In the weeks between the Broad Street Run and the ODDyssey Half Marathon I got creative with training in that I flew without a net (or a training regimen) and learned that sometimes running is just running. I took some time to recover, hit a few 5K's, swear I won't do another 5K for quite some time, throw out the regular routes for those I'd always said "I bet that's cool" about and generally added relaxation back into running. Oh and I learned a few things too:
1. It is exactly 11 miles from my house, down front street to the Ben Franklin Bridge, across to Camden and down the waterfront boardwalk to the USS NJ (and back). This is a fantastically quiet run down a beaten boardwalk to a ship so touchable I found myself actually reaching out to feel its steely side;
2. If you start at Rittenhouse Square and run straight down Walnut Street past all of the closed designers and emptied out bars toward Front Street and the River at just the right time of pre-dawn, you will likely catch an easy sunrise you weren't expecting to see popping up over the Camden skyline and may end up repeating the "Red sky at night, sailor's delight" rhyme to yourself;
3. Just because I've been running pain-free for a while now, doesn't mean I can randomly up my weights on a lifting program and walk around the gym like I'm a badass. It hurts. And, up until yesterday afternoon, I wasn't so sure I hadn't re-injured something; and
4. I'm better off without an iPod when I run - less scattered, less "oooh I need a better song," and less sideways. More forward.
I think I needed this small break from training and a turn back toward running to remind me why I'm out there - to remind me it's about more than just my dad's voice saying "don't ever stop running."
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