 8:34 min/mi
88 degrees; humidity 46%

Ran the same course with Chris as the past few runs, but our pace is steadily improving. This felt to me equivalent to about an 8:10 pace at the track. It was a stretch to keep it up in the heat.

Took yesterday off because legs were still aching - felt like shin splints might be returning on left leg; right leg hurts when I lift foot off the ground. New shoes coming tomorrow or Monday. An trying a pair of Nike Shox ("ultimate cushioning" ) and will see if that is easier on my legs.

Hopefully I'll be able to handle a 10+ miler over the weekend, possibly with Chris and Scott.

Saved a turtle! - 5 miles - (105 total)

Distance: 5.42 mi
Time: 47:23
Pace: 8:44 min/mi
83 degrees, 46% humidity

Did no running over the weekend - still trying to heal up from last Wednesday's double runs. Developed extreme tenderness at the top of the bone just under the inside of right knee. Being careful about this because I think this is the same thing that stopped my running the last time I was trying to get serious 8 years ago. Swam a mile on Saturday.

Chris and I did our usual course through campus and to the river trail at Walnut Street. Ran into Doug going the opposite way through campus heading to lunch from his tennis camp.

Soon after we got on the rec path, Chris noticed a little painted turtle on the hot asphalt - about 4 inches long. He grabbed it and dropped it back into the river - about 25 yards or so.

Century of Progress! - 5 miles (100 total)

Distance: 5.25 mi
Time: 46:24
Pace: 8:49 min/mi
85 degrees, 37% humidity

Despite continued soreness from my ill-advised Wednesday two-fer, wanted to try to get to 100 miles today - the last day of my first month.

We ran through campus and across the river at Walnut street and down to the Schuylkill path to the 2.75 mile point (boathouse row), then back to Franklin Field to make 5.25. Was disappointed in the overall time - felt faster than that. Was sucking a little more air than usual in the beginning, and was in pain until about halfway.

Will probably take all weekend off to heal as much as possible by Monday.

Bonus Run - 6.5 miles - (95 total)

Distance: 6.51 mi
Time: 1:00:22
Pace: 9:16 min/mi
78 degrees, humidity 78%

Since I didn't get my full run in at lunch today, decided to make up a few miles after work. Trying to make 100 miles by Friday - my 1 month mark - so ended up doing a few extra miles, though at a relatively slow pace. Now will only have to run 5 on Friday - hope I didn't mess up my legs too much to do it.

Ran the USP/Clark Park course, and got rained on pretty heavily on the second lap. Looks like this is the highest humidity run to date.

Not so hot - 5.5 mi (88.5 total)

5.5 miles
48 minutes
86 degrees, 59% humidity

Went running with Chris at lunch. We went down to the river path, past the Art Museum and boathouse row to just past the Girard Street bridge, then back to Walnut Street. Hot and sticky, but blessedly overcast - so glad we didn't do this yesterday when it was ten degrees hotter. Chris hasn't been running regularly, so he had to really gut out the last mile.

I realized about 1.2 miles into the run that my iPod had paused the run after the first few steps, so I got cheated out of a Nike+ mile.

Overheated - 10 miles (7 plus 3) - 83 Total

7.16 mi
1:03:28
8:51 min/mi


3.01 mi
28:10
9:21 min/mi


Hot and sticky already when I started out shortly after 7:00 this morning. Was hoping to do 12 - the 11-mile loop from Taney ballpark to the Falls Bridge and back, plus backtracking another mile. Ended up pooping out right after mile 7. Walked about 3/4 of a mile, then started up again, and staggered through the final 3 miles. Not my best effort.

One weird thing - if you look at the graph, you notice a huge dropoff at mile 4, exactly like the last time I did this, on July 4th. It looks just like I stopped for a break at that point, but it is a flat unremarkable stretch of road. I wonder if there is some sort of electrical disturbance there that interferes with the iPod. Will pay close attention next time.

Short and Hot - 3.5 miles - (73 total)

Distance: 3.51 mi
Time: 31:02
Pace: 8:49 min/mi
91 degrees; 46% humidity

Short token run today. Legs were still aching on stairs but not bad otherwise. Took it slow.... First run over 90 degrees this season. HOT at the track! Will try for a long run tomorrow or Sunday.

Early Run - 8 miles - (69.5 total)

Distance: 8.01 miles
Time: 1:11:28
Pace: 8:55 min/mile
69 degrees, 73% humidity

Got up at 5:00 to run this morning, and the relatively cool weather made the run much easier. Ran the 1.25 mile loop around Clark Park and USP, which I know is always slow, but was still disappointed with the final time. There is a lot of gradual up and downhill, plus 7 city streets to cross on each loop - I guess that's what holds the time back.

This 7.5 to 8 mile distance is feeling more comfortable. This might be a better idea than 5 miles for my standard distance; it would allow me to take a day off between each run. If it continues to feel comfortable, I think I'll try it for a while. Will aim for another 7.5 on Friday, then maybe an 11-miler along the Schuylkill on Sunday.

Legs felt good after the first mile, and now, 2 hours later I feel very nice and relaxed waiting for the 2nd day of our Usability Conference to start, with my juice and coffee.

Today is the end of my third week. So far, so good. I am 15% ahead of my goal, with no debilitating shin splints or other injuries. I will have to pay attention to the leg pain I do have & make sure it doesn't get to the point that it knocks me off schedule for a week or two.

Bertha Arrives - 7.5 miles - (61.5 Total)

Distance: 7.5 miles
Time: 1:05:20
Pace: 8:42 min/mi
77 degrees; 58% humidity

Biked to work in the rain at 6:00am as hurricane Bertha skirted by. Weather had cleared up by noon, however, so I was able to run on schedule, and in fact it was a bit cooler than usual, and overcast, which makes the track more tolerable. I think this is the longest distance I've done at Franklin Field.

Our department is hosting a conference tomorrow and Wednesday, so I'm not sure how much opportunity I'll have to run during the day.

Swam two miles (3600 yards) over the weekend.

No Nike+! - 4 miles (54 Total)

4 miles
87 degrees, 32% humidity

I wasn't planning to run today, but my buddy Chris asked, and I decided to go with him at lunch. Unfortunately, I left my Nike+ sensor at home, so this run will not be recorded or counted for Nike+ goals & challenges. I hate when that happens.

Was hot and sunny at the track and we only ran 4 miles. It is nice having some company - think this is the first run with someone else since the challenge started.

Tony gave me some Tiger Balm to try on my legs when he noticed me limping a little after returning from the run. At least I smell a little better now!

Jogging... 5 miles - (50 Total)

5% to goal!
Temp 83, humidity 41%
Distance: 5.05 miles
Time: 44:58
Pace: 8:53 min/mi

Was feeling a bit stiff today, but wanted to run anyway, so made the conscious decision to slow down and sacrifice some speed for getting my miles in without injury. Hopefully, I will acclimate to 20+ miles/week (from 5-15 previously) and before long start improving my speed without risking injury.

Slowing Down... 7 miles - (45 total)

Distance: 7.01 mi
Time: 1:03:38
Pace: 9:04 min/mi
Temp 82; humidity 66%

Legs were still tender today, so the plan was to slow down and avoid aggravating them. When I got to the track, it was closed for the Nike+ "Human Race" 10k. I had looked into doing this, but did not see any local opportunity - looked like the closest was New York City. Too bad - might have been fun.

So I continued down Walnut Street to the Schuylkill River path, and ran to the 3.5 mile mark and back. Managed to keep the speed at about a 9:00 pace; hope I didn't overdo the distance. Was hot & muggy, but overcast and breezy by the river, which made it tolerable.

This is the end of two weeks into the challenge, and I am 5 miles ahead of the 20/week pace. So far the biggest problem has been to hold back from speeding up. I think I am most comfortable at about a 7:30 pace or a little faster, but that seems to cause my legs problems. Will just have to give it time. A year ago I was running at about a 9:20 pace - at least 30 seconds slower than my average now. When I'm 60 I should be really fast!

5-mile Personal Best! - (38 total)

80 degrees; humidity 74%
Distance: 5.00 miles
Time: 40:39
Pace: 8:06 min/mi

Went out between thunderstorms at about 1:00 today. Very humid, and hot when the sun broke through periodically. Legs felt pretty good, and I decided to push it and run a bit faster. This is my best time for 5 miles. I think the splits for the first 3 miles will be pretty good; slowed down for the last two.

A downpour started the minute I finished, and was soaked by the time I picked up lunch and got back to the office. Felt good!

Legs are aching already - haven't had the opportunity to ice down at work. Hope I will be in shape to run tomorrow. Would like to run tomorrow and Wednesday, then take two days off and run another 10-12 miler on Saturday. Would love to get into the habit of doing the long runs once a week.

Swam a mile yesterday.

Independence Day - 11 miles! (33 Total)

Distance: 11.0 miles
Time: 1:35:50
Pace: 8:42 min/mile
Overcast, mid-70s, humid


Got up not particularly early, walked the dog, biked down to Taney Field at Mark Ward Park at about 8:30. This is just over the South Street Bridge, and is the field where Doug's Taney League baseball team was based. I got used to using this as a starting point when Doug had practices here. It is about a half mile from the start of the Schuylkill River rec path. I did the "loop" - along the path and back across the Schuylkill at the Museum of Art and along West River Drive to the Falls Bridge, then across to the east side of the river along Kelly Drive. Back to the start of the rec path, then backtracked 2/10ths of a mile to make 11.

Legs were hurting, but felt more comfortable at about mile 4. Did the last 2 miles at an 8-minute pace. I think my pace and distance were actually a bit better than what was recorded, because my Nike+ graph shows a huge dropoff between mile 3 and 5 (down to an 11:51 pace!) when I felt that if anything I sped up a little at that point. I had estimated that this would be closer to 12 miles. Guess I can confirm that on future runs. Maybe there was some Nike+ malfunction. This is the longest run I've done since the PDR last September, and the longest ever by myself.

After the run, went home, picked up Doug and spent the rest of the day at the pool, swimming and eating hot dogs and hamburgers at the 4th of July celebration. Did a mile in the lap pool at about 5:00 and we came home about 7:30. Probably did 5-6 miles on the bike between the round trips to Taney and the pool. Think I will sleep well tonight!

Day 6 - 5 miles (22 Total)

Temp: 68, humidity 81%
Pace: 9:20

Got up at 5:00 and ran around the perimeter of Clark Park and USP. That loop is 1.25 miles, but crosses Woodland Avenue and Chester Avenue twice, so is a bit slow. I was also hobbling a bit from pain. Now that I've completed the 20-mile goal for the week, I might take two days off and do a 10-11 mile run Friday morning.