Tuscarora State Park Run

I always love finding new places to run.  I am heading to a sprint car race that is a little over an hour from home tonight.  Therefore, I decided I’d find somewhere to run nearby.  That ended up being the Tuscarora State Park in Tamaqua.  I had actually run my first trail race there, but that was back in 1999.  I don’t remember much of it.  I actually thought it was just another road race.  Turns out it was more of a cross country race.

The Schuykill League has their cross country league championships there in addition to the run that I did there (The Truskey Memorial Run).  I figured I’d try to run the cross country course and maybe add on a little more.  I asked where the course was at the park office and the woman working there only sort of knew.  She gave me a rough idea, but I decided to run on my own.

I started off on the Old Log Trail near the parking lot.  This was tough because it was an immediate steep climb.  I love climbing, but hate it when my legs aren’t warmed up.  The trail was nice though.  It was grassy and wide.  It was very long though.  I then picked up the Forest Edge Trail.  After going through the woods, it came out into an open grass area that was mowed.  This definitely looked like part of a cross country course.  I didn’t want to run on the grass too long, so I went back into the woods when I found another trail.

This trail was called the Laurel Trail.  I saw a deer streak across the woods in front of me.  This section of trail wasn’t bad, but there were a lot of low bushes that brushed up against my knees.  I don’t like running trails like that because I’m always worried about ticks.  This section was short though and eventually I wound up back on the Old Log Trail and back to the parking lot.  Going downhill on the Old Log Trail was much easier than the uphill portion.

I was thinking about trying to find the trail that runs along the lake and then pick up a short, but steep mountain trail.  I ended up noticing another trail right near the parking area called the Spirit of Tuscarora Trail.  This was much better to run in.  It was dirt singletrack, which I love.  It was very winding with some nice up and down segments.  There were some roots and rocks, but it wasn’t too technical.  I had done about a mile and a third thus far and was hoping to get to about 4 or 5 miles.  

What was making the running somewhat tough is that I bought a new Camelback for trail runs.  My other one was too big, so I wanted something lightweight to use.  The Rogue model that I bought carries 70 ounces and has storage for a couple things, like keys, a wallet and some maps.  I was a little worried about the way it attached to me, but it worked out well.  Hearing the water move around was a little annoying.  Otherwise, it worked pretty well.  The biggest problem was just getting used to the extra weight.  Although it isn’t much, it still took a toll on me, especially on the uphill sections.  I definitely have to get used to it.  I plan on taking it on the Trexler Nature Preserve Group Run tomorrow.  It should work.

The Spirit of Tuscarora Trail was very nice as I said earlier.  From the start, it dropped down to the lake and climbed a little.  Most of it was composed of talls trees and fairly wide open.  There wasn’t too much thick brush.  Because of how open it was, it got a little tricky to follow at times.  It was well blazed though.

One section ran along a creek.  Another part was quite muddy and fun to run through.  My plan was to make it to two and a half miles and turn around.  I lost the trail though right before that and it seemed like I was running up a dry creek bed.  Therefore, I headed back the way I started.

In some of the open sections, I got lost briefly.  One crossed a mostly dry creek and I eventually found the blazes.  There was some climbing that was tough at times, but it actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  It seemed like there was a lot of downhill going out, but coming back wasn’t too tough.  It was fun and actually over before I knew it.  

It was an excellent run.  I’d definitely run here again if it didn’t take so long to get to.  I might run the Truskey race again at the end of the summer.  The 5k is usually very competitive since all the local high school cross country runners race it.  I might try the 10k version.  The history of the race is sad.  When I ran it, it was the Chris Truskey Memorial Run.  Chris was a Tamaqua high school runner who died in an auto accident.  Since I ran it in ’99, his brother Kevin also died in an auto accident, so both their names are now on the race.  What a terrible way to lose two kids and both at different times.  Kevin was 25 when that happened, but it is still heartbreaking.

I’ll be getting home late tonight, but I still plan on the group run at Trexler Nature Preserve.  I need to see if I can complete the 8.5 mile loop before the Quadzilla 15k next month.  Of course my health and upcoming exploratory surgery on Monday will be a big question when it comes to that as well.  This week, I’ve really been putting on the miles.  After 20 miles last week, I’m already up to 26.5 miles this week, with an 8.5 mile run to go.  Plus, I plan to run Sunday too.  That’s certainly not following the 10% to 15% weekly increase rule.  Even if surgery goes well, I plan on resting a couple days.  I should have time to recover.  If I was hurting from the higher mileage this week, I would’ve backed off too.  I feel good though.

4 miles – 49:31 (12:23 pace)