Schuylkill River Archives - Run The Long Road Coaching

I might as well post while we still have power.

The news is freaking me out. I’m afraid we’ll be underwater by tomorrow morning.

Is it wrong of me to worry about fitting in my runs this week? My beloved trail will be swallowed by the Schuylkill River soon so treadmill running will have to do. That’s IF we have power, which doesn’t seem likely.

In all seriousness, stay safe everyone in PA and NJ. I’m happy my parents escaped the Jersey Shore yesterday and are safe and sound in PA. I just hope their house doesn’t sustain too much damage.

Last week was an awesome week of running. 55 miles that felt like 30 miles. I think my weekend of rest had something to do with it.

I’m counting down the days until Daylight Savings. Running in the dark is getting old. And terrifying. Matt and I started watching The Walking Dead and I’m convinced zombies are going to attack me.

On Saturday I was up at 5:30AM to knock out 16 miles so that we could be at a Halloween dog walk by 10AM. I totally white-knuckled the first 5 miles.

this is scary in the dark. think headless horseman.

Sunday morning was another dark run coupled with rain and early morning walks-of-shame from Saturday night Halloween parties…still dressed in costume…Scream mask and all. Terrifying.

I’ll leave you with a few pics of Hawk all decked out for Halloween. He was quite the handsome stegosaurus.

Does running in the dark terrify you?

Are you resting while the hurricane hits or devising ways to sneak in a run?

1/15/11

15 miles

2:15

9:00 avg pace

I’m calling this run the Redemption Run after last week’s disastrous 13-miler. It’s amazing what a change in perception can do. Running is very much mind over matter. If you think and believe you can do it, you can. If you let doubt and negative thoughts take over, you won’t achieve your goal no matter how hard you trained. A few years ago during a run I overheard another runner say “if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter”. So very true. If only it were that easy. Another great line (from Elizabeth’s blog): it takes years of practice to solidify your head. I’m definitely still working on that one.

My training plan called for 15 miles at 9:31 pace. I felt great so I went with it. I had miles and miles of plowed trails…I was downright giddy 🙂 I was out running a little before 8:00 and it was cold! But there was very little wind so it was bearable. There were also a bunch of like-minded (i.e., crazy) runners out too. Misery loves company.

Splits:

M1 – 9:22

M2 – 9:17

M3 – 9:05

M4 – 9:07

M5 – 9:08 (Shot Blok #1)

M6 – 9:10

M7 – 9:05

M8 – 9:11

M9 – 8:55

M10 – 8:53 (Shot Blok #2…swapped my wet, cold gloves for dry ones – I was a happy camper after that)

M11 – 8:54

M12 – 8:52

M13 – 8:51

M14 – 8:50

M15 – 8:53

I like to see that I sped up during the last 5 miles (must have been the warm, dry gloves at Mile 10).

It was a really pretty run. It’s funny how nice the Schuylkill River looks frozen.

IMG00050-20110115-0930 — I couldn't resist...GO HAWKS!

Next up – a recovery nap followed by some Saturday night shenanigans (partially kidding…I’m old and fast asleep before any shenanigans occur). It’s my friend Steve’s 30th birthday and we are going out to celebrate. It’s nice to know I still have 1 friend that’s turning 30…it makes me feel young!