Half a Marathon Before Sun Up

At 4:00 am on a Sunday morning, many people are fast asleep, dreaming about the run they have scheduled for later that day.  At 4:00 am this past Sunday morning, I went on a 13 mile run.  It was dark, it was chilly, it was a beautiful run.  Cars honked at me only twice, I saw two other runners, and one group of drunks roaming Main Street in Manyunk.  Other than that, there were few cars driving by, and a random guy with a backpack that would turn around to watch me run by him along the Schuylkill River.

My route took me along the second half of the Philadelphia Marathon on Kelly Drive all the way to Manyunk.  As of now, I believe I have run almost every part of the Philadelphia Marathon in preparation for the actual race coming in a couple of weeks.  I believe familiarity with the course will prove to be advantageous to me when I am plotting out my pace and knowing different landmarks to take my Clif Block chews.  Next, I need to study where the water stations and Porter Potties will be located.

13 Mile Running Route (Credit to MapMyRun.com)

This is not the first time I have woken up before sunrise to run my long distance runs.  Typically, when I have work at 7:00 am, I like to get my runs in beforehand so I feel wide awake for performing my job.  Additionally, I need to run before I start my day; it is difficult for me to run after getting my day started.  Plus, I truly enjoy running that early in the morning because it is very peaceful around the area and allows me to avoid distractions.

 Philadelphia Skyline from Spring Garden Bridge at 5:30 am (Photo taken by Micah Sokolsky)

Typically when I have gone on my early morning runs, I have run through Center City because it is more lit and there are people around in case anything bad happens.  I do not own anything that glows in the dark to allow people to see me running, but I was sporting my lime green shorts and lime green socks.  Luckily, I do have shoes that have built-in reflectors.  Whether or not they actually work is beyond me, but telling my mom that I have them was reassuring to her.

In the end, I felt great during my run and have felt very comfortable while running.  After running 20 miles last week, this run felt and was much shorter.  My next long run is only eight miles and then the big baby:  The Philadelphia Marathon.  Let the countdown begin; I am almost there!

20 Miles: The Definition of Long Slow Distance

Many people imagine driving twenty miles to a nearby town, to the beach, or to a sporting event.  Well, I ran twenty miles Sunday morning.  You heard me right, I RAN 20 MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The best part is that I felt great during the run and even better afterwards.  It is incredible that I was able to stand and walk around throughout the day and even go out at night to celebrate my friend’s birthday.

This was the longest run of my marathon training regimen, which means the mileage will only decrease from here on out.  After finishing the run, I felt that I could have run another six to complete the marathon.  If only the marathon was this past weekend, I probably would have been able to finish.  I ran my twenty miles in exactly three hours, which is at the exact pace I hope to maintain during the marathon.  If I had kept up my pace for another 6.2 miles, I would have finished in just under four hours (my goal).

20 Mile Running Route (Credit to MapMyRun.com)

My route began similar to that of the Philadelphia Marathon:  I went along the Schuylkill Banks to South Street and back to the Art Museum.  From the Art Museum, I went down the Ben Franklin Parkway to Arch Street; I took Arch down to Front Street (equivalent of 1st Street), and then turned right to South Street.  The actual Marathon runs along Columbus Boulevard (I believe), so I did not fully run that part of the course.  I ran up south Street until 6th Street before cutting over to Chestnut Street.  Once on Chestnut (the actual course), I ran up to 34th Street, which runs through Drexel’s campus!  I ran by my house to pick up a banana to eat and re-filled my bottle of water for the following second half of my run.

After passing my house, I continued up 34th Street past the Philadelphia Zoo and through Fairmount Park.  While running through Fairmount Park, I had to dodge runners who were participating in the “Race For Hope” to raise money for the National Brain Tumor Society.  I dodged these runners in Fairmount Park and along West River Drive until I lost them going up Kelly Drive.  I took Kelly Drive until the Girard Street Bridge before turning around and finally heading home.  During the final blocks of my run, I was telling myself outloud, “You can do it, Micah!  Keep going!”  Luckily, on my final block, I ran by a friend of mine who cheered me on.

Me running through Fairmount Park (Photo taken by Micah Sokolsky)

This was the best I have felt during any of my long distance runs, and hopefully I can feel like this in a few weeks for the Philadelphia Marathon!  If I keep stretching, eating right, and taking care of my body, I feel confident that I will finish the run in under four hours.  I am looking forward to a little less mileage next weekend and cannot wait until the day I run 26.2 miles!

A Grueling 18 Miles

On Sunday, I ran a new personal furthest:  18 miles.  While there were many breaks along the way to refuel and have the energy to continue, I survived.  This was one of the toughest runs I have had during my training regimen.  I typically run first thing in the morning, but today I ran after my morning shift around 11:00 am.  The other issue was that I had arrived back in Philadelphia from Brooklyn late at night.  I was tired and in a rush to make it home on time for my work at the Philadelphia Union game.

            

To complete the 18-mile route, I began my run along the Schuylkill River Trail heading south along the boardwalk toward South Street.  I always like to begin my runs on that trail because it is an easy three miles to begin.  I live across the river from the trail and it is very quick for me to make it there to start the run.  Next, I continued my run going north along the Schuylkill River and wound up in Manyunk before turning around.  The Philadelphia Marathon route goes along Kelly Drive up to Manyunk for the second half of the run, so I want familiarize myself with the trail before running it for real on November 22.

            

To my surprise, there was a major high school crew regatta.  I spent the first part of the run dodging rowers, fans, parents, boats, and golf carts.  It felt like I was running on an obstacle course!  There were so many people walking around and did not pay a lick of attention to me.  Several times, I was almost hit by a boat or run over by the golf carts taking fans along the river.  Around mile six, a biker passed me and fell.  I went to help him up, but he ended up being okay, maybe he had a few bruises.  It felt more dangerous to run rather than enjoy the day.

            

Going back to me preferring morning runs—it began to heat up temperature-wise and I began to get tired easily.  It got so hot that I took off my shirt for the past couple of miles.  I have not been used to running in that hot of temperature since the summer, and even then, I was not running that long.  From the start, it was not my day to run, but I pushed through.