OWL-DRAGON

Mid Summer Weekend

Runners often talk about going thru down times in their running. I am experiencing a little of that now. I think in part it is the heat. I don’t remember being so bothered by the heat in past summers. I have never liked it but now it takes every bit of will power to get out the door. I did a race Saturday (Run For The Hill Of It). Now the weather for this race always seems to be hot and humid and Saturday was no exception. The air temperature wasn’t particularly hot at 8AM but the humidity was already somewhere near 100%. The race is along Forbidden Drive in the northern reach of the Wissahickon Valley branch of Fairmount Park. The first 2.5 miles drop down to Valley Green and then turn and run uphill for 2.5. I was very disappointed with my time. Just didn’t have the turn over I expected. Nothing hurt. I just couldn’t go faster. I don’t think I have ever been lower in a five year age group (18 out of 30). Finished in the middle of the pack (333 out 663) but should have finished higher.

Since my desire to run long wasn’t there on Sunday I decided to bike. I recently bought a bike thinking it would be good to cross train occasionally. It’s a hybrid not built for speed. I decided to use the Schuylkill River Trail. I had no specific goal – just get use to the bike and spend two hours peddling. I enjoyed it a great deal. First impression is that biking is much easier than running. Now I saw bikers who were working very hard – but I just peddled steadily with only occasional bursts of “speed”. I think I was covering miles in about 4 or 5 minutes. Sobering when I realized that I would just barely be staying ahead of the best marathoners. I think this experiment in cross training worked. I should have been on a long run but the ride was fun and used other muscles and skills and today I feel good and ready for a speed workout in spite of the heat.