Saturday's run

Beautiful day on Saturday. It was cloudy, and slightly above 50 degrees. I strapped on my iPod and my phone, and headed on out the door.

I opted to take a countryside route. The interesting part about where I live is that about 5 miles from each other, you have two opposite ends of the spectrum. On one hand, you have lots of farms, hills, woods, all that. On the other end, you have the abandoned factories, warehouses, and the like. You'll get a few pics from the former today.

So, my goal was to do 8-10, depending on how my leg felt. I brought the iPod so that I'd have some distraction from myself, and not have to worry about every little thing ("Oh, did it just act up on that step?" and all that). I tried out my first taste of the 'Dump Runners Club' podcast, as well as being entertained by the crew of the Runner's Lounge podcast.

My pace was mighty slow, as I was playing it safe from the monster that is ITBS..

I ran part of a normal route, but decided to take a different side road, just to see what was out there.. It was the usual for that neck of the woods, but it was nice to see something slightly different.

Around mile 4, I started seeing these in the sandy shoulder of the road:



My phone doesn't take terribly good pictures, but it's a horseshoe print..

I saw those for the next mile, until I turned around.

Here's a couple of pics from nearby the turnaround point (hey, why not stop and stretch?)





So, I felt good at the halfway mark (I was not so subconsciously looking to go 10).

I turned around and headed back...

Around 6.5 miles, I was starting to get worried.. I had a little nagging feeling in the knee, but I was on some slight uphills. I stopped and stretched, and continued onward.

Around mile 7, I got chased by a few dogs while the owner stood by and scolded them (not moving, of course). So, I got a little speedwork in.

At mile 7.6 I knew I was pretty much done. It started to sprinkle, so I called my wife to come get me.

I managed to log about 7.8 miles. When I got out of the car, she did make some comment about it being a mercy pickup, and it wasn't all about the rain, was it?

Sigh.

So, to answer Friday's question to myself, Pocono is out. Not going to happen this year.

I sat on the couch pondering that and wondering if it could magically happen still. Sunday morning came, and my knee was all tender.. so, that finished answering that question. Yeah, it's not happening.

Today, it's not terrible.. not perfect, but I may be able to do some shorter runs later on this week. I'll cap myself out at 3 or 4 miles.


Soo.... now comes the evaluation.. first order of business is to heal up. Second order is to figure out what the hell I'm going to do this year. Possibly a fall marathon (Wineglass (10/4) and Steamtown (10/11) are pretty nearby.. ). Philly (11/22) and Harrisburg (11/8) aren't that much further.

So, if I can get healthy (and stay healthy), maybe I'll shoot for one of those.. In the meantime, I need to find some shorter races to keep my attention from wandering and give me something to work toward.


Welcome to Monday everyone. Keep on rockin' it.