Clean, Run

Early afternoon

Cleans 10 X 2 on the minute
Load: 120

After the cleans it was out the door with the lunchtime Centocor Running Club for a 5.2 mile look that included portions of the Chester Valley Trail. This trail is another addition to the trail network in the Greater Philadelphia Area. It's a paved trail that extends much longer than the average 1-2 miles most local trails span, although this loop only takes advantage of about a 1/2 mile or so. Most of our paths were covered with either ice or snow, so the going was pretty slow for the majority of the run. In fact, the footing was so precarious that I had to walk or opted to run through the 8 inches of snow that covered the side of the trails. Not much fun when you consider the multi freeze/thaw cycles we've had created a layer of ice on top of the snow, which tore the hell out of my shins.

Once of the trail, there was no respite as the following half mile proceeded up Tech Drive. The first time I encountered this hill was one of my first 5Ks. Coincidentally, I was in the peak of training for the Iron Man and registered my fasted 5K time ever. I wish I would have know what I could have done with a flat course. Regardless, the hill was much more foreboding than I remembered and the effort level conveyed my loss in fitness. The huffing and puffing up the hill probably looked more like a steam engine struggling up the Rocky Mountains while mercilessly dragging tons of cargo. At least that's how I felt.

I think it was about 5.2 miles in about 48 minutes.