Four-teen

With big plans of a homemade Chicken Parm dinner before the 14, Josh came over to find me still sitting in front of the computer with 3 different recipes in front of me, and the oven not even pre-heating. He laughed at me, and then suggested we indulge in a meal out. Thank goodness. We went to Primavera Pizza Kitchen, which is just up the street from my house, and has yet to disappoint me.

The forecast was calling for rain on Saturday am, but when I woke up at 6:30 the skies were still just threatening. I met Emmy at the movie theater in Manayunk and we kept pace together for the first 2 miles or so. Our route today: From the movie theater to City Hall and back (via Kelly Drive). It was wonderful. After Emmy picked up her pace, I focused on keeping mine and enjoyed people-watching. There was a Crew race happening on the river that day and on my way down Kelly Drive, I got to watch them setting up. It was a rush to finally have City Hall come into view and get closer and closer...and then to turn around and have the same experience with the Art Museum. Two of the most iconic buildings in Philadelphia, and I have them both in the same run. I felt spoiled. On the way back, I started up my audio book (Sex, Drugs & a Double Latte -- Heather, you're right: very funny and keeps my attention!) and got to see the Crew race in full swing. Around mile 10 I started having trouble, began running for a quarter mile at a time and then walking 30seconds to a minute. Before starting up again, I would start to chant to myself little mantras: "come on, Becca you can do this" and "all right, another quarter mile down! You're almost there. The Falls Bridge is around the corner", and then there's Emmy's personal favorite: "YOU'RE A MARATHON RUNNER".


Pretty soon the Falls Bridge was a memory and I looked up and saw Emmy coming back to run the last mile with me. Hooray! Em pushed me that last mile (thank you, emmy) and while it started to rain on our last quarter mile, it POURED just as we got back to my car. Perfect timing. 14 miles in about 2.5 hours. I'm looking at a 5 hour marathon, probably. It will be painful, but I will finish it. This training season has been racked with sickness, weddings (see also: drinking to excess, eating to excess and not getting proper runs in) and injury. I'm really proud of all that I've accomplished so far, and absolutely cannot wait to cross that finish line on November 23rd.