LONG RUN
The "long run" is an important piece of any runner's regimen. My long run is currently eight miles, although I'm trying to inch it up over the next several weeks, as I'm half-thinking about signing up for the Broad Street Run, a ten-miler in May that runs north-south from Temple University to the shipyard.
I went on that long run this afternoon. I'd like to describe my route. Running for me is about the exercise, but it's also about the scenery. (Even though we have a treadmill, I've only run on it twice -- once when it was 90+ degrees outside, and once when there was 20+ inches of snow on the ground.) I like nature runs, but since I live in a city, I've grown fond of urban runs. In fact, one of my new hobbies is, when I travel to other cities for business, to scope out cool urban runs on the Internet and then go do them.
Philly's gotta be one of the better cities for urban runs. My eight-miler starts in West Philadelphia, where I run about a half-mile to the western edge of the PENN campus, where I stretch. I cut through Locust Walk, the main artery on campus, and today run down a long diagonal that takes me to the Drexel campus. Chestnut Street becomes a bridge over the Schuylkill River and brings me downtown. I pass a Red Cross building, and peek up to the second floor, where City Year Philadelphia has its office. I pass a church that is over two hundred years old on the left, and an art supply store buzzing with local students on the right.
Broad Street looms ahead. As I gingerly cross it, I quickly look left (City Hall) and right (Avenue of the Arts). For the couple of blocks before and after Broad Street, sidewalk traffic is thick, and I'm forced to a standstill a couple of times. I had begun this jaunt in the 40's (I live on 45th Street); Broad Street is essentially 14th Street. Now the numbers get even smaller: in the low teens are hospitals, and by the time we get to the high single digits, we're nearing Independence Hall. At 6th Street, Chestnut is blocked to pedestrian and auto traffic for security reasons; I make a right turn and a quick left into the courtyard behind Independence Hall. I blow a kiss to Independence Hall and then touch my heart twice: it's a little ritual of mine.
I get to 2nd Street and hook right, just before we're out of numbers and into water (the Delaware River). I pass through Headhouse Square and make a right on South Street. From 2nd to 6th, South Street is . . . well, South Street, that crazy place people all over the world know about. In 30-degree February, though, there aren't a lot of people out, especially at 4:30pm on a Thursday. This is the grueling part of the run; a long stretch with not much scenery to offer. The numbers are getting bigger but I know I need to get to 44 before I can stop. They painfully count up: 12, 13, cross Broad Street, 15, 16, 17. Here is where my mind begins to wander, and hope that when I snap to, I'm in the 30's and 40's again. No such luck.
Thankfully, it's not as cold as I'd feared; I went on this run this afternoon, rather than tomorrow morning, when I had planned to, because the weather forecast said six inches of snow was coming, starting at 6pm today. I brace myself for a long upward ascent as I get to the South Street bridge and back into University City. Once I cross the Schuylkill again, I run under the arches of PENN's Franklin Field, where PENN Relays is run and where I do my intervals. Back on the PENN campus, and just a mile to go. But most of it is uphill. How cruel.
I summon a kick that I didn't know I had inside me. Maybe my body is just saying, "Let's get this done!" 38, 39, 40 . . . Off the PENN campus, and into my neighborhood. 41, 42, 43 . . . the last block is particularly steep. But it's the last block. So I sprint it. I cross 44th, hit my stopwatch, and decelerate into a limp. The best part of the run, not just because the pain is over, but because the pleasure kicks in. Mmmm . . . runner's high.
I'm looking forward to getting that long run up a few miles, so I can try some new route through this lovely city I live in. PENN's Landing, Fairmount Park, FDR Park . . .new landmarks I hope to conquer in the next few weeks. But for now I'll content myself with a good long run, and rest my dogs for a couple of days.
The "long run" is an important piece of any runner's regimen. My long run is currently eight miles, although I'm trying to inch it up over the next several weeks, as I'm half-thinking about signing up for the Broad Street Run, a ten-miler in May that runs north-south from Temple University to the shipyard.
I went on that long run this afternoon. I'd like to describe my route. Running for me is about the exercise, but it's also about the scenery. (Even though we have a treadmill, I've only run on it twice -- once when it was 90+ degrees outside, and once when there was 20+ inches of snow on the ground.) I like nature runs, but since I live in a city, I've grown fond of urban runs. In fact, one of my new hobbies is, when I travel to other cities for business, to scope out cool urban runs on the Internet and then go do them.
Philly's gotta be one of the better cities for urban runs. My eight-miler starts in West Philadelphia, where I run about a half-mile to the western edge of the PENN campus, where I stretch. I cut through Locust Walk, the main artery on campus, and today run down a long diagonal that takes me to the Drexel campus. Chestnut Street becomes a bridge over the Schuylkill River and brings me downtown. I pass a Red Cross building, and peek up to the second floor, where City Year Philadelphia has its office. I pass a church that is over two hundred years old on the left, and an art supply store buzzing with local students on the right.
Broad Street looms ahead. As I gingerly cross it, I quickly look left (City Hall) and right (Avenue of the Arts). For the couple of blocks before and after Broad Street, sidewalk traffic is thick, and I'm forced to a standstill a couple of times. I had begun this jaunt in the 40's (I live on 45th Street); Broad Street is essentially 14th Street. Now the numbers get even smaller: in the low teens are hospitals, and by the time we get to the high single digits, we're nearing Independence Hall. At 6th Street, Chestnut is blocked to pedestrian and auto traffic for security reasons; I make a right turn and a quick left into the courtyard behind Independence Hall. I blow a kiss to Independence Hall and then touch my heart twice: it's a little ritual of mine.
I get to 2nd Street and hook right, just before we're out of numbers and into water (the Delaware River). I pass through Headhouse Square and make a right on South Street. From 2nd to 6th, South Street is . . . well, South Street, that crazy place people all over the world know about. In 30-degree February, though, there aren't a lot of people out, especially at 4:30pm on a Thursday. This is the grueling part of the run; a long stretch with not much scenery to offer. The numbers are getting bigger but I know I need to get to 44 before I can stop. They painfully count up: 12, 13, cross Broad Street, 15, 16, 17. Here is where my mind begins to wander, and hope that when I snap to, I'm in the 30's and 40's again. No such luck.
Thankfully, it's not as cold as I'd feared; I went on this run this afternoon, rather than tomorrow morning, when I had planned to, because the weather forecast said six inches of snow was coming, starting at 6pm today. I brace myself for a long upward ascent as I get to the South Street bridge and back into University City. Once I cross the Schuylkill again, I run under the arches of PENN's Franklin Field, where PENN Relays is run and where I do my intervals. Back on the PENN campus, and just a mile to go. But most of it is uphill. How cruel.
I summon a kick that I didn't know I had inside me. Maybe my body is just saying, "Let's get this done!" 38, 39, 40 . . . Off the PENN campus, and into my neighborhood. 41, 42, 43 . . . the last block is particularly steep. But it's the last block. So I sprint it. I cross 44th, hit my stopwatch, and decelerate into a limp. The best part of the run, not just because the pain is over, but because the pleasure kicks in. Mmmm . . . runner's high.
I'm looking forward to getting that long run up a few miles, so I can try some new route through this lovely city I live in. PENN's Landing, Fairmount Park, FDR Park . . .new landmarks I hope to conquer in the next few weeks. But for now I'll content myself with a good long run, and rest my dogs for a couple of days.
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