Through the Snow

Today was the weekly long run and I'm happy to report that I survived it. I ran 14 miles along Kelly Drive and the Schuykill Banks. With the snowfall on Friday/Saturday, things were certainly interesting along the route.

There was a narrow path provided by previous runners from Lloyd Hall on out. I was disappointed that it had not been plowed at that point. It isn't that I expect them to play that quickly, it is just that they did last time. After about half a mile, I encountered the plow coming in the opposite direction. That was a big relief. He shot salt at me as he went by so that wasn't fun.

It addition to poor footing early on, I had to use the bathroom. Since the one at Lloyd Hall was locked, I had to use a portal bathroom. That forced me to stop within the first mile. I didn't lose much time though.

For the most part, the path was clear and salt had melted a lot of snow. They did a good job of plowing, although sometimes they didn't follow the path well. It was about as good as one could expect though and it didn't make running too difficult.

I cruised along nice and comfortably out to Falls Bridge. It was difficult to pass slower runners or walkers at times. I managed though. Much to my surprise, my knee felt very good. I ran on Falls Bridge itself briefly. The surface was a bit slick.

Again, I came back along Kelly Drive at a nice clip. The one thing that did become annoying was the temperature differences with and without the wind. It was pretty cold with the win in your face, but very warm with it at your back. It seemed to be changing directions a lot too. I kept taking my headband and gloves off and then put them back on again.

After about 6 miles or so, my IT band did start to become a nuisance. It was just mildly sore though. Even still, I wasn't to the halfway point and wondered if I'd finish. I wanted to run a 2nd out and back to Falls Bridge, but didn't want to get stuck way out like last week. Therefore, I ran on the Schuykill Banks loop and then a shorter out and back on Kelly Drive.

My IT band continued to be a little sore for the rest of the run, but never got worse. I was passed by another runner along the Schuykill Banks. I guess I ran harder to hold him off and also ran harder after he passed, because I laid down a blistering 7:07 mile. I didn't even feel like I was running that hard either.

This was scheduled as a progression run and I did that as best I could. I definitely picked up the pace over the last 20 minutes. I could only go so fast though with the difficult footing. I started to tire towards the end, but made it through. My calf bothered me again, but not until after the run.

I was very pumped to complete the long run after last week's mess. Because of that shorter run last Sunday, I only put in 36 miles last week. The week before I had 44 miles. This week calls for an aggressive 54 miles. I'm going to take it day by day and see how I feel. Tomorrow is an easy 4 miler that I'll definitely complete. I'd like to run the 11 mile fartlek. I definitely ran faster than a 3K pace last time out. Maybe a slower pace would be a big help. I might test it out or back off. I need balance aggression and caution if I want to make it to Boston.

14 miles -1:52:52 (8:03 pace)