• I left the hard work to others •
[2 MIN READ]
On Saturday, Jimmy Dee and I arrived at the Valley Green water fountain together. Another runner asked innocently, “Why are you so out of breath? Were you racing?” Both of us having just come off the DL agreed: It felt like it. Jimmy is recovering from hamstring problems. I am recovering from 2 broken toes (iCandybyWangC.com and elsewhere unless otherwise stated).
By the time I got to the 5-mile mark, Bryce had already taken off for Shawmont Avenue via Main Street Manayunk. He had also already taken off by the time Tall Dave and Quietman Tom arrived, so Dave was right when he recalled hearing that a few people were doing Shawmont but only the 2 of them were actually waiting to go (ShawmontRunningClub.com). I myself was going to Chinatown, something I’ve done before from the top of Forbidden Drive.
’What about your car?’ you wonder. Betsy’s car, you mean. She drove it home herself. She lives a mere 0.4 miles from me, so it was a simple matter of trotting to her house for a ride to Northwestern Avenue and the Forbidden Drive trailhead.
Dave, Tom, and I took off from the 5-mile mark for the Philadelphia Canoe Club at the bottom of the Wissahickon Creek past where Forbidden Drive ends. There I waved to them as they went west toward the canal towpath and I went east to Kelly Drive. I mean Kelly Drive literally. Dave had said the Stotesbury Regatta was taking place that day and the plethora of tents, trailer, and buses made the running path otherwise impossible to traverse.
Exactly as he said he’s done in the past, I took to the center of the street like I owned it, but with an unusual amount of extra effort. Passing Boathouse Row, I next ran the Ben Franklin Parkway to Vine Street and finished on 11th Street at Chinese Christian Church and Center where I had a meeting to attend (CCCnC.org). I added on a hair for an even 13.0 miles, dragging my heinie along. I did Shawmont Avenue last Saturday with Dave, but my conditioning for the distance is still farther into the future. For all my fatigue and breathlessness, I might have run a race, just not a half marathon. I wasn’t even willing to add on the measly additional 0.1 miles for that. The round mileage had to suffice.
’What about your ride home?’ you wonder. SEPTA Regional Rail, you mean. I took it back to my local Jenkintown Station and casually walked the mile home.
–CtCloser (Calvinthe) “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue (iCandybyWangC.com)
FINE PRINT ¶Text by Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (CreativeCommons.org). ¶Cross-published: Facebook Shawmont Running Club (ZY Weekly Newsletter 5/16/26 [Facebook]), Shawmont Running Club website (ShawmontRunningClub.com), Ruminations by CtCloser. ¶This website posting: Rumination with added caption, duration, and enumeration.
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