Paved Hills

Well my schedule got changed up again this morning. I was planning on running 8 miles on a trail this afternoon. Instead, I was called in to work. I worked from noon to 7. Afterward, I was able to get in an 8 mile dark run.

For once, I started and finish on Green Street near my apartment. I don't really like to run in this area because it is a lot of uneven surfaces. Some concrete, some brick and some slate type of rocks. Because of it, the first mile was slow.

I hit the Art Museum and then added the challenging part to the course. I ran over the short but steep hills on Lemon Hill. I did three loops around there. It wasn't as difficult as running on the trails, but it was still a good workout. Each loop is a little short of a mile.

I didn't realize how dark it was up there. It is a lightly traveled road, but I was still surprised there were no street lights. I did have to avoid a couple cars. There were also some people out. One group was definitely smoking weed and it smelled like another was barbecuing. I was just glad I didn't trip over anything in the dark.

The good thing about the early hills was that it slowed me down. My pace was well over 8 minutes through the first four miles. After the three loops, I added the Schuykill Banks loop and then headed home. This whole route was about as hilly as you can get near Center City, yet it is no longer a challenge. I have definitely improved greatly on the hills, even though I can still get much better. I need to add the Lemon Hill loop more often.

As I hit mile five or so, my legs just felt really dead. The high mileage build up over the last few days has taken its toll. Resting instead of working most of today would've been a big help. I work two long shifts again on Friday and Saturday now too though. I'll just have to try to get through it. If I'm still struggling next week, I might have to take an extra day off to get some rest. I still don't know my work schedule yet.

I'd really love to get up early tomorrow morning and just bang out my run before work. We'll see how that goes though. I start work at 11 in the morning. The good thing is that it is only an easy 5 mile run. I'll likely just go out and back on Kelly. We'll see how I feel in the morning. I'm not sure I'll be recovered enough. It isn't like working all day will allow me to actually rest though.

8 miles - 1:03:21 (7:55 pace)