Humbled by the Hills

I finally made my way out to the Wissahickon today to get a long run in on the hills. I have been pretty much only running on flat courses for the past 8 weeks with the exception of Wednesdays when we find a hilly spot in the city or do the art museum steps! Oh wait I did get one long run in at Ridley Creek State Park a few weeks back and there are some decent hills on their trails.

Our schedule today called for 22 miles but we didn't follow that since we knew we would pretty much be in the hills the entire morning. We agreed on a 3 hour run. This run kicked my butt. I need more hills in my life. I also need more group runs in my life. I have been doing my lung runs solo until today. It was really nice being out there with my squad. The temperature was pretty chilly this morning when we started out add that with the some pretty steep inclines and you have one chick who can not breathe very well.

I was feeling humbled right from the start but I'm grateful that I was able to get some elevation changes in. Southeastern Pennsylvania is an amazing area to live and run. I hope I can get back out to the trails in the Wissahickon a few more times before we head off to West Virginia. I had a tough time finding a sitter for today's run but I did not give up. The past 8 weeks I have been blessed with free family childcare during my runs which made it more tolerable when I had to pay a sitter for today's run. I has grateful to have my children in good hands while I was out. After today's run the baby and I had a party to attend. Happy 3rd Birthday Oliver! I wasn't in too bad of shape but I did have some soreness in my left knee.

How many miles did you clock for your long run this week?

Do you have any upcoming races?

Comments

I did it, it's over and I feel fine!

Sunday was an amazing day that I will always remember! The week leading up to race was a rainy mess. We had threats of a hurricane hitting the coast and we were preparing for the worst. My biggest fear was that weather was going to cause the race to be canceled. The show went on and we had no rain on race day. The temps were cool and the sky was overcast as we pulled up to the race. The Blues Cruise 50K Trail Run accepts 400 runners, the event had nearly reached its capacity as the runners were gathering around the Day Use Pavilion at Blue Marsh anxiously awaiting the 8:30 AM start. I felt great. I was confident in my training but still a little nervous about running my longest distance to date. My goal for the day was to finish. My desired time for the race changed a number of times from when I first signed up for the event. My unrealistic expectation were dismissed while training when I realized how slow my pace got the further I was running on the trails. I was so grateful ...

What to Pack for a Ragnar Trail Relay?

Months ago when we decided to sign up for the Ragnar Trail Relay in West Virginia I started a list on my phone of what I wanted to pack. I have been known for being a list maker. Thankfully I am not alone in my list making when more than half of my team has an Engineering background it turns out we are all pretty listy. Our one team member even set up a google doc of what to pack so that we can all edit it. I know I'm a nerd but I love being prepared and I love being organized. I started packing over the weekend when I knew I wouldn't be wearing most of my running clothes until race day. For the Relay I will be running 3 times so I made sure to pack three complete running outfits. I found a really helpful tip online to place each outfit in a gallon ziplock bag so I wont have to be searching for everything in the middle of the night or while someone else may be sleeping. The event will be all day and all night so I needed to make sure I packed a headlamp and extra batteries. I...

Broad Street Nerves

Hey Everyone! Broad Street is in 4 Days!! If you are not someone who is local, Broad Street is the largest 10 miler in the Country and it takes place in Philadelphia, PA. The Broad Street event started out in the early 80's and has grown and grown ever since. In 2012 the race had over 40,000 runners! The street that the event is named after is approximately 13 miles long making it perfect for this event. Runners will make there way to the starting area at Erie Avenue and the event finishes inside the Navy Yard. This event is a must run for anyone in the area however due to the event size participants must enter via a lottery to get selected to run. The first time I entered the Broad Street lottery (2014) I was not running distance yet. I decided to sign up and if I got accepted I would start training. Low and behold I got accepted. I started a 10 week training plan and was hooked on training and distance running ever since! I was completely intimated by the size of the eve...

eat.run.bake.blog

Search This Blog