A Weekend Field-Trip to Philadelphia

This weekend was a bit of a mess. On Friday after work I left for Philly to visit one of my grad school friends who recently moved there. Unfortunately for me, this weekend was also my final long run of the training cycle for New York which meant I had a 20+ miler to do. Because I'm a super big believer in training on the course as much as possible I decided I would head back to NYC on Saturday night and do my final long run Sunday morning. This made for a very compressed visit!

After we got in on Friday (I road the train down with another grad school friend), my two friends and I went to Royal Tavern, a local bar/restaurant with lots of vegan food. I had really tasty vegan sloppy joe and way too many fries. Then it was off to Bob and Barbara's, a Philly institution, for some live jazz. Finally, to end the night on a sweet note, we visited the Franklin Fountain, an old-school-style ice cream parlor, for a pumpkin ice cream sundae. Basically, it was an evening of efficient fueling for my impending long run.

The next morning I set off for what I intended to be a short 5 or 6 miles. Of course, not really knowing Philly, I let myself wander. I ran north on Broad Street up to Temple University (I love running through schools), before heading west to Fairmount Park. After almost getting lost on the Boxers' Trail I made my way to the Schuylkill River Trail. Shortly before I turned off the trail to return to my friend's house, I ran into my runner friend Rebecca--the girl I helped pace in her 100 miler. Talk about a small world! It was a great run but I ended up with 11.7 miles...a little more than my planned 5!

After showering and grabbing a delicious cup of joe at Bodhi Coffee it was time for some serious brunch. The place my friend picked, Rex 1516, was excellent! I got a tofu scramble with veggie sausage and a pint of Philly Brewing Co's Newbold IPA. It was plenty of food after my run! Our next stop was UPenn's Franklin Field where we (sadly but not surprisingly) watched Columbia fall to the Quakers. Unfortunately, after a wonderful afternoon/evening at Monk's Cafe, Nodding Head Brewery, and the Dandelion, it was time to catch my train back to New York.

I had a great time and definitely hope to be back in Philly soon! As for my long run on Sunday morning, it went really well but I'll talk about that in tomorrow's post.