Week Minus 12 - Distance (18 miles)

Garmin Link
18.07 miles
2:34:03
8:31/mile pace (18 miles @8:45 target)

It was so cold when I left the house at 7:30 this morning that after the first mile I thought I would start circling around back towards home, and do maybe three miles. Fingers were completely numb, which has never happened with these lightweight running gloves before. By 1.5 miles, they were thawing a little, so I continued on towards the river. By the time I got down to the river path, the sun was coming out, and the temperature display on the PECO Building read 21 degrees.

From home, the Falls Bridge is about 7.75 miles, so if I am going farther than 15 miles, I usually cross the bridge and run till my halfway point (never more than 10 miles for this program) then double back home the way I came. Today, after crossing the bridge I followed the path in the opposite direction, towards Manayunk, until hitting 9.15, then returned without crossing the bridge, the way I would if I were doing the 15-mile loop. The path peters out after about half a mile, but I think you can take the sidewalk all the way into Manayunk. This was part of the Philly Marathon route.

Aside from the cold, the run wasn't difficult. I kept the speed conservative. 20-miler next week, so I want to be careful and not beat myself up between now and then. Track was closed last week, but I think the students return Monday, so hope it will open then. I think Chris is planning to join me.