Around the Loop Again

Today, I ran most of the Schuykill River loop. I started at Lloyd Hall and stopped at West River Drive right where it goes over the river. It was about 7.5 miles.

Originally, I planned on some boring running at Temple's track. I went to the subway and the Fairmount stop doesn't have a token machine and the one at Spring Garden didn't take change. That was all I brought and only enough for two tokens. Rather than go back to the apartment and get money, I just decided to run the loop.

Again, my left ankle felt funny early on. I really don't think my shoe was tied tight enough and that bothered my foot later on. After going really slow at the start, I picked it up.

I ran fairly well on the way out. I went with a relatively slow and comfortable pace. I can only slow down so much though. Right as I got the St. Joe's Prep boathouse, I caught up to a guy that ran by me when I was walking before my run and warm up. Obviously he was going slow, but it was amazing that I caught up to him.

I felt pretty good as I got to Falls Bridge. I was slow and it seemed like the run took forever, but my legs were okay. As I got towards the end though, they really started to lose it. The week off made this long run tough.

I couldn't have run much farther and I elected to play it safe and just stop early. I'm planning on doing more than one loop on Saturday and quite frankly I'm not sure how I'll pull that off. I was beat at the end of this one. Both my legs started to get sore in the last half mile or so.

I didn't look at my watch until the end. I started the stopwatch, but changed the setting to the time for most of the run. I tried not to run too hard at any point. It wasn't easy, but it felt great completing the workout. I took extra time to stretch afterwards (as well as before).

The weather is starting to get frustrating now. Yesterday, it was sunny and the temperature wasn't bad. It turned out to be very windy by the river though. Today, it was cloudy and unseasonably cold. There was no wind though, so the weather was actually much better.

Obviously the cold weather kept people away though. It's interesting to watch how people dress. Some are way overdress already and some are probably underdressed like myself. I wore a short sleeve shirt and shorts. I did throw on gloves and that was a big help.

By the end, I was actually warm and sweating in the gloves. They were much needed as I walked to the river though. That's the hardest part. I walk quite a few blocks before getting to the run.

The shirt I had on had small holes in it. It's really a good thing that it wasn't windy. The wind is such an X-factor. Even if it's not windy at the apartment, it can be windy at the river.

Tomorrow is a scheduled 5 mile run, but I'll probably just do 3 or 4. I'm a little sore right now, particularly in my injured left leg. I just have to make it through the next few weeks.

I've been thinking about getting a massage. I wasn't sure where to go and googling it didn't help. It would be great, but not sure it's worth the money either. I might try taking an ice bath after Saturday's run. That was is scheduled for 18 miles, but I'll likely do 15 or 16 (if I make it that far).

7.5 miles - 1:05:11 (8:41 pace)