20 Miler #3

Long and slow. Started out with Erin & KJ, picked up Chemistry Steve, John W & Jim at the Art Museum, went up Kelly Drive and lost Erin & KJ when they turned off on SM Bridge, went up to Manayunk over the river and up the hills on Belmont, the other three guys turned left on Ford Road and then I was alone for the rest of the run.

I followed what has been my staple long run sofar this year, going out to Cobbs Creek and south, this time a bit farther to Woodland Ave, and then home. This clocks in at 22.5, about the longest I'll ever go in a workout. 3:07:58.

No matter what you read about long slow distance (lsd) runs, its hard to count them as a hard workout. This trek averaged an 8.5 minute pace, which was what I wanted, easy so I could get some miles in AND recover some. Have my cake and eat it, so to speak. It was partly guilt from that that led me to take the run down to Woodland and make it longer. But it was also due to my feeling good. Usually on the ass end of a long run I'm counting down the last miles block by block, parked car by parked car, but I was much more relaxed, had the feeling I could have went another few miles. On one hand that's good, on the other hand I feel like I haven't put in enough.

So I should have something in the tank for tomorrow's 10k. If I run it and get some miles in before and after, I'll get my first 90 mile week. Ever. I'm looking forward to this, both as an athletic and as a social event, as it usually turns up at least a few folks that I haven't seen since the fall. And depending on who shows up (or fails to), its low key enough to where I may even win the darn thing. So today was the vegetables, tomorrow's the gravy.

I'm also updating my Chautauqua. Got 694 miles total now and playing catch up again. Last time I looked at this I was in West Virginia, now I'm in Kentucky. I covered a good chunk of ground, and haven't gotten a chance to muck through much of the stuff that I ran over. The terrain continues to be hilly, so I'm probably getting a good virtual workout. I also don't have much of a long-range goal, except to head west, which means I'm probably not doing this in the most efficient manner. But that may be a virtue of this trip.

Anyway, I passed through Jenny Wiley State Park, named after a pioneer woman whose biography, probably somewhat apocryphal and revised since this politically incorrect historical marker was erected.

I also ran a bit on Route 23, known as the Country Music Highway because of the proximity of birthplaces of such folks as Dwight Yoakum, Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle, Patti Loveless and the Judds, among others I either don't know or prefer not to listen to. This is obviously a hotbed of country music (and bluegrass as well), and I hope, in my virtual run, I sample some of the local music (and maybe the local moonshine as well).

I will bed down in West Liberty, Kentucky tonight. I perused the web for any info on this town (pop. about 3,000) and wouldn't you know, it is the home of the East Kentucky Correctional Complex. Who was the guy with the sense of irony who deemed its mailing address be "200 Road to Justice"? Built in 1991, it is referred to as the "Pink Palace". It is home to 1,689 people, most of whom I'm sure are from nowhere near the area. I wonder if the 3,000 pop. of West Liberty includes these folks, in which case the town population would have doubled when this place came online in 1990. The rest of the folks probably work as guards.

You can tell where I'm heading, and I will cut off my rant before it goes any further. But it figures I end up in a town like this. Anyway, I better wrap this up before I waste more time trawling the web for more weird stuff on EKCC.

Tomorrow I'll shake the dust off my shoes and move on.