Catch you on the flip side.

I woke up this morning--did the usual yawn, arrrrrg and strrrretch and I was immediately aware of my traps. Was I lifting weights in my sleep AGAIN?! No, no...the tightness isn't a result of me sleep lifting; rather, it's from the countless flip turns I practiced yesterday in the pool. I would have blogged about this sooner, but I just now got the rest of the pool out of my nose (sexy). Chris (tags: swim coach, teacher, dad-to-be, whoops lane 5, patient like a priest) decided to take a few of us sad souls into the water and show us how to conquer the world-o-dolphinery (it's a word). Here were the contenders in addition to me and Chris: Maria (tags: contagious laugh, multiple 25-29 age group podiums, spit fire, kitten), Bryan (tags: how not to swim, master planner, bets most wins least, ladies man, cyclist) and Jose (tags: Chechu, speedster on the track, tiny tush, Spanglish). For over an hour, we took turns swimming toward/close enough to the wall, dropping our chins, squeezing our abs, thrusting our hips (get your head out of the gutter), rolling over and pushing off of the wall with the same momentum we had going into the turn.

Despite our best efforts, none of us managed to incorporate ALL of the above, but most of THEM got the important stuff (shaking my fist in the air!) I, on the other hand, averaged a single execution each time. Chris, being as great as he is, said I improved a tremendous amount. Um, how could I NOT improve when I was rolling over sideways, yards away from the wall and (if I got close enough) pushing off of it with one foot? I looked like a manatee having a seizure.

Today, I'm going to face my aquatic shortcomings and practice what I (honestly) learned from Chris yesterday (thank you, Chris). Luckily, it's family day at the Piers, so there will be tons of kids in the pool alongside me to watch, point and laugh. It's cool, I'll be the low-budget clown. BUT! If one of those little kiddies asks, "Is that the Loch Ness Monster, daddy?" I'm out.

February 12, 2010

Chris gave me some terrific pointers during today's swim session. He tipped me off to some changes in my stroke that I could actually achieve. For starters, he had me keep my chin a little more tucked so that my head is straighter in the water. I think I'd been tilting up too much looking to see how close I was to the swimmer ahead. Not aqua-dymanic. Once my head was in the right place, I could rotate my shoulders more and concentrate on gliding a bit. Prior to this, my arms had just been windmilling through the water. My speed instantly improved.

I tried a level harder for the spin session--12 for the steady state and 15 and 16 for the climbs. It was tough to stay on 90 but I just kept my eyes on Don since he was hitting it perfectly. (Yes, Don, I couldn't take my eyes off your legs.) We were music-challenged after Greg had to leave early--taking his Nanopod with him, and right in the middle of Green Day! One of my many New Year's resolutions (chief among them: join Full Throttle full time) is to not be a techno-moron anymore. So as of two weeks ago, I am now the proud owner of a Nanopod. Creating playlists is still a bit beyond me but it's next on my list of things to do. Looking forward to inflicting my musical preferences on the group. (Musical "taste" might be a stretch since it would imply that I have some; I'll let you all be the judge.)

After the spin I hit the treadmill for 4.1 miles at about an 8:10 pace. I made the executive decision to go in late to work. Didn't want to have to leave my run for tonight.

February 11, 2010

The 6-mile loop in Central Park turned out to be particularly icy this morning. The road was clear on the West Drive from 102nd to 72nd but the rest was pretty bad. This was actually a-okay with me since I needed an easy day. The poor road conditions "forced" me to go slow. I put in 8 miles at a pace so slow, my ego has asked that I not post it officially. So mum's the word. Hope this "active recovery" day leaves me better poised for tomorrow's swim & spin session.

February 10, 2010

I had to laugh as I walked out of my apartment this morning around 5:00 a.m.: no snow on the ground whatsoever. Smart move, I thought, thinking of New York City's seemingly premature decision to close public schools for the day. However, the D. of E. had the last laugh, as you all must know; the blizzard kicked in while we were in the pool.

The Big Snow Day yielded a much smaller Full Throttle force than usual--maybe 20 people in all. But those of us who showed turned in the requisite swim speed workout followed by one on the track. The swim featured 15 x 75 meters, broken into sets of 5 with 20 seconds rest between each 75 but then a minute's rest between sets. Then we did a 200 steady followed by 2 x 50 hard on the 1:00. The trick is to pull off that second 50. After that it was 10 x 100 pull (alternating easy and solid), although our lane #3 only managed to fit in only 8.

The track speed work was 4 x 800 with a 200 recovery after each. It was lonely without Tommy and Bobby, but I managed to pull off the 4 in 3:08, 3:09, 3:02, 3:03. Between my half mile warm-up (too much hot tub to fit in the full mile), the 800s and recovery, and a mile cool-down, I put in 4 miles on the track. Then I did a very easy 3 on the treadmill for a total of 7 for the day.

In the evening I did Chris Griffin's hour-long spin class at Equinox along with Stuart and our pal--currently of Terrier Tri--Neil Brenner. That session included 20 minutes of rollers, then one 10-minute climb out of the saddle followed by a 30-minute climb out of the saddle. Glad not to be spinning tomorrow morning. Despite all the snow, I'm hoping to put in a lap of Central Park tomorrow morning. We'll see. . .

Colorado Springs, OTC

USA Triathlon Race Directors Certification in Colorado Springs.....
Weather is beautiful. Just banged out a swim in an outdoor pool, with the mountains covered in snow. You have to love the altitude training, both my run this morning and the swim, had my HR about 10 beats higher.

USA Triathlon puts on some great clinics, this one will allow us to host our own races this year.
Stay tuned for the details, they will be in scenic Ct. in late June and mid September.
Time to end a perfect day with a Guinness.......life is good.

February 9, 2010

Sorry to be such a stranger. I went to San Diego on business the week before last and everything seems to have gotten away from me since. Don't worry, this won't be a comprehensive recap by any means. I'll just hit the highlights.

San Diego: I was there for four days and got in four nice runs in 50-degree weather. Went for a long run on Friday, January 29: 13.3 miles at about 8:20 pace. I missed two FTER workouts, but the trade-off for the (relatively) warm weather was worth it.

Empire State Building Run-Up: I came home just in time to miss another FTER workout--in order to compete in my 11th ESBRU. Scott/Full Throttle has whipped me into great stair-climbing shape. I ran the stairs in 14:25--my best time in 10 years, second only to my PR of 14:22. We really should get more FTERs into this race next year. It's hell, but the half-lap of the observation deck is very cool and there are great bragging rights afterward.

Gridiron 4 Miler: We had a nice Full Throttle showing, despite the 17-degree temperature. Mikael Hanson, where were you:)? Bobby Kennedy found me about three-quarters of a mile into the race and we hung together. It's alway so great to have a friend/teammate to work with in a race. Apparently Scott/Full Throttle has gotten me into great running shape, too. I got my highest age-graded percentage ever. Those of you too young and talented to be aware of age-grading or appreciate it: once you're too old to ever run actual PRs, you'll look forward to the thrill of running virtual ones through age-graded time conversions. The big Gridiron highlight: Tommy Slon debuting in his first road race ever. Dude, you mean you started with the triathlon?

Monday of this week consisted of a somewhat tough swim (for me, anyway) followed by a 10K treadmill run at about 8:15 pace. Then I did an hour-long spin class in the evening at Equinox with instructor Chris Griffin.

Tuesday (today) consisted of a spin session--love that Suunto monitoring system--followed by a 4.1 treadmill run at about 8:20 pace. Had to cut the run short because I had sales presentations to make at 9:00 sharp. Annoying how the pesky day job can sometimes interfere with training.

Tomorrow: Big Snow Day! But I already called Chelsea Piers and was assured that they would be open. See you in the a.m.

Hammies!

Day 1 back in DA pool since my head turned into a massive petri dish last week and I was feelin' pretty groovy. Toni (tags: Aussie, strong female athlete, talks least says most--ish) and I traded off taking the lead during the steady swim sets. We were holding a good pace (1:25/100 yds), which set us up for the "solid" pull sets to follow. Drew (tags: in his 20's-oy, native NYer, horse, elite male athlete, six pack) was in front the entire time with Ali behind him and then MUWA + a few others. There are 4 things I attest to as far as severe weak points in the brain-o-Jess are concerned: peanut butter, the smell of Downy on my hoodies/using 8,000 dryer sheets per load to achieve that scent, geography and the ability to swim with a pull buoy. I might as well swim backwards...BUT I held on, which was enthralling. A certain Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks movie came to mind whilst thrashing my arms about to hold onto their pace--"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!" I swear by lifting weights.

We hopped on spin bikes for an hour afterwards and I admit that my legs were pretty (omg totally) shot. I sat next to Anna (tags: fabulous hair, phenomenal female athlete, artist, big heart, competitive beyond imagination) and was entirely out of oxygen while pushing gears I would ordinarily scoff at had I not had to channel the Lincoln Tunnel through my left nostril (please see last entry). Nonetheless, I made it, which makes me all the more happy to salute my over-worked hammies, "Good night!"

Booty Points

As every New Yorker (especially) experiences at one point or another during the winter, I have a head cold. Despite my Purell hand sanitizer obsession (or perhaps as a result of it), my nose is stuffed like the Lincoln Tunnel on a Friday night with one lane open, which doesn't bode well for swimming--nor do I want to get my teammates sick. While the Full Throttle peeps splashed away, I grabbed a poolside chair, sipped hot tea and watched them swim. There is something to be said about how watching talented swimmers in action brings you such tranquility. I make a point every season to sit out of a practice at least twice and analyze the different strokes from lane to lane. It helps me visualize ways to correct my form, be it something I'm consciously eager to correct or surprised to see that I was doing wrong by comparison.

The treadmill and I are friends again! On Saturday, I made up the "long run" I skipped on Thursday, which consisted of FIVE MILES! Yup, you saw it first, FIVE (**5**)MILES. I was a tad skeptical of doing 4 more miles (today) a mere two days afterwards and the week following my tre(wo)mendous speed work...so I did FOUR AND A HALF MILES instead. It felt fantastic. I wasn't fast; I wasn't on an incline. I was just going and it was beyond refreshing. After a 1/2 mile cool down walk, I sprung for some booty points (resistance work for the tush that I coined "booty points" because it makes me feel like I've got a nice rear view)...or on my way towards one. Stretching is NOT just for the bendy or for the birds, so I gave my legs 15 extensive minutes of love before calling it a (work)day.

To flip turn or not to flip turn...

That was the question today...actually, it really wasn't so much a question as it was a direct ORDER from Scott for all lanes to practice throughout our long, steady sets--he literally paced alongside the pool to ensure execution (loosely defined), so we were forced to oblige (ARG!). If you're not privy to the voices in a triathlete's head already, allow me: You don't flip turn in a triathlon, so why fret over practicing them? Well, APPARENTLY, maintaining momentum improves efficiency and cutting the breath of air you get from open turns out of each turn increases lung capacity over time. I've been dodging such debate/muting the voices since my last attempt to concur the world-o-flip turns last year resulted in me pushing off of the wall into ANOTHER LANE...I thought that was a clear indication that I should just cross out the idea all together.

But today was a new day (thank you, Suzy Sunshine). I fought my aquatic demons and gave it my best shot. Ali led the lane because she doesn't need to breathe when she works out; she's so "elite" that she just holds her breath for an hour and exhales when she sips her protein shake afterwards. The pace was fine, but I'm saying, this tummy tuck/roll over thing underwater takes the O2 out of you and is VERY dissimilar to the front flips I did as a kid in the above-ground pool in my backyard. Nonetheless, I pushed. I didn't make every turn (in fact, I missed the wall once), but I was stoked that I tried--so much that I spent 600 extra yards swimming after the team left to better my technique. I will continue to tri (get it? knee slapper) until I take 1st place in the FLIP TURN OLYMPICS.

New York Road Runners Half-Marathon

NYRR Half-Marathon | 13.1 Miles | Central Park

I didn't really know what to expect in my first half-marathon race, and had no idea what pace I should run. When I started training at the end of November, my goal was to break 1:23:00 (6:20/mile), but it had become clear that there was no way that was going to happen for this race. I was just as likely to set a new world record, so I decided that I would take this race as a training run - an opportunity to set a benchmark for myself, hopefully without blowing up. I picked 7:30/mile as my pace for the first mile or two and decided to reassess the situation after that.

Unfortunately, because I showed up pretty late as I didn't want to be standing around in the cold, I ended up getting stuck near the back of the corral and found myself "running" with the 10:00/mile pacers. Not ideal when there are 5,000 other runners and no where to pass except outside the race course (and on the outside of all the turns). I'm not sure how much distance it added to my run, but I was having too much fun passing people to really notice. 7:30s felt really easy - thanks to training runs with Tommy - I decided to try and negative split each mile to the end, really dropping the hammer after mile 7. Looking back on my splits, that's not exactly what happened, but the second half of my race was faster than the first half so overall I'm very satisfied. I'm really looking forward to the NYC Half-Marathon in March.

Distance: 13.1 Miles, 21.1 Kilometers
Date/Time: Jan. 24, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 37 deg., 76% humidity, wind 5 mph.

Finish Time: 1:34:33
Pace/Mile: 7:13
Overall Place: 607
Gender Place: 539
Age Place: 110

I ran with RunKeeper, but the pacing and distance was a bit off. Still, it give a general overview of elevation and pacing changes throughout the race. For details, click on the link in the upper left hand corner:



Full Throttle was well represented by Charles Howe, Colin Stewart, and Maria Mahn. Unfortunately, I didn't know anyone else was racing until after checking the results and searching for Full Throttle Endurance Racing on NYRR's results site. Hopefully, they'll share their race experience on this blog or in the comments section below.

And then there was my ego...(not for long)

One of the most important things that the sport of triathlon forces you to learn is how to be prepared. With three sports, the amount of gear you need to train/race is remarkable; every gadget, gismo and garment is essential, so there's no room for error. I'm not exactly a veteran, but coming up on my 4th season, I was quite surprised this morning when I opened my gym bag to get ready for the swim: Speedo--check. Goggles--check. Cap--check. Skills--oh SNAP!! That's right, ladies and gents, I apparently forgot how to swim today. The workout itself focused on longer sets with hand paddles, so the lane lovelies and I agreed that we would slow down the pace and work on our form(s). Little did I know just HOW slow I would go--seriously I kept checking to see if a HEFTY bag was suddenly tied to my feet acting like a parachute/drag. I checked my ego at the door and held onto the end of the line (by a thread). That's something everyone comes to accept: you can't always be on top of your game...certain days you're just "garbage," as Scott likes to put it.

The spin leg of our workout was all about keeping our cadence at/above 90, which I'm proud to say comes naturally to me now. I kept the resistance low mostly because my legs refused to acknowledge any hard sets I tried to introduce them to, but also because I knew my body was trying to tell me something: "You will always lose in an argument with me. Keep it steady." Dagon IT...

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Today being the "long run" day, I did not feel obliged to go to Chelsea Piers at the pre-crack-of-dawn. This was a very good thing not only for me (nice to "sleep in" until 5:30) but also for my seven year old, who's been a little teary about my not being around in the mornings. I ran seven miles in Central park at about 8:30 pace. This isn't long for me but I do my long runs on the weekend. On the bridle path I ran into FTE's own Mikael Hanson, who turned around and ran with me for about a mile, until I exited the park. Was great to catch up.

I ran a few errands on the way home. When I got in the front door, I called out, "Kieran, I got you a blueberry bagel and ginger snaps for your lunch." Whereupon Kieran came running at me from the living room, grabbed me around the waist, and said, "Best of all, you brought your own self." Did I just enter a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie?

But the headline of the day should go to Kieran's dad, Stuart. today marks the 23rd anniversary of his running streak. For 23 years, he's run at least 1.25 miles every single day. No days off--not for anything. Most of our runner friends are more critical than admiring of this streak, but Stuart started it for laudable reasons--at least I think so. Twenty-three years ago he was coaching his high school cross country team (ultimately, to be state champions in California) and he realized that his own running was vanishing. He decided that he needed to choose: was he in or out? He opted in and figured he'd need a somewhat radical commitment to make it stick. so he decided to run every day--at least one continuous mile. To make sure he got a full mile in, he soon made the requirement a mile and a quarter. And so he's kept that commitment for 23 years now. Of course there have been some streak-threatening scares and some hilarious streak-preserving runs resulting from this vow, but I'll save them for another post.

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Swim/Cycle | Chelsea Piers

This morning was supposed to be a recovery day. It sure didn't feel like one. I'm not sure if it's because it was such a long, hard week or if my body is still getting used to 4:45am wake-ups followed by 2+ hour workouts. Or maybe I'm just a baby. Your pick.

Workout of the Day:

SWIM

Warm up - 300 pull / 200 kick / 100 swim
Tech - 100 backstroke kick / 100 backstroke / 100 Butterfly kick / 100 Breaststroke
Mainset

• 2 x 300 swim steady with paddles R=20
• 3 x 200 swim steady with paddles R=20
• 4 x 100 swim solid; no paddles
• 5 x 50 alt. kick/ hard swim

Cool down

CYCLING

5 min ez intensity effort
25 min steady effort aero
5 min climb steady effort
25 min steady effort aero
3 min ez effort cadence at 105

(For effort/intensity zone definitions, see the Full Throttle official website)

This morning was the first day I used the Suunto heart rate transmitter belt in the spin room. While probably not necessary (as most of the FTE athletes already own a heart rate monitor), they sure are fun. Every athlete wearing a belt has his/her heart rate and percentage of maximum H.R. projected on a screen at the front of the room. This way, you can see who's working hard (CheChu) and who's dogging it (Scott - he's gawbage).

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

NYAC Cycling | 24 Miles | Central Park

I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I going to do some racing this summer with the New York Athletic Club and I'll be joining them in Central Park for team rides twice a week - Thursdays and Saturdays. The team is composed almost entirely of former rowers so we're excited to see how we stack up against other amateur cyclists. Other than carryover thunder thighs, I'm not sure how well rowing translates over to cycling. We'll soon find out...

Only a small group showed this morning. It was a bit colder than it has been for the past few weeks. I don't mind the cold so much now that I have the proper clothing for cold-weather cycling. It keeps most of the riffraff out of the park. (Did I really just use the word "riffraff"?) I did happen to spot a very large TriLife peloton this AM. I'm not sure if it's because they're tougher than Full Throttle or if it's because they don't have sweet indoor training facilities like we do. Wait... just checked race results. Definitely the latter... oh, BURN!

NYAC ended up riding four laps of the park, about 24 miles. I think our average pace was around 22 mph. It wasn't particularly hard, nor was it easy. Click on the link embedded in the map below to see details. Note that the average pace is off because I forgot to stop the gps after I finished the final lap and spent 10 minutes chatting with a teammate at Columbus Circle (hence the 14 min mile vs. 3 min for the others):

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Only three weeks into FTE training and I'm already semi-dreading Wednesdays: the day we do speed work in the pool and then on the track. But today's swim session wasn't too terrible. In all honesty I think it was easier than last Wednesday's swim speed session, and that is fine with me. Ten x 50 alternating hard and easy on the one minute seemed to be the "meat" of the workout. The little rest on the easy laps and the longer rest on the harder laps seemed to make the two speeds a draw in terms of difficulty.

As usual, I was more comfortable once we were sneakered-up and back on dry land. Even though I've competed in triathlons for many years now, I consider myself a novice at both swimming and cycling. Not so with running. The track feels like home turf--with the possible exception of the non-banked turn at Chelsea Piers.

The on-land speed workout was 4 x 800 with only a 200 recovery--pretty short and therefore pretty toughening. I ran with Tommy, Bobby, Joe, and Jose. I suggested that we take turns leading the intervals. My track team observes this tradition to prevent people from "racing" the workout. It's also a great study in pacing. The idea is that each person take a turn leading an interval. No one is to pass the leader. My team established this tradition after too many guys in our A group (the fastest one) raced the workouts to the degree that they left it all on the track; they were road kill by the time the weekend race rolled around. So in order to race better, and blow out fewer hamstrings, we take turns. The idea is to really stick to the goal pace, not run seconds under it.

I led the first 800, Bobby led the second, and Tommy led the third. I could just barely keep contact with Bobby and Tommy; it was nice to feel pulled along by them just slightly ahead. I ran the four 800s in: 3:08, 3:06, 3:06, 3:05.

My ultimate goal is to sneak back to the hot tub after some of these sessions, as I've seen other teammates do. But today wasn't my chance.

In the evening, I finished up the day with an hour-long spin class with Chris Griffin at Equinox.

I'm relatively certain that my shoulders think they've done something to upset me, because after today's swim, they're SCREAMING. But it's the kind of scream that's synonymous with the bark of those mighty muscle men you hear in the gym slamming down their 8740-lbs dumbbells: SOMEthing just got a whole lot stronger. Ali (a great friend of mine/the best female athlete on the team) and I traded off taking the lead of lane 4, the second fastest lane in the pool. Our crew was 6 people deep and we were cruising through the main set, which consisted mostly of intensity changes. Alternating between slow and fast efforts helps me get reacquainted with what Scott calls "active recovery." Basically, you can't stop in a race to catch your breath, right? So we train our bodies to function despite fatigue, which could be a result of heat, overexertion or in this case, a lack of oxygen. It's not a pleasant process, but it's a necessary one for endurance racing.

I was particularly pleased with my (our) times during the main set because they show that my swim has improved from last year. The times I'm seeing now (so early in the game) are consistent with what I was holding at the end of last year. Most people stopped swimming during the off-season (FOR SHAME!), but Scott led an unofficial, show-up-if-you-want group swim that I went to on an average of twice a week. We cut out intensity and lowered the volume, but I think practicing my form and making slight changes really contributed to the jump. I also focused on weight training this winter, which is something I never did and vow to never stop.

Coming off of an ITB issue last season and having just started to run again, I participated in speed work for the first time this season during the run leg of our practice! Side note: holy monkey we have some SPEEDSTERS on the team this year. I watched them flash by on the track in front of me while I jacked up the speed of my treadmill's conveyor belt to an alarming....10-minute mile for 3 miles with a few 2-minute 8:30 intervals interspersed throughout those 3 miles. Patience. Patience.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Today's spin session featured 15 to 20 minute seated steady intervals with 5-minute climbs in between. The seated steady intervals were to have a cadence of 90 and we were to pick a resistance level that was challenging but that we could sustain for the duration. Then the climbs were to be 3 to 4 notches about that. Scott and Dan were hooked up to the cool new Suunto monitoring system, so we could see their heart rates and intensity levels at all times.

I picked level 10 for my seated intervals. It seemed reasonably challenging to keep the cadence at 90 but I noticed that my heart rate wasn't nearly as high as Scott's or Dan's. The room was on the warm side but I'm very used to a hot spin class since Chris Griffin--my Equinox spin class guru--likes to keep the spin room really warm for his sessions. No AC and usually no fans either. We call it Bikram Spin Class. Definitely an acquired taste--and there's no acquiring Chris's musical taste, in my opinion--but his classes are the absolute toughest so Stuart and I are regulars. Anyway, I was trying to convince myself that my heart rate wasn't as high as Scott's or Dan's because I'm more acclimated to the heat, but I think this was bs. Scott confirmed my suspicions when he quizzed us about our heart rates and I had to confess that mine was easily a good ten fewer per minute than his at any given moment. So next spin I'll ratchet it up to 11 or 12 and see how it goes. I did go to 15 for the climbs, but maybe I should go a notch higher there, too.

I was tempted to do the core work after the spin but the treadmill called. I run every day and I really wanted to knock out my run. This new FTE schedule is causing trouble on my home front. Stuart, who is not a morning person, has to get Kieran ready for school and take him to school solo--something we always used to do together. And Kieran had a melt-down one day last week when he realized that he hadn't seen me all day; I'd left before he woke up, of course, and then an author reading and dinner kept me out until 11:00. So the last thing I want to do is get home from work and announce it's time for my run. I'm already looking forward to the warmer weather which will mean not just riding in the park but also getting home by 7:30 or so and not heading straight to work from Chelsea Piers. It's funny that what I thought would be toughest about joining FTE in the morning (getting up so early, getting down to CP) is already not so tough, but these other factors that I hadn't considered are--and I'm not sure they'll get better with time.

Monday, January 17, 2010

Ran an easy 8.5 miles in the Wissahickon in the morning--slower than the last two days, just slightly over 9:00 pace.

Made it back to NYC in time to do Chris Griffin's hour-long spin class at the 92nd Street Equinox with Stuart, followed by a very speedy transition home to watch "24."

Sunday, January 17, 2010

I got up early--well, not early by FTE standards--but early for a weekend so I could beat the rain. I had a wonderful long run--15.25 miles--along the same dirt train in Philly that I'd run on the previous day. My average pace was 8:49. Felt great.

Saturday, January 16

It was so nice not having to get up at 4:45 today--although of course I did wake up then. But I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

I was going to run 8 miles on a wonderful winding dirt trail along the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia's largest park, but my weekly mileage jones got the better of me so I did 10 to cap off a 55-mile week. My pace, my trusty Garmin informed me, was 8:47.