In keeping with this week's tradition, I decided to do another climbing run. This time, I ran the Appalachian Trail south from Wind Gap. I'd hiked some of this, but never run it. It's tough because the first two thirds of a mile is an uphill climb.
Luckily, there are switchbacks that make the climb easier. That said, it is still a tough climb. One nice thing about Bear Creek is it starts out easy so you can warmup for a little while. Today, there was no warmup. It was straight into the grind uphill. It was also good that I hiked it before, so I knew what to expect. The climb was similar to the other runs this week in terms of elevation change, but the starting and finishing elevations themselves were much higher. My ears even popped during the run.
The start wasn't too rocky, but once the climb was over, it was brutal. There were rocks everywhere. Almost no stretch of the route was runnable. Basically, it was a slow shuffle along the technical trail. Not only are there so many rocks, but a lot of them actually point upward. Those can just destroy your feet if you land on them wrong. The run was at least good practice, but the slow pace required little effort. The real challenge was mental. You have to stay focused there. You can daydream or you'll fall and possibly get hurt.
Some sections were so rocky that I had no choice but to walk them. Even walking them proved challenging at times. I did find that I could go uphill much better through the rocks than downhill. It was much easier to see and pick your spots when going uphill. For awhile, I considered turning around and questioned why I was even running this. I just decided to keep going anyway.
There were a couple views. The one rock view to the south was kind of disappointing. There were too many trees. Right as I was about to hit the halfway point and turn around, I came across a pipeline. This opening made for amazing views to the north and south. It was too bright or I might've even seen the area around my house. I'll definitely have to head there again, whether during a run or a hike. I want to get some pictures too.
I was relieved when I finally hit the turnaround. It was slightly uphill and not too rocky for awhile, so I almost actually ran. I knew that the final two thirds of a mile would be downhill. That gave me something to look forward to. I was also happy that I didn't have to eat anymore spiderwebs. I must've been the first person through that section today because I hit web after web. I didn't see any other people, so I guess it made sense.
I was actually tired by the end, but that was really more because I was running so long. The only time I ran for that much time was my trail run at Hickory Run a few weeks back. I'll run this every now and then, but it definitely won't be a staple of my workouts. It could make a good recovery run I suppose and good practice for technical trail running, but it isn't going to push me to the limits physically.
I am going to the Indy Car race in Baltimore this week. We are camping at a state park in southern Pennsylvania. I'll at least get my Saturday long run in there. Mostly likely, that'll be a Saturday night trail run. I brought my headlamp. I need to practice some night running anyway for my upcoming night trail race. It's been a fun week thus far with 6326 of total ascent. Saturday, I won't be climbing that much though.
5 miles - 1:12:41 (14:32 pace)
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