10.53 miles (Garmin Connect)
1:26:02
8:10 pace
To the amusement of my friends in the office, the Kangoo Jumps arrived on Friday. (I did not spend $300 bucks on them. Easily found a brand new pair on eBay under $60 delivered.) I had to try them out a little in the office. They do seem to cushion your impact quite a bit, but they are funny looking, and put you 6-8 inches off the ground. Left them in the office over the weekend.
Was quite sore all weekend, and my left knee was bothering me quite a bit for the first time. Almost took today off, but thought this might be a good test for the kangoos. Managed to strap them to my bike and rode down to the path at Chestnut Street - did not want to have to wear these crazy things through traffic.
Started out aiming for 4 or 5 miles, but ended up doing the whole loop plus a little extra to make 10.5. The kangoos were uncomfortable the first mile and the last mile, but not too bad in between. It required more effort to keep the pace up, and the extra weight was noticeable, but I was able to maintain a longer, runner's stride - something that normally causes too much pounding on my legs. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. If wearing these one or two runs a week allows my legs to recover better, it will be a worthwhile experiment.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friday the 13th - 8 miles (851 total)
8.07 miles (Garmin Connect)
1:07:22
8:21 pace
Shorter and slower run today - from work out to the 91 marker just before the Girard Avenue bridge - since legs were hurting from the two long runs earlier in the week. Just wanted to break 30 miles for the week and 50 for the month. Colder today - mid 30s - but sunny and nice.
I've been reading this book that Barbara got me for Christmas. It recommends only 3 runs a week (1X speed work at the track, 1X faster paced medium length run, 1X long slower run) mixed in with at least two days of cross-training (biking, swimming.) That's similar to what Dad has recommended for a long time, and might be easier on my body. I might start with this method mid-April when I should be within 100 miles of my target.
1:07:22
8:21 pace
Shorter and slower run today - from work out to the 91 marker just before the Girard Avenue bridge - since legs were hurting from the two long runs earlier in the week. Just wanted to break 30 miles for the week and 50 for the month. Colder today - mid 30s - but sunny and nice.
I've been reading this book that Barbara got me for Christmas. It recommends only 3 runs a week (1X speed work at the track, 1X faster paced medium length run, 1X long slower run) mixed in with at least two days of cross-training (biking, swimming.) That's similar to what Dad has recommended for a long time, and might be easier on my body. I might start with this method mid-April when I should be within 100 miles of my target.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Adjusted Loop - 11 miles (843 total)
11.35 miles (Garmin Connect)
1:33:03
8:11 pace
Same route as Monday, except that I went straight down to the rec path at Chestnut Street instead of running through town to join the path at the Art Museum. This added about a quarter mile. On the way home, I cut up Powelton to 38th, which made it a true loop - no ground covered twice. Felt very good considering the long run Monday; pace felt a bit faster than it actually turned out to be. If my legs hold up, might try this again on Friday, but in the opposite direction.
At Scott's suggestion, I finally figured out how to set the Forerunner to record mile splits, so you can see mile by mile times if you click on the "Splits" button at the Garmin link.
1:33:03
8:11 pace
Same route as Monday, except that I went straight down to the rec path at Chestnut Street instead of running through town to join the path at the Art Museum. This added about a quarter mile. On the way home, I cut up Powelton to 38th, which made it a true loop - no ground covered twice. Felt very good considering the long run Monday; pace felt a bit faster than it actually turned out to be. If my legs hold up, might try this again on Friday, but in the opposite direction.
At Scott's suggestion, I finally figured out how to set the Forerunner to record mile splits, so you can see mile by mile times if you click on the "Splits" button at the Garmin link.
Monday, March 9, 2009
East Falls Loop - 11 miles (831 total)
10.95 miles (Garmin link)
1:30:43
8:17 pace
Tried the shortest route possible from work out to the East Falls bridge and back. Ran through the Penn and Drexel campuses and the Powelton Village neighborhood and across the Spring Garden Street bridge to the Art Museum. At this point I met up with my usual route on the rec path (but at 1.7 miles instead of 3.0) and got to the Falls Bridge at 5.9. Crossed the river and returned to work via West River Drive, and the Sweetbriar cutoff near the Philadelphia Zoo (9.0 miles).
This route is a bit slower going because a lot of it is on surface streets, and there are some less than pedestrian-friendly spots where you sometimes have to wait for traffic. You could do more of it on the rec path, but I think that would add about 2 miles to the distance. Still, it always feels like an accomplishment to do the "loop".
Loaded data to Garmin Connect, now that it is supporting Macintosh. Managed to upload good data for Thursday's 12-miler as well as today's.
1:30:43
8:17 pace
Tried the shortest route possible from work out to the East Falls bridge and back. Ran through the Penn and Drexel campuses and the Powelton Village neighborhood and across the Spring Garden Street bridge to the Art Museum. At this point I met up with my usual route on the rec path (but at 1.7 miles instead of 3.0) and got to the Falls Bridge at 5.9. Crossed the river and returned to work via West River Drive, and the Sweetbriar cutoff near the Philadelphia Zoo (9.0 miles).
This route is a bit slower going because a lot of it is on surface streets, and there are some less than pedestrian-friendly spots where you sometimes have to wait for traffic. You could do more of it on the rec path, but I think that would add about 2 miles to the distance. Still, it always feels like an accomplishment to do the "loop".
Loaded data to Garmin Connect, now that it is supporting Macintosh. Managed to upload good data for Thursday's 12-miler as well as today's.
Friday, March 6, 2009
March Thaw - 12 miles (820 total)
12.00 miles (Garmin link)
1:38:33
8:13 pace
Sun was out and a bit warmer Thursday, so took a longer run after three days off. Have found that if I start from right outside the John Morgan Building and hit both 38th Street and Market Street before descending to the path at Chestnut Street, I usually hit the following landmarks at almost exactly these points:
2.00 - Beginning of Schuylkill rec path (backtrack from Chestnut)
3.00 - Circle in path at detour to West River Drive
3.50 - "Start" mark in front of Boathouse Row
6.00 - Strawberry Mansion Bridge
Beautiful weather - low 40s, and it will get warmer through the weekend - up to 67 on Sunday!
Took the readings above from my Forerunner. Had some trouble uploading the data to Motionbased. It had me running from here directly across the Atlantic to the Russian/Mongolian border and arriving in May, 2027 (an extremely slow pace, as it turns out.)
UPDATE: Managed to upload the data and provide a link via Garmin Connect.
1:38:33
8:13 pace
Sun was out and a bit warmer Thursday, so took a longer run after three days off. Have found that if I start from right outside the John Morgan Building and hit both 38th Street and Market Street before descending to the path at Chestnut Street, I usually hit the following landmarks at almost exactly these points:
2.00 - Beginning of Schuylkill rec path (backtrack from Chestnut)
3.00 - Circle in path at detour to West River Drive
3.50 - "Start" mark in front of Boathouse Row
6.00 - Strawberry Mansion Bridge
Beautiful weather - low 40s, and it will get warmer through the weekend - up to 67 on Sunday!
Took the readings above from my Forerunner. Had some trouble uploading the data to Motionbased. It had me running from here directly across the Atlantic to the Russian/Mongolian border and arriving in May, 2027 (an extremely slow pace, as it turns out.)
UPDATE: Managed to upload the data and provide a link via Garmin Connect.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Beating the Snow - 8.5 miles (808 total)
8.5 miles (+/-.25) (Motionbased link)
1:13
8:30 pace
Decided to run today ahead of schedule because of a big snowstorm expected overnight. I'll be lucky if the streets are clear enough to run again by Wednesday. Took it slow; wanted to get 8 miles in and take it easy on the legs. Ran from home out nearly to the Girard Street Bridge, then back to work, where I stopped to use the bathroom. Forerunner wasn't fully charged and it conked out at the 7 mile mark, just as I reached the end of the rec trail on the way home. This route is so familiar now that I am pretty confident in the 8.5 mile estimate.
1:13
8:30 pace
Decided to run today ahead of schedule because of a big snowstorm expected overnight. I'll be lucky if the streets are clear enough to run again by Wednesday. Took it slow; wanted to get 8 miles in and take it easy on the legs. Ran from home out nearly to the Girard Street Bridge, then back to work, where I stopped to use the bathroom. Forerunner wasn't fully charged and it conked out at the 7 mile mark, just as I reached the end of the rec trail on the way home. This route is so familiar now that I am pretty confident in the 8.5 mile estimate.
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