Today was supposed to be an off day. I was feeling so good and the weather was so great that I decided to go for a run. I thought it would be the perfect kind of day to run around a lake, so I headed to Merrill Creek just north of Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
Merrill Creek has a perimeter trail that goes 5 miles around the lake. I wasn't planning on going that far; I figured on an easy two mile run. I discovered the place last year when I was looking at a map for mountains to run in.
When I went there with my dad last year, I thought it was too flat. There wasn't great elevation change where I ran, but it did catch me off guard. It wasn't as pancake flat as I thought it would be. It was a bit tougher than I anticipated.
The trail was tightly packed gravel. It was almost like a road surface. What was cool about it was that some of the trail was out in the open along the lake, while other parts were wooded. That made for vastly different temperatures in the sun and in the shade. I wore a singlet and was glad I did because I would've baked in the sun.
Running the section over the dam was pretty cool. The only issue was that as I was doing it on the way out a maintenance vehicle was driving over it too. The stone was compact in the middle of the trail, but loose and tough to run on at the edges (which was where I ended up for awhile).
I managed to get through a fairly tough uphill section just before turning around. I even considered going out farther before coming back, but I elected to take it easy. Yesterday's run didn't beat me up too bad, but the lack of rest definitely left me a bit sore today. I probably should not have been running.
My leg bothered me due to the lack of rest. It wasn't enough to slow me down or stop me, but it was noticeable (which it hasn't been all week). Where it really started bothering me was after I stopped running. It then stiffened up.
I was starting to lose it at the end. The funny thing is I looked at my watch and saw .4 miles left and thought, less than two laps around the track left. I often think about track laps as I get towards the end of the run. The thing that makes that so odd is that whenever I've run on a track has been fast and uncomfortable. I'm trying to make myself feel comfortable about how close the finish is, but at the same time I'm reminding myself about terrible running experiences.
Speaking of fast, I did pick up my pace in the final quarter mile to finish strong. I'm trying to do that at the end of runs that aren't too taxing. It will teach me to finish fast and unleash my deadly kick. One thing that is nice right now is that I'm not worried about the actual pace at all. It allows me to just run relaxed and enjoy myself. After I built up a good base, I'll become more concerned about that.
Although this place will never become a staple of my runs, it was better than I expected. There is at least some elevation change. Who wouldn't want to run next to a lake either. I'll probably be back there again when I can comfortably run the full loop. It will also likely make a good easy day when I get back into really good shape.
The goal for this week was three or four days of running. This is already my fourth run and I'm planning to join the BCR group run tomorrow too. I'll ice tonight and see how I recover. I'm hoping to do 4 or 5 miles and I'm also hoping that it will be a nice pace running with a group too. An ice bath afterward is certainly in the plans. I'll be taking off Sunday no matter what and Monday too if I need to.
2 miles- 17:57 (8:59 pace)
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