Hickory Run Run

My dad and I decided to go camping this weekend.  We are at Hickory Run State Park.  It is about an hour from home (near where Routes 80 and 476 meet).  Since Friday runs are typically so awful, I elected to wait until getting to the park to run.  I wanted to start right away though, because it was already after 3 PM.  I figured a trail run would be a nice change of pace.

I wasn’t quite sure where to go.  I thought about running in the northwest section of the park.  There is a great view of the Lehigh Gorge there.  I didn’t have any shorts with me that could hold a park map and I didn’t want to get lost.  Therefore, I decided to just run the route that I ran last year when I was here.  This time, I ran it in the opposite direction.

There is a 10k race here in the spring and it follows that course.  I can’t remember which direction the race actually goes.  For some reason, I also thought this was a 5k course and not a 10k course.  When I ran here last year, I tried to do a speed session and failed miserably with all the hills.

Today I was just taking it easy.  I started off running in the campground.  My dad suggested that, rather than run on the road.  I was sore in the beginning (my quads) and again I ran awful at the start.  Once I got warmed up, I was okay.  I never did feel great today.  Yesterday’s workout was hard.

I saw an opening to the road from the campground and left it.  It turned out that I could’ve run farther in the campground.  Instead, I was running east on Route 534.  I didn’t realize there would be such an uphill to get to the trailhead.  I wasn’t enjoying it and kept wondering where the trail was.  It was far from the worst hill that I’ve ever run, but it kept going and going.

Finally, I turned onto the Pine Hill Trail.  This trail is a wide doubletrack woods road.  It is nice and open.  The path is mostly grass and some dirt.  After the slow first three quarters of a mile on the road, this was a welcome change.  It was a super long downhill that seems to last forever.  I wasn’t complaining.

There was some water here and there, but overall the trail wasn’t too muddy.  It didn’t slow me down much.  I got to the Blue Trail and saw that the sign said that the highway was 1.75 miles away.  That was a wonderful 1.75 miles.  It flew along.  It was so fast that I ran with ease and put together back to back miles of 8:33 and 8:18.  

I knew things would get interested when this part of the trail changed terrain.  Eventually, it became a narrow singletrack.  First, it climbed up a short hill.  I was happy because I thought it might be a longer hill.  The setting was now a pretty thick forest.  I tripped around the top of the hill and twisted my ankle.  The next few steps were tough, especially because the path was now rocky.

Going downhill, the path turned very technical.  It was rock after rock.  I couldn’t go very fast because of that terrain.  I was still happy to be descending.  Last year, I ran up this hill and it killed me.  This direction was hard, but much better.

One section was so rocky that I basically had to walk over it.  Other than that, I just scanned the terrain for the best footing.  I knew I was going the right way because pink ribbons were tied all around.  I assume that was from the trail race.  At one point, I briefly lost the trail and started to get worried.  Luckily, I quickly found it and was on my way.

I did have to climb just a little bit, but most of the run was downhill.  I went through one section that was like a meadow.  I then came out to some train tracks.  Everything was familiar, so I was happy.  I wasn’t crazy about some of the overgrowth on the trail.  I forgot bug spray and didn’t want to come across any ticks.

After the railroad tracks, the trail changes names and terrain.  It is about the width of a doubletrack, but a vehicle wouldn’t fit through some of the low canopy.  The map shows this as the Shades of Death Trail, but the signage listed it as either part of the Fireline Trail or the Sand Spring Trail.

I was running along the trail and it was neat because I could see and hear Hickory Run below.  At one point, I came to the intersection with the Hickory Run Trail.  I was only about 85% sure that I needed to stay on my current trail.  My worries were put to rest when I saw some old mechanical type pieces buried in the ground.  This was familiar from last year’s run.

As I entered the final mile of this 6 mile run, I was wearing down.  Even though the trails weren’t too difficult and the weather was wonderful, my quads were sore.  I realized that I was running on the balls of my feet and that was stressing my quads.  I’m not sure if that’s how I’m running now on roads, but I am definitely forefoot striking on trails.  I will have to check next time I hit the roads.  It is very possible that I am doing the same now that I wear minimalist shoes a lot.  

The only tough thing about this final section was some of the water on the trail.  Wherever there was an uphill, it would drain.  I couldn’t help but get my feet wet a few times.  I had to make sure I didn’t slip either.  Finally, I hit 6 miles and was done.

I knew I’d have some walking to do, but didn’t realize how much.  I figured it to be around a mile.  I’m guessing it was over 2 miles.  I seemed to be walking forever.  There was a sign for the campground and I was glad because I might not have turned there.  I was still far from the end though.  After the sign was a huge climb.  I’m glad I wasn’t running this part.  It took so long that I almost considered running again.  Finally I got to the campground.  Then of course I had to walk some distance to get to our camp site.  Of course it ended up being uphill too.

Today was a decent run.  Whenever my Friday run doesn’t bore me and drive me crazy, I’m happy.  A trail run almost always seems refreshing.  This a good park to run at with miles and miles of trails.  Some time, I’ll make sure to run more of them.  For now, this familiar loop worked.

I could run here again tomorrow, but I’m actually only about half an hour from Berwick.  I’m going to try to get there in the morning and run the Run for the Diamonds course.  I might run the race on Thanksgiving Day and was planning a few course tours anyway.  I need to run 11 miles, so the 9 mile course plus a couple extra miles should do.  This race has a crazy two mile climb that I both love and dread.  Hopefully I’ll be strong on it tomorrow.  The weather seems like it will be nice.

6 miles – 57:42 (9:37 pace)