Altering Egos

I didn’t get many miles in this weekend so I figured I’d get up a little earlier this morning and get in a long run. Longish, anyway, as I settled on the Falls River Bridge loop, which is actually a figure 8 comprising of a Schuylkill Drives loop set on top of an Art Museum loop. 15 miles. Once at the Art Museum, I took the 8 river miles at sub 2:40 marathon pace (47:51). But that wasn’t the half of it. The four MLK miles just wouldn’t get under six, and Falls Bridge clocked in at 24:33. This means that I got the Kelly 4 down in 23:18. Just dropped it down into tempo gear after five and took care of business. Not the recommended way to get in MP miles, but it worked this morning. A good workout is like a drug, it just pulses good feelings through your veins and then the next day you want another one.

Other notes. It was dark well past the time I got to Falls River Bridge. Also warm and overcast. I outlasted my iPod. It was freshly charged overnight and pooped out a half mile before I did. This means its time to get another one. Up till then it was all Carbon Leaf, all the time. Getting set/psyched for checking out the Carbon Leaf & Matt Nathanson concert tonight.

I was asked yesterday whether Seebo represented my alter ego. Thought about this question a bit this morning. It fits. Seebo, especially on a day like this morning, is very driven, focused, and intense. Beating the clock, getting under the goal time, becomes all consuming, as does beating the competition at a race. This past weekend he was even heard (gasp) trash talking before the race about how he was going to kick ass. Steve is way too laid back for all that. He rolls his eyes and comes along for the ride. It is he who chronicles all this stuff and keeps this blog. Fits all this running stuff into a bigger picture and makes Seebo slow down to check out the sunrise. Gets a bit too full of himself at times. Steve realizes that this right now is Seebo’s heyday, but someday it will be Steve who gets in the last word.

A shout to Jim for his comment yesterday that pointed out King Britt and his song “Cobbs Creek.” Any song (save the Fresh Prince of BelAir theme) putting West Philly front and center gets my attention. I liked the song, although I’m not a hiphop guy and the Cobbs Creek that Britt sings about is a different place, not geographically but in that the Cobbs Creek I know is that of the early morning where Britt’s is the late night. We miss each other by a few hours, but that makes all the difference.

Results from Saratoga are up here. Two things I want to point out. I screwed up our finish order, Jeff actually finished just behind me and ahead of Chuck and Scott, so give him credit where it is due. And, true to what I said about XC, it was our number 5 guy - Jim Cuono - who was key to our finishing ahead of Chester County (he accounted for 7 points of the 8 point margin), but also finished three places behind Genessee Valley's #5 guy, which proved to be the margin for second place. I’m proud of our team, and wanted to take this opportunity to crow a little bit more.

15 miles in 1:40:03.