Super Super Sunday!

Yesterday was a run day, and what a wonderful day it was. We decided to run somewhere away from the neighborhood, but I was still store from last week's hill run, so I wanted a long route, possibly scenic, but somewhat flat. We decided on Kelly Drive in Philadelphia. Formerly known as East River Drive, it was renamed "Kelly Drive" in the 1980s to honor John B. Kelly, Jr., a Philadelphia City Councilman,[1] Olympic rower, and the brother of Grace Kelly. It's an 8+ mile loop along the Schuykill River, and basically ends with a run past the famous Philadelphia Art Museum.

What a neat route, so much to look at, old buildings, beautiful scenery, statutes, Boathouse Row, rowers on the river...wonderful! So, of course, I took a few pictures. There was so much more I wanted to snap pictures of, but I only took pictures during my walk intervals. Maybe next time I'll get more.

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As we got halfway around the loop, I turned to Aimee, my running buddy, and asked you know, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I've always wanted to run up the steps of the Art Museum, like in the Rocky movie. She said something like "You're crazy!" No, I'm serious. She suggested it might be something to do another time...before we run the eight miles. My response, well, we'll see, you know, you only live once.

Toward the end of the run, as we approached the back of the Art Museum...

...my legs (and glutes) were really starting to tighten. We were keeping a pretty good pace but has definitely slowed down from the beginning of the run. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was better to save for another day, but I just felt so drawn to the idea of doing it.




When we were approaching to the front of the Art Museum...

... Aimee turned to me and said, "Well, what do you think?" My response, "I want to do it!" Let's go!!!! And up we went, step by step, running up the Art Museum steps, just like the movie. Ha ha. And there were others doing it as well. I felt like such a tourist! Here's pics from the top.

I was totally pumped after that run. Such a good day. And there was a little cafe right where we parked. We stopped for a cup of hot tea for the drive home.

Later yesterday afternoon I talked to my Mom. My parents were both from Philly. My Mom told me that the area we ran in yesterday was my Dad's old stomping ground when he was a young man and when my parents were dating. To tie it all together here, I realized that the movie, "Rocky", was the only movie my Dad ever took me to as a kid. So maybe that's why I felt so drawn to run up those steps and why I felt so strong running yesterday. I'm thinking Dad was watching me yesterday, cheering me on, and is proud of my accomplishments. :)