Disturbing the Spirits
Two workouts today. 9 miles this morning on a loop going out to the Columbia railroad bridge and back home through Fairmount Park (via 48th St), done in 81:54. Workout #2 was 5.5 miles on the hamster wheel over lunch, time was 40:45.
I'll start with the second run. The sole reason for this run was to boost my monthly mileage total to 285, which represents the most mileage I've ever alotted in a February. The previous high, set last year was, you guessed it, 284 miles. This sounds fairly gratuitous but is important enough to get in. Last year's total represented a good month - I got a workout in on all 28 days. This year February had its ups and downs, and to still get 285 miles gives me a much better feeling about where my training is at this point.
This mornings run was fairly non-descript. I set out at 6:10 and it was already a little light from the false dawn, that was very encouraging. Temps were a bit chilly, esp. into the wind at MLK. And the most notable part of the loop was noticing the bulldozer and tree-felling action going on on Lex St. When I'm in the area, I'll usually go down the 800 block of North Lex Street to pay my respects to the 7 who died there in 2001 in the "Lex Street Massacre." Then the block was a dilapidated set of row-turned-crack houses, the block has since been bulldozed and left fallow to grow a crop of bottles, plastic bags, and other stuff that accumulates in vacant lots. I apparently wasn't the only one who has kept this block in mind, however, as this morning it is obviously being cleared for some type of development. Bulldozers were moving earth around; a couple of crews were felling the few large trees that remained on either side of the block.
I hope whoever's behind this knows the history of the block. This was a very rough area where, as I mentioned, 7 people, with troubles of their own, died execution style one night. They were shot by another group of perhaps even more troubled men, and brought to troubled justice in a process that had the police first arrest a separate set of individuals that they were forced to release, albeit reluctantly, when it appeared that this second group were indeed the perpetrators. The best account, at least of the initial aftermath, is by Solomon Jones for one of the free Philadelphia weekly papers, and is linked here (and here) if you want to read more about it.
Lex Street was a tragedy, but not one where there is ever going to be any memorial put up (beyond a vacant lot) to commemorate it. On the contrary, this is something most folks will just as soon forget. But while I ain't superstitious, I think that block of Lex Street is one of those things that are better left undisturbed, at least for awhile longer.
I'll start with the second run. The sole reason for this run was to boost my monthly mileage total to 285, which represents the most mileage I've ever alotted in a February. The previous high, set last year was, you guessed it, 284 miles. This sounds fairly gratuitous but is important enough to get in. Last year's total represented a good month - I got a workout in on all 28 days. This year February had its ups and downs, and to still get 285 miles gives me a much better feeling about where my training is at this point.
This mornings run was fairly non-descript. I set out at 6:10 and it was already a little light from the false dawn, that was very encouraging. Temps were a bit chilly, esp. into the wind at MLK. And the most notable part of the loop was noticing the bulldozer and tree-felling action going on on Lex St. When I'm in the area, I'll usually go down the 800 block of North Lex Street to pay my respects to the 7 who died there in 2001 in the "Lex Street Massacre." Then the block was a dilapidated set of row-turned-crack houses, the block has since been bulldozed and left fallow to grow a crop of bottles, plastic bags, and other stuff that accumulates in vacant lots. I apparently wasn't the only one who has kept this block in mind, however, as this morning it is obviously being cleared for some type of development. Bulldozers were moving earth around; a couple of crews were felling the few large trees that remained on either side of the block.
I hope whoever's behind this knows the history of the block. This was a very rough area where, as I mentioned, 7 people, with troubles of their own, died execution style one night. They were shot by another group of perhaps even more troubled men, and brought to troubled justice in a process that had the police first arrest a separate set of individuals that they were forced to release, albeit reluctantly, when it appeared that this second group were indeed the perpetrators. The best account, at least of the initial aftermath, is by Solomon Jones for one of the free Philadelphia weekly papers, and is linked here (and here) if you want to read more about it.
Lex Street was a tragedy, but not one where there is ever going to be any memorial put up (beyond a vacant lot) to commemorate it. On the contrary, this is something most folks will just as soon forget. But while I ain't superstitious, I think that block of Lex Street is one of those things that are better left undisturbed, at least for awhile longer.
posted by seebo | 4:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home