Short and Sweet

50:00 pool running. Feeling pretty good today. Sweating underwater is an interesting sensation.

Untitled

Busy day. It was all I could do to squeeze in a 23:30 jog along the river after work. Legs wanted to go faster than I wanted to let them. Foot feels a little sore, stiff like.

Hungover

But I didn't drink last night.

It wasn't hard to justify bagging the ride I had planned this morning given the rain, my tired legs, and a boatload of school work I should be working on.

Had to be at a meeting in W Philly this evening, so I swung by the gym beforehand. 30:00 core session and 30:00 very easy on the stair climber. Boy am I tired.

There's a dull aching in my left foot as I write this, so I'll have to watch it lest I end up back at square one. Of course, feeling mentally and physically exhausted alters my perception of these matters, so I'm taking this a day at a time. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Damp

Pulled my clothes from the dryer: damp. Stepped into the murky morning: damp.

AM: Although it was muggy, the cool air and gray skies served me well for a jog. Began, as last weekend, with Maia on a route that meandered through the one-way streets of Fishtown. What's with the traffic this morning? A red pickup narrowly avoided me as I traversed an intersection near Memphis and Susquehanna.

Today Maia and I parted ways about 10 min in as my "jog" crept slowly towards "run." By all means, I've still got a ways to go. But I'm in no rush, literally. Things felt great save for some digestive issues that have been ongoing for the past week and some soreness in the lower abdominal area. No backtalk from the foot, although there's a barely noticeable achy feeling now. I'll be keeping a close eye on this over the next few weeks. Running time was 35:00.

PM: Finally connected with my friend Justin for a ride. Didn't know what to expect other than that I'd be biking for around 2 hours. I let him lead for most of the ride which took us out of the city through Bala Cynwyd and on some back roads of Montgomery County. Overall, the pace ranged from moderate to intense, but I held on pretty well, especially on the hills. A piece of glass pierced my tire with about 25 minutes left to the ride and I was glad to have brought a patch and pump. Total time was somewhere around 3 hours including the fix-a-flat.

Overslept

By choice. Didn't feel like making the westward commute in the chilly drizzle, so I went back to bed. No class on Fridays and it makes it a bit easier to justify.

AM: 60:00 running underwater with three sets of 5x(2:30 hard, :30 easy).

PM: 50:00 easy on the stair climber. Possibly useless information: HR skyrockets when I push off my heels as opposed to my toes. Some slightly neurotic discomfort in the left foot. Phantom pains?

Slow Motion

30:00 jogged on the treadmill, in addition to a 10:00 walking w/u and c/d at an incline to keep the HR up. Moving slow with some sore spots this morning, but none around the foot.

Early Morning

AM: 50:00 fairly easy on the stairclimber. Could've ascended the Comcast Tower three times over.

PM: 50:00 elliptical. Forgot my water bottle at work but I was OK without it. Tired. No hot water in the locker rooms. Definitely awake now.

Plugging Away

AM: 25:00 jog around the neighborhood with 10:00 walking warmup and cooldown. Almost felt normal out there today. Didn't eat enough for dinner last night and I had to wait til after I digested my b'fast to head out.

PM: 50:00 pool run including 2 sets of 6x(2:30 hard, :30 easy). Perhaps one of the silliest exercises in which one can engage, but it's surprisingly a refreshing workout. Left me feeling energized but slightly chilly for the bike ride home.

If You're Happy and You Know It, Rub My Back

That happened to be the conclusion of the conversation I had with Maia on our run today.

Went out for 40 minutes: 10 min walk, 20 min run, 10 min walk. The weather was perfect albeit a bit sunny, and the running felt smooth and easy. I thought we'd part ways once the run began, but to my surprise, Maia held on. Even had to ask her to slow down on one occasion.

Ever conscious of the left foot, but no pain to report. Still feels slightly awkward in a way I can't really put to words. Expecting this will pass in time. Looking to run next on Tuesday depending on how things feel.

Some Kind of Morning

The posting has been sporadic of late. This is probably a manifestation of the schedule-free (more or less) living I've been doing lately, but I'm surprised at how tough it's been to find time for this. It's not that I've been extremely busy, but rather that lately I'd rather be out enjoying the weather instead of typing away at a computer.

I had intentions of reflecting on the cycling journey I took last weekend, but the week escaped me. I'll likely throw in thoughts here and there relating to the trip over the next few weeks, because if it's like other similar trips I've taken, the impressions it has planted in my memory will dwell quite a while.

The few days following my return on Monday eve were slow. Surprisingly, I never was sore. But man was I tired. A deep down, body tired. To the point that it took considerable mental effort to get up from a chair after having sat down.

I felt much better by Wednesday night and I decided to take a short run on Thursday morning. Per doctor's recommendations and also because of a fear of reaggravating the stress fracture in my left foot (which by the way is just about recovered, I've decided) I'm taking any runs for the next few weeks VERY slow and easy. So I did a 3 x (5:00 run, 5:00 walk) around my neighborhood. This was very uneventful. That's what I was expecting, and I think that's a good thing. Man did those old motions feel good.

Friday evening I met some friends and co-workers to ride out to Oaks, PA. Eric and I were riding Mike, the bike tech at our store, halfway to Bear Creek. He was christening a very shiny new Long Haul Trucker and trailer, and we wanted to make sure he didn't have any mishaps. Eric and I rode our fixies, and it ended up being about 60 miles of easy riding round trip. About an hour into the ride the sun went down and I experienced my first official long night ride. It was really a blast, very surreal riding along the Schuylkill River trail in more or less complete darkness (Eric's headlamp helped this issue). My chaffed rear end reminded me why I love my touring rig (also an LHT) so much.

For the past month or so I've been trying to get together with my friend Justin for a long weekend ride. He's on a cycling team and goes out on Saturday's and Sunday's for rides ranging from 2 to 4 hours. This morning it seemed like we were finally going to connect. I was up at ten-to-six (after returning from my night ride at around 11:30) to clean up my LHT and strip the rack and barbag mount. At the last minute something came up and I couldn't seem to get out the door in time. I showed up at our rendezvous a few minutes late, Justin had already left, and I didn't have a phone, so I sprinted down to the PMA to try and find him. The scene down there was typical for a Saturday AM: some sort of charity walk/run, a thousand runners, and just as many bikers, and in the mix I couldn't spot him. At that point I'd grown pretty frustrated and was steaming at the the ears a bit, so I turned what would've been an easy group ride into a hill workout. For some reason I didn't want to stray too far from home, so I strung together some running routes over in Fairmount Park that included the infamous Bloody Nipple hill. Did this roughly 7-mile loop 5 times, covering each in about 25 minutes or so, and by the fifth I'd definitely blown a lot of steam. Afterward as I was coming up MLK Jr. Drive I smacked right into a hand cyclist, flipped over my bars and face-planted. Good thing I was wearing a helmet. I only sustained minor injuries as far as I can tell, but I'm picking out bruises by the hour.

I decided that I kind of like the format of the mobile-phone posting, so the next few posts will probably be a combination of those and weekly summaries. I'm looking forward to another run tomorrow, slightly longer than Thursday's. Good luck to all of you running the PDR tomorrow. Weather should be perfect.

Mike and His Two Bikes

Mike's riding up to Bear Creek tonight for a mountain bike race. He's not riding his mountain bike. Eric and I are riding him up to Oaks, then he's on his own.

Mile 188 13:18

I'm home. Salty, parched, covered in bugs and grime. Grinning ear to ear all the way up Poplar St.

Mile 166 11:52

I'm tired, early morning catching up with me. On the SR trail now, homestretch. Sun's beating on my back, wind in my face. Cruisin' on home.

Mile 143 10:15

I made it to Green Lane 1:20 ahead of schedule. With plenty of daylight left I'm gonna continue home. I feel good, save a raw rear end and some nerve stuff in my hands and feet.

Yeehaw

Mile 135 9:45

At Longacres Old Fashioned Dairy Bar again. Near Barto, PA. Couldn't pass it up. All downhill from here.

Mile 115 8:19

Breaking for lunch beneath an oak tree. The tough stuff is behind me, including Little Gap, Lehigh Gap, and the 6 mile stretch of Rt. 100. The headwind becomes more oppressive the further south I go. Must be steady 20 mph at least. Will hang here in Clausville for a bit.

Mile 86 6:07

Stopping for a quick coffee, which was complimentary from this service station. In Palmerton. The weather is fantastic, 70s and sunny. Will cross Lehigh Gap soon.

Mile 74 5:17

Making decent time. Just SE of Jim Thorpe. Rt. 903 is absolutely hellish. The 10 mile stretch of death may be the one thing that keeps of from taking this route again. Then, after turning onto a more pleasant road a bottle of gatorade wiggled its way off my bike. Tried to go back for it but the hill's too steep and there's too much traffic coming down. Good time to stop anyway, had to ditch some fluids myself.

Day 2 Return Begins

My Nest

This thing is pretty rad. Time for dinner and sleep. Trying to leave around 6:30 tomorrow morn.

Mile 58 4:10

5:10 total. I made it, time to set up camp. This place is deserted. Out of 381 campsites maybe 10 are occupied.

Mile 51 3:34

4:00 total. A well timed gel had me flying o'er the hills. In White Haven now. Stopping for a hoagie to go. Not too much further til Hickory Run.

Mile 34 2:37

2:55 total. Made it to Bear Creek Lake. The climb out of Throop was long and steep. On Rt. 247 I saw a BMW full of teenagers slam into a tree. Pretty scary. They were ok. Temps have gone down a bit from 95 to 84. Riding into a stiff headwind but there are more downhills this direction.

Homeward

Departure time 1pm. 5 hours to go 55 miles.

Head Start

In his finest. Stretching the return trip over 3 days. Hoping to make it down to Hickory Run by this evening. Packing up now.

Day of Rest

There's some sporadic wi-fi service up here so I'll opt for a full keyboard, no photos. Last night, after being greeted by a bearded fellow running down George St in the dark, I slid down the survival-mode adrenaline cloud and eased into a blueberry lager provided by my host. After kicking back for a few hours I could barely keep my eyes open during conversation, and I knew it was time. Matt let me use his new mattress. What a guy.

If you've been following these posts you'll know that when I left Lehigh Gap yesterday morning I expected to go another 60 miles or so until reaching Throop.

Turned out to be 100.

Turned out to start pouring rain around 11am.

Turned out to get a flat tire on a country road with 25 miles and 1 hour of sunlight left to go. A friendly dog-walker found me half-pruned, changing out the tube with road grime and chain grease slathered all over my hands and brow.

It got dark. I was wet, kind of chilly, and made extremely anxious by the traffic passing in the dark. I had flashing lights, reflectors, and a headlamp, but it's tough to trust drivers even under good conditions.

So, I let out a carnal shriek as I saw bearded Matt jogging towards me down the street. It was the end of a long, challenging day. My limits of comfort and endurance were definitely tested, but it felt so good to finally be here knowing I'd covered the distance through thick and thin.

A neighbor passing with her dog inquired about the loaded down bike. She invited us to run the local 5k in town today.

Honestly the thought passed through my mind: man, I wonder if I could do that in my light hikers?

It would be fun, but probably a little uncomfortable. And I have a long ride home. So I'll spend the next day or two trying not to eat everything in Matt's kitchen and think about how I'm gonna take the return trip knowing now that it's 40 miles longer than planned.

Mile 190 14:24

35:40 total. I made it. Through hell on my hands and knees. Will update the blog later. Maybe.

Mile 138 10:40

Hey Matt, this is for you buddy! I'm freakin drenched, but I think I'm gonna make it.

Mile 116 9:00

28:40 total. I've been riding uphill for the past 2 hours. Early lunch, half pound burger and a pint.

Mile 110 8:16

25:10 total. 20 miles so far for the day. This one's for you, Maia. Refilling water, taking a few moments to digest some food.

Didnt Bring My Skis

Mile 91 6:44

23:00 total. Filled up on water, back in the saddle. Gentleman at the station gave me a shortcut round all the traffic on Rt 248. Says I have quite a climb ahead of me.

Packing Up

I hear a rooster crow. Slept pretty well all things considered. Packing up and eating some oatmeal. Waiting for the sun to rise a little before hitting the road.

Good Night

You should see this, really. I'm in a cacoon.This is the earliest I've been to bed in a long while. Not much else to do when it's pitch black and all you have is a sleeping bag and headlamp. I'll get going pretty early tomorrow for what'll be a shorter, but steeper trip to my destination. I'll guess 60 more miles. Whoever thought of including the 6 mile stretch of Rt 100 on the bike route is a jerk. That was terrible, but in effect it made me forget I was climbing a mountain. Otherwise, no complaints, LHT rides like a Cadillac. I feel good, I just hope I ate enough food as I've racked up quite a calorie deficit today. I'm also low on water, but there's bound to be somewhere closeby to fill up in the AM. Good night.

Mile 90 6:36

9:10 total. Made it to Lehigh Gap. Time to call it a day and find a place to rest for the night.

Mile 70 5:11

Can't pass this up right now.

Mile 63 4:40

5:50 total. I found Route L. The speed limit on Dogwood Rd is 30. I was doing 36. Really have to pee...

Back in the Saddle

After a milkshake, cheeseburger, and coffee, it's time to move on. I've changed into a long sleeve shirt as the sun has disappeared behind some clouds and it's kind of chilly. The roads are undulating now, and they'll only get steeper from here.

Mile 52 3:49

4:30 total. Lunch time, just in time. I have no idea where I am.

Mile 38 2:41

3:10 total. Much of the PT is crushed cinder, makes for a slower ride. Note there is no washboarding on the bike-only trail. Know at least one reader that will appreciate that.

Mile 26 1:46

2:00 total time, feeling good. Found a cat's head on the SR trail. Sick. Slowly coughing the pollen out, sneezey sneezey.

1 hour late start. Well spent, coffee with Maia. See you in some miles.

Departure

Test post: Ready to Go

Homecoming

Most days I think about updating this blog. Now I finally have a spare moment and I'm not sure what to write. Last post was about 3 weeks back, so get ready for a longer post I suppose. Sit back, grab the popcorn, or if you're like me, grab the icepacks...

I don't have the patience to recount in detail all the "training" I've done over the past month, nor do I think it would serve much of a purpose. Maybe eventually it would come in handy as a review, but I'll get to it later. I would, however, like to summarize how things have been going (and not going) for the past month or so.

Around the last post I was keeping busy with daily cross training at the gym. I had started to jog on the treadmill a little when I decided that my left foot still wasn't quite healed. I reverted to daily cycling and/or "ellipsing" anywhere between 45 to 120 minutes, and launched into a new core/strength regimen. I even started playing around with doubling on certain days and learned that often the stronger workout would happen in the afternoon. I'll have to remember that if I'm ever thinking of running doubles. But I'll have to be able to run singles first.

Then I decided to try something I never, EVER, thought I'd come to. It involves a blue piece of foam and a swimming pool, and elicits some pretty strange looks from swimmers. Turns out I quite enjoyed the workout I got with pool running, but by golly, it is BORING. I figured that if the healing of the foot had plateaued for one reason or another, a few weeks of completely non-weightbearing exercise might give it the rest it needed to finish the process. Now, two weeks after I started pool running only, my foot feels better than it has in months. So things are looking up, and I'm pretty eager to get back on the roads. I've returned to some moderate weight bearing exercise, but nothing too serious. Last post I mentioned I'd set September 15 as my return date, but now that may be more tentative. More on that in a minute.

So here I am, on a two-week break between school terms (the last of which beat me up pretty good, although it turned out to be the most successful yet), in probably the best general shape I've ever been in my life. It'll be interesting to see how that translates to running, but I'm not too concerned about the fitness I've inevitably lost on that front.

It's the end of the school year (for me at least), the end of summer. A friend of mine just moved to this area to attend grad school and I've decided to go visit. However, I can't afford gas, and I don't have a car, so I've decided to push pedals in a general NNW direction until I arrive on his doorstep, salty and famished. Starting out along the Schuylkill River, I'll follow some local bike trails and work my way over towards PA Bike Route L, which runs within a few miles of my final destination. If all goes as planned, it'll be a two-day ride each way, somewhere around 300 miles round trip. I'll be packing food, water, and some camping supplies in my saddlebags.

Tomorrow at 7:30 am sharp I'll be parting ways with the urban cacophony and spinning away towards the Lackawanna Valley. Given that I won't be back until Monday evening at the earliest, and given the mileage, I'll likely opt out of running for at least a few days after I return. But I'd had a notion that when I finally start that again it'd be rather spur-of-the-moment as opposed to on a specific date or according to any organized plan. Seems to feel better that way.

So, if you're interested, I'll be posting corny little vistas from my mobile phone along the way up and back, so stay tuned for some scenery from the ride. I hope you all are enjoying the final few weeks of summer.