Not having to be at work until just before 11am here in Philly, I had time to spare. So I thought I'd do a medium-long run. 15 or so would do. Maybe even 16. The most I've done in the past month and a half (after Prague) has been 17. This would be a challenge for me.
It was another beautiful sunny morning as I went down the hill from the hotel and then onto the scenic Perkiomen Trail. Yesterday it was in a southernly direction, this time it was north. There had been only about a mile of crushed limestone for yesterday's run, with the rest being asphalt. Going north, it's mostly limestone.
After the usual slow start, I settled into a 8:20 to 8:30 pace. For some strange reason, I went past 7.5 miles out. I turned back at a nice park at 8+ miles. I guess I had started thinking of 16 miles rather than 15. But now it would be even longer than 16. On the way back I went out and back on an additional trail spur. Now it was looking like it would be more like 18 miles total.
So there I was, still feeling fine, still running that same pace, and I started thinking some more. 18 is *almost* 20. Why not go for the whole enchilada? As I got to the point where I was to extract myself from the trail and back up the hills to the hotel (about a mile more), I just kept going south.
Now I was on the part of the trail that I had done yesterday. I went a little over a mile and then turned back. I hit 20 just before the really really big hill up to the hotel and turned off my GPS. 2:49 and steady. Not bad. I was going to walk that last 1/2 mile.
I did walk for a few steps, but then I started jogging. Back on went the GPS. I did some extra and am calling it yet another mile.
What do you know?
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