Running

Feeling confident after the Broad Street Run, I decided to register for the Philly Half-Marathon [11/21/2010].  I’ll admit – the $10 coupon sort of helped, too.  I’ve been pretty lazy about running the past two months, not waking up as early as I used to.  It’s been dreadfully hot and humid this summer, which has only served to compound my desire stay in bed, as opposed to getting up and sweating.  So with approximately 18 weeks left, I’ve decided to get on a real regimen and stick to it.  Runner’s World just released a free new iPhone app called Smart Coach that allows you to quickly create a training schedule that’s somewhat customizable to get you on track for a target race.  I say “somewhat” because not everything is completely customizable, ie. the Schedule Length only goes from two to 16 weeks.  Not a huge deal, considering it’s free.  If all goes well, and I stick to the plan, I should be at 13 mi by 10/25/2010 – nearly a month in advance of the race.  At that point I think I’ll go into maintenance mode and just keep it rolling.

Schedule – Week #1

Monday [7/26/2010]: 8 mi, Long Run
Tuesday [7/27/2010]: 0 mi, Rest
Wednesday [7/28/2010]: 4 mi, Easy Run
Thursday [7/29/2010]: 0 mi, Rest
Friday [7/30/2010]: 5 mi, Tempo Run
Saturday [7/31/2010]: 4 mi, Easy Run
Sunday [8/1/2010]: 0 mi, Rest

Update 7/28/2010: I apparently suck at keeping a schedule.  I accidentally did my tempo run scheduled for Friday.

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Overall the BSR was a success this year. I’m not entirely sure why they decided to cap the entrants at 30,000, except perhaps to make it a bit more competitive. Compared to the 23,244 finishers last year, 26,178 made it to the finish line this year. I wish I could remember specifically how many runners were registered last year, but I do recall it being over 30k. Strangely, though there were fewer runners, it felt more congested overall.

I was disappointed to finish 1:54 slower than last year, but taking the dreadful heat and humidity into account, it wasn’t a terrible outing.

Official time: 1:28:02

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