FUNKOPOLIS POUNDING THE PAVEMENT

DISTANCE RUN TODAY:  8 miles

TOTAL THUS FAR:  13 miles

DISTANCE REMAINING:  46.7 miles

WHERE AM I ON "THE VIRTUAL TRAIL"?  So far, I've made it from my house out through Allentown, and to the exit for 476, the Pennsylvania Turnpike - affectionately known as the "Blue Route" locally.  I've travelled about 10.7 miles south from the Lehigh Valley exit on the Blue Route, which means I'm closing in on Quakertown right now.

COMMENTARY FOR TODAY:  Now I know why they don't run marathons in August!!  What was I thinking??  I planned a longer run today, and made it through the eight miles, but the heat and humidity definitely slowed me up today.

The picture for today, I should explain, is my watch and one of my favorite toys since I started running.  It's a Timex Ironman Performance Monitor, a watch, with a built in odometer and speedometer built in...  http://www.timex.com/spd/.  It uses GPS technology, so it may sound a little Big Brother-ish, but it knows where I am at all times, and can calculate my distance and speed the entire time I'm out running.  What this means is that I can run wherever I want on any given day, and I don't have to worry about trying to pre-measure the distance to know how far I've run.

Today, I ran (this will be largely for those who are familiar with the area) up toward the Wegman's, ran down Springhouse and did a few loops inside some of the neighborhoods there, ran down to Trexler Road, which essentially brings you out to the back side of the golf course on Tilghman.  From there, I cut across Tilghman and hopped into Trexler Park, did a lap there, came back out and made my way back up toward Wegman's, and back toward home.

The watch is really nice, in that it really allows me to change my plans with a moment's notice, and not have to worry about wondering how far I've run.  And it was important today, as I made a lot of choices based on where I knew I could run in some shade.  :)

When I run, I listen to 99.9 The Hawk - a radio station here in Allentown that plays GREAT classic rock http://www.999thehawk.com/.  In the morning they play 99 minutes of music commercial free, between 9:00 - 10:30, which is when I'm running, so it helps to motivate me through the run.  They also tend to play some of the "longer" classic songs during this time, so it helps to get me through some rough spots while I'm running.  If you ever see me out, and notice me mumbling to myself, chances are good that I'm singing to myself to try and motivate myself over a hump.

FACTOID ABOUT INDEPENDENCE HALL THAT I FOCUSED ON TO TAKE MY MIND OFF THE FACT THAT I WAS RUNNING EIGHT MILES IN 90 DEGREE HEAT:  Did you know that the basement of Independence Hall once served as the City's dog pound?

Well, time to rehydrate for now.  I'll be checking back in and letting you know the progress.  If you haven't yet, please drop us an e-mail at funkopolisfusion@aol.com, visit the website at http://www.funkopolis.org/poundingthepavement, and if you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 610-507-5395.

Hope to hear from all of you SOON!!!  :)

tim

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