20 Miler #5
Long strange trip today. Got the feeling at times that I was in one of those racing dreams that some of us occasionally get.
Start out with the city being waterlogged. The Schuylkill overflowed its banks and was a lovely roiling brown. The Schuylkill bike path was underwater, forcing DB and I to detour up the Ben Franklin Parkway and then, after going up MLK, to double back down instead of crossing over to Kelly Drive (which was under water at Falls Bridge) to complete the usual loop. On the way back down we came head on into the Run for Independence, a small 10k race that was heading up MLK. Things always go wrong in racing dreams, and running south when the rest of the race was going north felt just like that. I did get to cheer on KF, SC, and SW, who were among those racing (also shouts out to AH and LG who were on the drive running this morning).
Back at the Art Museum DB and I parted ways and I headed up Lemon Hill, where I got another surreal birds eye perspective of the race when I looked down and across the river to see KF and some other guy duel it out for the lead as the race wound back to the Art Museum. KF would get second.
Hills were now added to the water, ad hoc course changes, and out of sync races as I hit the Lansdowne Dr. and S. Georges hills in Fairmount Park. To make this more fun, behind the Mann Center the road was tore up and I had to navigate chunks of asphalt and mud. This was the first time I'd run up here and I was careful to keep a mental image of the turns I had to take to get out of the park and back over to W. Philly, but this got screwed up and somehow I made it back onto Belmont Dr. (north of Chamounix) and then onto N. Parkside. At this point a group of about 8 guys appear running about 100 yards behind me. I couldnt recognize any of them, but they looked to be past college age and going at a good clip, so they might have been PTC folks although it was a strange place for them to be. Anyway, they turned left and I turned right and now, dreamlike, I was suddenly on 53rd Street and back on course.
From there I went around the Acme Distribution Center, onto 59th past Overbrook High (Wilt Chamberlain's alma mater), and all the way down to Christian St., and two turns later I was home. The last West Philly miles were perfect terrain, with long uphills and downhills that let me air out my tired, groaning legs and pretend I had just gotten over Heartbreak Hill and was heading full steam into Boston.
I'll still call it 20, although the detours probably stretched this a bit. 2:45:27. With any luck, this run will have taken longer to complete than any other run this month!
Start out with the city being waterlogged. The Schuylkill overflowed its banks and was a lovely roiling brown. The Schuylkill bike path was underwater, forcing DB and I to detour up the Ben Franklin Parkway and then, after going up MLK, to double back down instead of crossing over to Kelly Drive (which was under water at Falls Bridge) to complete the usual loop. On the way back down we came head on into the Run for Independence, a small 10k race that was heading up MLK. Things always go wrong in racing dreams, and running south when the rest of the race was going north felt just like that. I did get to cheer on KF, SC, and SW, who were among those racing (also shouts out to AH and LG who were on the drive running this morning).
Back at the Art Museum DB and I parted ways and I headed up Lemon Hill, where I got another surreal birds eye perspective of the race when I looked down and across the river to see KF and some other guy duel it out for the lead as the race wound back to the Art Museum. KF would get second.
Hills were now added to the water, ad hoc course changes, and out of sync races as I hit the Lansdowne Dr. and S. Georges hills in Fairmount Park. To make this more fun, behind the Mann Center the road was tore up and I had to navigate chunks of asphalt and mud. This was the first time I'd run up here and I was careful to keep a mental image of the turns I had to take to get out of the park and back over to W. Philly, but this got screwed up and somehow I made it back onto Belmont Dr. (north of Chamounix) and then onto N. Parkside. At this point a group of about 8 guys appear running about 100 yards behind me. I couldnt recognize any of them, but they looked to be past college age and going at a good clip, so they might have been PTC folks although it was a strange place for them to be. Anyway, they turned left and I turned right and now, dreamlike, I was suddenly on 53rd Street and back on course.
From there I went around the Acme Distribution Center, onto 59th past Overbrook High (Wilt Chamberlain's alma mater), and all the way down to Christian St., and two turns later I was home. The last West Philly miles were perfect terrain, with long uphills and downhills that let me air out my tired, groaning legs and pretend I had just gotten over Heartbreak Hill and was heading full steam into Boston.
I'll still call it 20, although the detours probably stretched this a bit. 2:45:27. With any luck, this run will have taken longer to complete than any other run this month!
posted by seebo | 1:57 PM
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