Pottruck, East Falls

Ran 4mi on the treadmill at Pottruck. 3.6 or so in 25min, jogged the rest as a cooldown.

(Then met C to bike out to BBQ in East Falls.)

Busy

Monday: At IBM PL Day up in Westchester and so DNR.

Tuesday: W River Dr / Montgomery / Girard / Lemon Hill loop. I think this is well over 7 (maybe 8?) miles?

Weekend

Friday: sunset ride to Manayunk with a couple of jaunts up the hill to Ridge Ave.

Saturday: easy ride to the Linc to get my BSR bib... but on the way home, after stopping at Reading to pick up supplies for a big pasta meal for some other runners, I hit a hole on Spruce St and went over the handlebars. Helmet saved me, but scraped my face, shoulder, and knee up and bent my wheel.

I was still planning to race, but woke up feeling more swollen and the bruises hurt. Also didn't sleep much because Mom and Cara called me at 2hr intervals to make sure I was still lucid and didn't have bleeding in my head.

Sunday: skipped the race, obviously, but got out for a sunset run to John B Kelly. Beautiful weather, 7mi+, I just wish I could have run them on Broad Street 12 hours earlier.

Sweetbriar

Did this loop, about 5.5mi.

I am getting pretty excited for Sunday's race.

Mon -> Weds

Mon: Girard St on the W R Drive. Should be 5+?

Tues: Didn't head out until 10.30pm and straight into a huge t-storm rolling in. Turned around just before the Art Museum. Not sure of distance: more than 2?

Wed: Pottrock <-> East Falls Loop. I think this is 11 miles.

Weekend

Saturday: Loop (11-ish?)
Sunday: Sweetbriar (5-ish; would have been 6, but my legs were absolutely aching and I walked in from Market St).

Pottruck

4.5mi on the mill: warmup, intervals in the middle, 1.5mi to cool down.

Mid-week

Wednesday: 4mi on the treadmill

Thursday: Columbia Bridge (so 7ish?)

US Grant

Another warm, crowded day on Kelly Dr. Squeezed in a run up to US Grant and back before biking down to CBP for the Phillies / Nats game. Somewhere between 40-45min.

Catching up

Was in NYC of the weekend with C, and did not run. Saturday was in Brooklyn and still feeling sore from Thursday and Friday. Started out running over to Hakon's in Fort Greene, but then decided to turn it into a walk. Walked back via Prospect Park and Lolo's old apartment.

Sunday was in Dobbs Ferry and didn't have time to squeeze anything in while a houseguest.

Monday, back in Philly, ran Strawberry Mansion (9ish?)

Conshy

Biked out to the Conshy REI (what up, the right Ben Katz!) to get my new hiking boots. About 35mi total. It was a nice ride--first warm day of spring--but my bad bike luck this week continued. On two nights this week I went for late night rides with C, only to get a flat (or bust my tire off the rim). Tonight, just as I was coming down the hill on Walnut into 33rd, my %#$!ing CHAIN broke! Sheesh.

Off to NYC tomorrow; hope to get a couple of good Brooklyn runs in.

Multi-Blog

Tuesday: 5mi on the treadmill
Wednesday: IM volleyball playoffs (lost), 5k on the treadmill (21:1x), late nite bike ride with C.
Thursday: ran the Loop home <-> home, about 1h20m.

Still running, kinda

Friday: did 5mi on the treadmill.

Saturday: in Chicago, did 5k on the treadmill (21:1x)

Sunday: in Chicago, ran for somewhere between 45min and 1hr along Lake Michigan

Monday: zonked, DNR

Wednesday, Thursday

W: Woke up at 4.30am to see C off to the airport. Exhausted by day's end, so just 3.5mi on the mill.

R (using Williams registrar notation): Feeling better, but weather was yicky. 25min on the treadmill to warmup, then 40min (Pottruck to 34th through Mantua, around Zoological St, across Girard St bridge, down Lemon Hill, back on river trail to Chestnut St).

Sweetbriar Loop

Ugh. Legs did not feel great today. Ran the Sweetbriar loop from 34th & Walnut. 37 minutes.

Easter in Baltimore

Whew! Least runningest span in a LONG time. DNR Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Finally got out for a 6-7 miler in Baltimore (Maybe house, around reservoir, down to Inner Harbor, back up Light/St Paul). Was chomping at the bit and ran the Loop to/from Pottruck on Monday back in Philly.

Pottruck

Late night for the Harmony guys, so I didn't get to Pottruck until around 10.30. Ran 5mi in 35:2x, then did a 3min jog to cool down.

W Fairmount Park

I love this loop. Did the shorter version, cutting in at Sweetbriar to get back to Hutch. Played VB with HammeRED, and sucked, then ran the last ~.75mi home. Probably up around 6mi total?

W Fairmount Park

Absolutely beautiful today. Ran a 7.3mi loop along W River Dr, then up through W Fairmount Park. Back through Mantua/Powelton Village.

Weekend

Saturday: Pigs played in Wharton tournament. We didn't do so well (knocked out in pool play). Had a tough pool--Harvard and Wharton A--and the games were close, but we should have done better than that. Argh.

Sunday: Ran 4mi around Art Museum. This will be a low-mileage week, I think, with paper writing...

Big catchup

Wow. I have fallen off the blogging.

Wednesday: ran 4mi--around the Art Museum--with strides on the return.

Thursday: hit some vbs, for about 20min before being kicked off by the Festival Latino. Sigh.

Friday: Did a late tuneup workout at Pottruck. Feeling sluggish and lazy and wanting to do something depleting, but knowing that would be stupid with tomorrow's tourney. So, just 1.5mi warmup run, then some jumprope and blockjumps. Hope I am nice and fresh and antsy tomorrow.

More catching up

Monday: did a run on W River Dr and back by the zoo and down 34th St. I think it was about 6mi. Biked 15min to stretch out the legs.

Tuesday: played vb @ Hutch, ran around the Art Museum, some strides at the end.

Loop

Catching up...

Friday: Ran 2.5mi on the 'mill, lifted full upper body circuit.

Saturday: Ran a fast 6.5mi loop on the river.

Sunday: Ran THE Loop at dusk.

Conshy

And on the rest day... he cycled. 28mi: through W Fairmont Park then out Bryn Mawr Ave to (hilly-ish!) Conshy St Rd to W Conshy. Crossed the river and came back via the path through Rox/Manayunk, then down Kelly Dr to Locust St. Nice break from the pounding of running.

NewLoop®

Ran a new version of the East Falls Loop: up 34th St, past the zoo, the gates with PA civil war generals, behind Memorial Hall and down to the river, then a regular W River Dr -> Kelly Dr loop, returning to Pottruck on Chestnut. 11mi, around 1h20m.

Columbia Bridge, Spin

Ran Pottruck <-> Columbia Bridge on the W River Dr side. There was a swirling wind the whole way, especially coming through the bridges. Ran a 6:20 measured mile from the 6.75 -> 7.75 markers on the way home, but otherwise the pace was easy--total time was around a few ticks under an hour.

Cooled down with a 10min spin on the stationary bike at Pottruck.

Hutch + Pottruck

Played ~90min of vb with Wharton and a few Pigs. It's so sluggish. Not too excited about vb currently.

Went to Pottruck after work for a 4mi run on the 'mill. Nothing special (29 min?)

Sunday

Ran a slushy East Falls Loop, or rather out-and-back (the W River Dr path was not powed). Except for scattered bits of muck on the ground, it was actually a nice day for it: sunny, blue skies and mid-40s; I didn't even wear a hat. The way back in was wind-aided, and therefore much faster than the out.

Saturday

Pottruck: 5mi on the treadmill in 34:4x, although I suspect that the thing was miscalibrated (or maybe I was just bouncy--got two new pairs of Asics 2110s on deep discount last week and they feel great). Then did 10min on the stepper, reluctantly. I hate that thing, but I must do something to get some vertical back for this volleyball shindig at the end of the month.

Friday

It was admitted student visit day, so I was swamped with meetings / presentations all day. Snuck out for a 3mi run at 3pm and another at 5pm. The first was nothing special, just miles; the second was a little quicker: mile splits of 7:06, 6:41, 6:19 for 20:06. Oh to be fast.

Thursday

3mi treadmile run in 20:4x, 15min stationary bike intervals; volleyball with Pigs/BEasts/HammeRED @ Hutch.

Pottruck

4mi on the treadmill, around 29min. That is all.

Die ZauberfLöop

Ran ye olde East Falls loop, with Mozart in my ears. My highlights CD gets me from home to the Art Museum, leaving an Overture, and Der Vogelfänger to bring it home down 22nd.

Beautiful day for running, I kind of feel like heading out for a short spin on the bike.

Catch Up

Yesterday afternoon got to do a 12mi spin with CDeux through Fairmont Park. Caught the tail end of the Philly Phlyer bike race around Memorial Hall and saw the last of the wintry trees.

Today: another run up to the Girard St bridge, this time from Levine over to the Kelly Dr side. Then back to Hutch and VB with Chris, Matt, Jen. Trying to get back in shape for Pigs reunion / Wharton tourney at the end of the month.

Girard Ave

Oy. Legs feel like lead today. Started out planning to Loop it again, then revised to Strawberry Mansion, then decided to turn around at the first post-museum bridge. Not disappointed though, and this is the beauty of running for fun vs. training, had a nice run, beautiful weather, got to catch a bit of the St. Patrick's Day parade on the Ben Franklin coming home.

KimmelLoop ®

Ran the E Falls loop, then back down the B Franklin Pkwy to City Hall and down to the Kimmel Center to swap vouchers for orchestra tix. Miles. Hooray.

Burbs

Friday afternoon was beautiful, so went for a 30mi spin out to the main line burbs. Nice hills, but it would have been nice to make it back before dark.

Pottruck

30min run=4.2mi, 30min bike=16.5 virtual miles.

Pottruck 10K

Did 10K on the treadmill in 43:24, which, coincidentally, is exactly 7min pace. Damn you recalibrated treadmills! I thought I was getting faster.

Spring Break!

And 27 freaking degrees in Philly. Woo.

Stubbed my toe pretty bad wandering around downstairs to fetch water for CDeux in the early morning, and wasn't sure I'd be able to run. It was all swollen when I pulled my running shoes on, but managed 25min on the mill. Then lifted legs (squats, hamstrings, curls, calfs). Tried to do lunges, but the curling of my toe was too painful. Then did 20min on the bike to spin down. Maybe I'll run long tomorrow.

Back to the gym...

Biking and cycling go hand in hand: my legs were not happy after yesterday's ride, but felt fine as soon as I hopped on the treadmill. Did 5mi in 35:0x, then did a full upper body lifting circuit.

Norristown

Went for an afternoon bike ride on the river path. Turned around at Norristown when the stiff headwind and snow blowing in my eyes made it ridiculous to continue. The ride home, aided by a tailwind, was significantly faster. Don't know the exact time, but a couple of hours and change, 38mi total.

Loop

Yesterday: rested, ate.

Today: Ran the East Falls Loop, starting from FitzH2O and finishing near City Hall. Rough estimate is 10-11mi, no idea of time.

Pottruck

It would have been a great day to run outside--today is one of those days that makes you realize that spring is just around the corner---but my research meeting lasted almost three hours. So, instead, I found myself at Pottruck. I don't know what came over me, but I was ravenously hungry around lunchtime, then had an afternoon snack, and cookies at DBGroup; which is to say that I was well-fueled. Nine miles on the hampster wheel in 63:xx (they've recalibrated the treadmills so they are back to a normal incline, and a bit harder, so these numbers feel more realistic.) Which means that my BSR goal should be within reach; just have to remember to eat enough cookies.

Roxborough

You thought I was going to write 'Pottruck' eh? Beautiful day today, and I wanted to take an off day from running (#7 of '07, but who's counting?) so I pedaled up the river path past Manayunk again. It's really a shame: you have to go so far to get to the interesting parts and with only an hour or so, you spend most of the time coming and going. Still, nice to get a spin in and did a few nice hills (/a wall)...

Evening 5

An identical, bookend workout to close out the day: 5mi, 35:xx, .3mi cooldown.

Morning 5

Nice, easy 5mi run to start the day with: 35:2x, .3mi cooldown.

Oh. And my identity has been stolen--someone %#!@ed with my checking account (took out a little money, then put it back--a test?--then today a large withdrawal). Freaking fantastic.

Mixing it up

5mi @ Pottruck, but with a different formula: faster-than-usual 2mi warmup (13:4x), then 3x1600s at ~6:20 average pace. Not really enough reps to make a serious workout, but wanted to do something different.

Pottruck

Getting my money's worth from my gym membership this winter... 8.5mi in 61min. This is what counts as a long run these days--it's just hard for me to do longer than an hour staring at a wall of TVs, and I've gone soft and don't like running when it's this cold out. I will have to build up to 13-15 again before BSR if I'm going to race well; my only consolations are that my weekly mileage is still up around 40, and it's feeling easy. So hopefully I'm keeping a 'base' of some kind to train against.

Pottruck

yet again. 4.4mi in 30min, 20min bike intervals.

Pottruck 8

8mi in 56:02. First 30min were slow (7:24 pace) so last 26 were fast. 5min jogging to cool down.

Pottruck

Legs still very stiff (from lifting?) so I took another easy day: ran 4mi in 27:2x, then biked the big hill for 20min.

US Grant

Winter's over bitches. Did a sunset run up to US Grant statue and back around the Art Museum and down 22nd. You know those days when your legs just have boundless energy and you feel like you could run forever? Today: not one of those days. Mine felt like lead, and every stride was an effort. It got a little better after the first few miles, but I was glad to do a shorter run.

Pottruck again

So I could have run outside today, but I got scared off by the rain forecast. Then my iPod died. Should have run outside. 8.5mi in 60min, though it was on the easy treadmill, so I'm not sure I believe it. Then a three-element leg lift circuit.

Pottruck

Back to the gym. Last day of real winter, so I hope to be back out on the trail soon (though the next few days call for rain). 10km in 44:xx, then biked 20min, then lifted upper body. I was surprisingly sore after yesterday's run. Weird.

Years ago, during a phase in which hot dogs formed a significant part of my diet, Xtie suggested that I try 'The Good Dog'. We took them on a camping trip and, yeah, compared to the real thing (Hebrew National, with plenty of mustard and kraut, naturally) they tasted like rubber. So either I've been quasi-veggie for long enough now, or this stuff is different, but 'The Good Ground'--basically nicely T'd TVP--is awesome! Captain No Fun approves. Made a big pot of mushroom/zuke/broccoli/kidney bean chilli tonight (and cornbread: ain't nothin' wrong with that!) with Good Ground and it was well... good! I kind of feel like dropping the quasi-qualifier from the above and going 100% pesco-veggie. I realized the other day that the only meat I ever eat is the occasional pollo (and that, mostly, from what I rescued from Lola's freezer last November and carted down to Philly; I'm working my way through it very slowly).

BaltiLoop

Yesterday: didn't run, just slept.

Today: spent the first part of the day reading and putting off a run, but didn't want two DNRs in a row. As I expected, once I got out it felt great. Ran up to Dru Hill, intending to do the hilly road in the back, but the reservoir track was all icy. So I turned around and ran down to Mount Vernon instead, then on to the Inner Harbor, then Fells Point, then back up Broadway past JHU's hospital, and back to Bolton Hill via Mount Vernon. Didn't measure time or distance, but probably something around 7mi?

Pottruck

Ran a 5k (20:3x) then biked for 15min. Going on ~3hrs sleep, so just happy to get anything in.

Pottruck, Vintage Vélo

Another day at the gym, another 10k. 44min-ish?

After I biked through slush up to Powelton Village to collect this vélo fragment:

Going to build it up, perhaps for the girl who likes orange.

Pottruck

The track boys invaded the gym today for their workouts. Something about running next to dudes doing 10mph for their warmup and 11-12mph for the rest makes one want to run fast. So today was a little faster and shorter than I intended: 5mi in just under 34:00, then biked 'Kilimanjaro'® for 20min. Kind of in a rut with this workout (35ish run, 20ish bike) but not fretting too much. Nothing important on the horizon, and there will be a long spring for hard training.

Pottruck

Ran for 33min, then treadmill died. Weird. Finished up 5mi, then biked for 20.

Recovery Run

...or something. I actually felt great today, and would have gone longer except for time constraints and trying to get back into the rhythm of last fall (long Sunday, short Monday, kinda-long Tuesday, etc.) Ran this little 4.5mi loop (measured because I don't know distances from the gym) from Pottruck up around the PMA and back. Then did 20min on the stationary bike. Beautiful weather today; I didn't even wear a hat or gloves.

Super-Manayunk-Loop®

Another beautiful cold but not too cold day on the river. Ran the Loop, then continued on down to Ridge Ave, and then to Main St Manayunk. Nice easy pace, maybe 13-14mi all together?

Pottruck

In which I eliminate the faulty treadmill hypothesis (or there are two). Felt a little stiff when I woke up this morning, but by afternoon it was that perfect just-sore feeling. Hopped on the mill and did an easy warmup, then hit the pace arrow every few minutes to finish 4.42mi in 30min. Then lifted upper body.

Strawberry Mansion

It was a beautiful afternoon and---relatively speaking---warm. So I headed out from Pottruck for a run on the river. I didn't really know how far I wanted to go, but after I got up above Boathouse row, I saw a pack of rowers out for a training run up ahead (the river is frozen!) and decided to go until I caught them, which I did around Girard. Then it felt good so went up to US Grant, then Columbia, then Strawberry Mansion. Considered Loop'ing it, but remembered NY resolution #4 and 'art after 5' plans with CDeux so turned around there and huffed back to campus. It was great to be outside, and the blue sky and orange setting sun were reflecting off the frozen river making one feel surrounded by sky. Down with treadmills!

Down day

Squeezed in a quick run: 3mi, then 10min spindown. Definitely an easy day... looking forward to getting out on the river this weekend.

Pottruck

A quick 5mi: 33:2x! And the first 2mi were in 14:08, which means last 3mi were around 19:15? (I'm actually not really believing these numbers; I did feel great, and the display said I was running above 9.2mph-10.4mph, but I think either the speed or the incline of the 'mill must have been miscalibrated. I'm just not that fast.)

10k

Ran 10km (yeah, yeah, 6.2) in 44:20 at Pottruck. Same formula as always: slow, 20min warmup, then ramping up...

TreadLoop

Morning: 60min on the 'mill for 8.4mi. Started the first 40min at 8.1mph (so 7.24 pace I think?) then kicked it up in the last 1/3. Running "distance" (by which I mean anything more than 30min) indoors takes such patience. I always want to rachet it up too quickly.

Evening: 2.5mi on the 'mill, then leg lifting circuit.

Pottruck

Dammit I wish it weren't so cold out. CDeux made a big pot of penne arrabiata last night, and I filled up expecting to get out for the loop or more today. But I woke up cold and just went to Pottruck instead. Started with a slow warmup then did a fast 2mi to reach 5mi in an OK time (35:30 or something?), then full upper body circuit, then one more mile to cool down. This week doesn't look much better; the projected highs are 19, 22, 29, 29, and 32.

Biking!!

It's a freezing, but beautiful day. I thought a break from running might be in order, so I bundled up, pumped up the tyres on Shadowfax, and head out north of the city. Only went a little beyond Roxborough---my feet would not have lasted much longer---but at least got to climb a few little hills. A little over an hour, 23mi according to CatEye.

End of Week

So, in the end, I do get my comeuppance. The last few days of this week I've just felt lethargic. I brought cold weather gear to run outdoors today, but it started to pour when I left Van Pelt so I just did 3 on the 'mill and a 20min spindown at Pottruck. My mind is itching to do a long run---when was my last one?---but my head wants to sleep. Hoping for a window of sunshine this weekend.

Speedwork

2mi fairly quick warmup (< 7min pace), then 4x800 at 6:15 down to 6:00 pace. Need to do many more of these to reach my 5k goal and more than 4 reps (I think once I get comfortable running 6:30 pace for 4-5, pushing 6:15 for 3.1 will be reasonable). But today I was exhausted---was up at 5.30 to catch the train, and spent the day hacking on PADS @ Princeton (I hate NJTransit)--- and I haven't done any speedwork in a while, so I'm going to proclaim success. But next week, don't let me get away with fewer than 6.

Pottruck

Shorter workout today: 3.5mi in 24min, 20min spindown.

Pottruck

Did a hard-ish workout despite my earlier post. 6mi in 43:xx, 20min spindown, leg lifting circuit. Will see what tomorrow brings.

Had a song picked out, but can't remember at this late hour...

Comeuppance

I feel a little stiff today. Heh.

Dude, where's my pain?

Seriously, this is ridiculous: the running feels so good right now. I don't want to jinx it, but I feel like I can do a good workout everyday and everything is easy. I suppose I am running significantly fewer miles than in the summer/fall, but I've also been taking fewer off/easy days.

Today: another 4.33 in 30min. Started out at 7:18 pace and sweat maybe 3 drops in the first 15min. Then went up to 6:45 pace, 6:30 6:15, and ended the last .5mi at 6:05. Maybe I just had an easy treadmill, or maybe I should do more than a 1.0 incline? Or maybe just push? Finished with a 15min spindown.

Today's song comes from Stevie! TaraGirl (aka assistant to the associate dean) closed with this (I think it was this?) at her concert on Saturday. The lyrics are cheesy, but the first few bars have me doing a little dance in my room...

For once in my life I have someone who needs me
Someone Ive needed so long
For once, unafraid, I can go where life leads me
And somehow I know Ill be strong

The Loop

Relived the summer Sunday routine with Pavol (Blitzer would have come, but e just got in on a red-eye this morning). Beautiful gray wintry running day; just a little soft flurry of snow to make things interesting.

Running has felt like bouncing off clouds these past few days. Maybe just the fancy new Wigwam socks I bought at Pottruck earlier this week? ...Back up above 45mi this week.

Pottruck

Good running day. Warmed up with 30min at 8.0mph, then went up the ladder for the last 3, finishing my 7mi in just over 50 minutes! Made up the rest of my upper body lift upstairs.

Pottruck

3mi in 20:3x, lifted upper body.

Ugh. Strawberry Mansion

Ran to my favorite bridge, but it weren't pretty. If I learned one thing in Grenoble, it was that peanuts, tea, and running don't mix. The first two create some kind of nasty acid that, when combined with the third, equals misery. So what did I do today? Came home from work, wanted to warm up and load up before a long-ish run, and ate peanuts and drank chai. Baaad idea. I was in serious pain during the ~4-7th miles. But then it cleared up around the Columbia Bridge and I felt better for the segment around the museum and down 22nd. Maybe tomorrow's an off day.

Pottruck

Ran hard for 30min: started at 7:20 pace, and went up the ladder all the way to 6:00 pace (for the last ~1min). Something like 4.3mi total. Biked 10min to cool down, then lifted upper body. I just don't have the patience to do any distance indoors. I can't imagine 14-15mi again on a *%$^!ing treadmill.

Then (Clare, you'll be the only one to be able to decode this part so I'll write it as if to you) biked to Whole Foods (whole paycheck) to get red lentils for dinner; made a variation on my friend Johanna's vegan lentil/squash curried "soup" (really a gulash; similar to the one Tita did over Christmas), THE BREAD (1/3 whole wheat... I want to try the walnut version you've been doing; please send recipe?), and orange/almond/avocado salad we did while you were here. CDeux ate more of the gulash than me, and took half home, so (cue Dimitris voice) "it was... OK". No shaved truffle though; seems more like a breakfast thing (plus, with no shaver in the kitchen, it's hardly worth finding fresh truffle eh?).

Have been filling my ears with Maria Muldaur's great, twangy cover of this Dylan song:

Clouds so swift
Rain wont lift
Gate wont close
And the railing's froze
I'll get your mind off the wintertime
'Cause we ain't goin' nowhere
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrows the day that
My man's comin' home
Oh, we gonna fly
Down into the easy chair!

Need to find some other favorite songs to mix in, or I'm going to kill it...

Pottruck

Evening session at the gym: 3mi fast in 20:10, then lifted legs.

Snowy Run

Still waking up early... waited for the sun to come out, then headed out for a snowy river run. It's frickin' freezing out there! Stopping to talk to Colin (walking Merlin) at the banks didn't help my frozen hands. Turned back at the Kelly Dr intersection, then came down 19th through Rittenhouse, and back to South and 22nd. Should be a little more than 4mi.

Someday I'm gonna leave this dirty little town,
Where the talk is cheap on the dirty little streets,
And the trees are dying underneath a sky that's purple and brown.

Folks round here say I'll never go,
But there's something about me that they don't know.
I've already left this place in my mind,
Till my body goes, it's just a matter of time.

Back to Pottruck

Woke up to a city covered in snow! Was considering bundling up for another river run, but was freezing, and so worked from home instead. Hit Pottruck late and ran 6mi going from an easy 8.2mph up the ladder in .1mph increments every mile, for 43:00 on the nose, then biked a single "Cascade®" to cool down, about 9mi.

It's weird: when you don't run, "the burn" is gone, and you feel like your training is going to go to shit, but a down week (one where you cram yourself with multiple pains aux raisins every morning, hit every cheese course after dinner, and go for the tartiflette, the croziflette, etc. at dinner time) every now and again appears to actually be beneficial.

Catching Up + Back On (the) Track

My week in Nice was my least runningest in a long time; like, probably in a year. I may not have even broken 25 miles, and that's with an 18mi head start from Sunday/Monday. DNR on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday (went to Nice-Rennes Pro-A volleyball match instead!) Touched down this afternoon at a chilly PHL, and was lycra'd up and on the trail within an hour of reaching Thornton Manor. Not the only crazy out in sub 25 degree weather either. Did a loop up to Columbia Bridge and ending at TJ's, so something between 6-7mi.

Encore une fois

Yesterday I walked up to the museums, but didn't run. The Chagall museum was small but nice: a few dozen large pieces in a space that he designed. The Musée Matisse, unfortunately, was closed. Boo. Next time.

Today I snuck in a run along the Promenade in between the last session and dinner. A little longer than last time, around 35min? Not sure exactly. Am looking forward to being back in Philly and having time to do some long runs.

Promenade des Anglais

Did a shitty pre-sunrise run along the Promenade des Anglais, the long boardwalk that runs along the beach in Nice. Only lasted about 25min, so conservatively, 3mi? I would have liked to go longer, but the trip here was one of the most disorienting trans-Atlantic journeys I've taken in a long time, and both my sleeping and eating schedules are totally out of whack (this used to be old hat for me, shuttling back and forth to London). After my long run on Sunday "The Burn", as Clare calls it, was in full effect, and dinner with Cara (no, not that Cara; more like another C: both are whipsmart, English-majoring, wallet-losing Ephs), lunch with Christoforos (yes, that Christoforos! In the country for a physics conference and to visit Emma friends), and multi-meals on Air France (Delta ticket, Air France flight; take that Fly America Act!) only put a small dent in my appetite. Finally got some food in Nice on Tuesday afternoon, but a late night hacking slides on Sunday plus a screaming baby on the flight led to me crashing sans diner yesterday evening. So I'm chalking up the lack of energy to a lack of sleep and calories. POPL is great; I'm all rah-rah research again.

Dashing off to PHL

...I like to fly tired. Quick trip to Pottruck, 3mi in 20:5x, 5min spin down. Allons-y!

SuperLoop®

Ran the East Falls loop, with an extension up to Ridge Ave and into the Wissahickon Valley Park. I turned around after the second hill but before the parking lot at the trailhead for Forbidden Drive. That's 15mi, so call this one more than 14mi? Today felt so much better than yesterday. Back to basics: eat lots of carbs, get a good night's rest, and, what do you know, the running will be easy (...err until I got to the boathouses up above Columbia Bridge on the Kelly Drive side; the last 4ish miles were a bit of work).

Evidently I'm not the only nut who still thinks Sundays are for running. Must have seen 10 people wearing their race shirts from November. I'm still a gear phobe. I'll stick to my cotton t-shirt (and, OK, the one nice technical ziptop I own) thank you.

US Grant: Run, then Cut.

Finally got outside for a morning run. Felt like crap though. Didn't eat a real dinner after TGIF last night, and felt like I had nothing in the tank on the 2nd half. Bailed out at Market St. So call it 5mi.

Pottruck

Yick. Five gym trips in five days this week. Must get outdoors! 3mi downstairs, went up to get a bike, but they were all taken, so just ran 1mi more. Warmer weather this weekend. Hoping for longer runs on the river if the rain holds.

P'ruck

Didn't sleep much last night as I was hacking slides for talk (Tikz/Pgf is the coolest! It produces beeee-eau-ti-ful graphics. But also a huge time sink). Got a few hours this morning. Strangely, on days when I haven't slept, I seem to have more energy late in the day. Anyways, another easy day: 3mi, fast (or, more like I was doing last year around this time); biked 11mi in 20min. Are 'Cascades' easier than 'Foothills'?

The beater has a flat, so I got to ride 'Shadowfax' (Clare's dubbing) and new helmet to West Philly today. An already-short ride over the bridge was even shorter. Want to ride it eeeevery day.

Pottruck

Another crowded day at the gym. Legs were killing me today (lifting +2 days always hurts) so took an easy day: 3mi in 21:40, then did another half-assed upper-body lift, then did 20min spin on the bike. Stressed about PLAN-X talk...

East Falls, Pottruck

See, now this is why I never did my leg lifting workouts---it's hard to motivate the next day when your muscles are all stiff! But my approach---skipping them---is not the solution. Better to just do them and eventually they'll stop hurting so much.

Unlike last semester, Tuesdays are my empty day, and I plan to work from CC if I can avoid getting sucked onto campus for faculty hiring talks, colloquia, etc. Today I woke up @ 7, got the TOPLAS final version done in the morning, hacked on PLAN-X slides a bit until lunch, took a nap, and set out from home for East Falls around 4.30. Kept the pace easy; my legs were whining until around the Girard St bridge. The middle half was better, and the last bit from US Grant to 36th & Walnut almost felt good. Finished with a quick upper body circuit (bench, row, raises) at Pottruck.

Still not sure what to do with myself sans programme de formation. So far I've been trying to organize each week with one each of a long run (~90 minutes+), a sort-of long run (7+ miles), and a hard day or speedwork, three whatever-I-feel like days, and a day of rest or cross-training. So basically just doing the easy weeks in the middle of marathon training. But it's getting monotonous. Maybe the bike and pool are the solutions.

Pottruck

First day of the semester, and the gym is a %$&!ing mess with all the undergrads back. Ran 5mi in 35:16, then spun down for 8 on the bike (in a sweltering room that must have been 75+ degrees!), then lifted legs: squats, extensions, hamstrings, abductors, lunges.

Finally discovered the provenence of the honky tonk song that I like so much from my shuffle: Chris Isaak's 'I want your love'. The man can sing.

First Love

I will always love running in this fair city, even when my mouth still tastes like whiskey. Ran this loop: Mount Auburn to Brattle to Fayerwether to Huron, Fresh Pond loop, back to Mem Drive, over the bridge near the Cambridge Rowing club, up to the Weeks footbridge, back behind Dunster back to V's place on Banks Street. About 7mi in 50min if my watch and GMap Pedometer are to be believed (I'm skeptical; it seems a little fast--I did kick it up for the Fresh Pond bit, but did the rest at a comfortable pace, which for me is usually a tad slower than 7:30.)

Pottruck

3mi fast, lifted upper body, 10min (~1.4mi) cooldown. Off to Boston now...

Strawberry Mansion

Another day, another minor calamity. I've been clumsy/unlucky lately: sliced the top of my thumb off into my thai squash soup, stabbed myself and passed out on Christmas morning, and had a picture frame fall on me at Pheobe's last night. Today, in the middle of my Pottruck <-> Strawberry Mansion run, I slipped on the wet, leaf-covered stairs coming down from the bridge and fell hard on my tailbone and left forearm. The former is all swollen and the latter scraped the skin off and is starting to swell up too. Damn you Fairmount Park Commission! Clean up your steps!

Anyways, since I was at the turnaround---the furthest point from my bike---I didn't really have much choice, so picked myself up and ran it in, tho' a bit slower than on the way out. ~10mi in some unspectacular time. Maybe 80 minutes?

Pottruck

Mmmoolllliiieeeee! Your trip to the gym is ready!

Run: 3mi in 20:38

Lift: bench, rowing, press, tris, curls.

Bike: 10.1mi of little hills in 20:000.

Columbia Bridge

First run of '07: home to Columbia Bridge to TJ's. More than 6mi. Saw a large pack of runners out for a 6.30 run. Ahh resolutions. Let's see how many of you are still here in February [note: I'm not actually this snarky! Hooray for fitness!] My list is blelow.

Resolved:

• to run a 19:30 5k, 70:00 at BSR, and 90:00 at PDR;
• to ride a century (in < 5hrs?)
• to gain some weight;
• to keep friends and family before fitness.