Dreary Double

For the first time today, I ran twice. I started with a morning trail run back near my parents house. I followed that up by running with the run club at City Sports. Of course, I couldn't have picked worse weather to do a double in. It was cold (upper 30s/low 40s) and rainy. Add to that a lot of wind when I got back to Philadelphia.

The plan for today was to get out and run a speedwork. That didn't quite work out thanks to the weather. Instead, I just ran on the trail and cut that run short by a bit in the morning. I actually expected to encounter a mud filled trail. Most of it was gravel though.

I started the Jacobsburg Park trail in a section with a lot of meadows. There were multiple wide paths in that area and it was easy to get lost. I followed one to the right and I could tell early on that it was going to be a tough run. This sections is mostly flat, but there are still some challenging hills in there too.

Before I knew it, I was a very hilly section that my dad and I had walked briefly a couple weeks ago. This was tough because there were a lot of trees with roots sticking out in this section. The trail was wide enough, but it was a cliff there. I actually flew down hill and over a footbridge very fast at one point. I was out of control and lucky I didn't fall, especially with the wet terrain.

I then climbed up a tough hill and wound up in the meadow section again. I looped around and thought I was heading towards home. It turned out that I was back by the environmental center though. At least I knew the way back from there. I was one of several times that I was lost. It is easy to find your way back in this park though.

I went through the meadow section again and followed a very difficult uphill. It took a lot out of me. I nearly walked this portion. I kept on though, with a goal to finish 5 miles. Eventually, I found the path back to the car. It was a tough run, but a good workout.

I was overdressed for both runs. This is one time when I don't mind being overdressed though (rainy and windy runs). Both times, I wore tights, a long sleeve shirt, gloves and my jacket. I was soaked and cold when I stopped though.

The run club was the usual out and back to Lloyd Hall. The only non employees running were the Brooks rep and coworker's wife and friend. It was fun and we all stayed together on Walnut Street. Once we hit the Schuykill Banks though, I picked up the pace a little. I actually tried to stay slow and just ahead of everyone, but it was tough to do. I flew up the hill and really ended up gaping everyone.

Since I was so far ahead on the way out, even while taking it easy, I decided to treat the way back as a speedwork session. I pushed very hard. Part of me want to just get the run over with anyways. The one good thing was that the wind was at least at our backs that time. I cruised at a very nice clip. My watch had trouble picking up satellite signals, so I never did know how fast I was going. Of course, I ended up finishing far ahead of everyone. Hopefully next week, we'll get some more fast runners out there too.

My hip is a little sore from the double session. Overall though, I think I recovered pretty well. I'm hoping I feel good enough to get out there early tomorrow morning and put in an easy 10 miler before work. If not, I'll run after work (5 PM). Either way, it should be a nice relief.

AM run 5 miles - 45:37 (9:08 pace)
PM run ~4.25 miles