Touring Easton

Friday runs are always my most difficult.  I just have no motivation to run them.  They are always my slowest, shortest and easiest runs of the week, so you wouldn't think they would be that bad.  I can focus on the key runs, it is the ones that seem useless that are difficult for me.  I'm almost always ready to go when I'm doing speedwork or the weekly long run.  Any slow group runs are fine too.  It is just this run that causes me trouble.

Thanks to Kelley wanting to do more miles yesterday, I kept this Friday run at 4 miles.  I sat around trying to decide if there was anywhere that I could run to make this more interesting.  Maybe I need to go back to the trails for this run since I can't really remember a bad day on trails.  I opted to head to Easton and run along the river.  I figured the scenery would help a bit.

By the time I got out there it was nearly noon and humid as hell again.  Of course I was soaked by the end of this run, especially because I was out in the open during so much of this run.  I didn't feel like paying for parking next to Scott Park, so I opted to cross the free bridge and park in New Jersey.  I found a big and empty lot just across the river.

I started off going over the bridge back into Easton.  I then headed north along the road until I got to the end of Riverside Park.  After that, I looped back under the bridge and ran right along the river.  I went through Scott Park after that and followed the Lehigh River past the dam. 

This section was relaxing because it reminded me of running along the river in Philadelphia (which I used to do almost day).  I did enjoy running there a lot and the scenery was great.  I just got sick of it day after day.

I wanted to incorporate some hills into this run, so my next challenge was great.  I ran up the very steep hill on Washington Street toward the Courthouse.  I was quickly huffing and puffing.  I told myself to just get to this one sign and I could turn around if needed.  Once I got there, the gradient wasn't nearly as bad and I kept going.  It was still a difficult incline, but the steepest part was the bottom.  I actually thought this hill would be more challenging than it was.  Hills often seem worse than they are.

At the top of the hill, I continued running west for a few blocks.  This neighborhood is a little shady, but I've been through much worse.  The hill was great as it allowed me to really focus.  It actually wasn't even a half mile long.  I thought it would be longer.  I had no plan while going through the neighborhood, so it was great to just make things up on the fly.

Eventually I decided to to turn and head north.  I generally knew where I was, but I'm not that familiar with each and every road in that area.  I noticed that I would have to run downhill and then a slight uphill again.  This wasn't nearly as bad as the other hill.

When I got to Northampton Street, I saw that I was at Cottingham Stadium (the home of Easton's football team).  I hate them so much, but their stadium is cool and the atmosphere is the best in the Lehigh Valley.  I decided to run around the outside of the stadium.  I was hoping a gate might be open.  The main gate was so I went in and took a lap around the field.  It is too bad they don't have track meets there.  That would be a cool place to watch a meet.

At this point, I was around the 2.5 mile mark.  My time was over 9 minute pace earlier in the run, but had dropped under it now.  I decided that I'd run down Northampton Street to the free bridge and add some more mileage if needed.

From the stadium, it was again a downhill section and then an uphill section.  This street is busy, so I finally ran on the sidewalk.  During the rest of the run, I used the street.  After the uphill, I cruised downhill again to the circle.

The circle became tricky.  It was great at first as I had a "walk" sign going into the circle.  There was too much traffic on the road, so I ran around the circle a little before getting back out of it.  As I got to the free bridge, I ended up with about a quarter mile left to run.  I went back along Riverside Park and under the bridge to finish up.

The sun was beating down, so I found some shade to relax a little.  I then walked back to my car.  I've been forgetting a towel all week and today I really could've used it.  I was surprised later on when I got out of my car.  My quads were quite sore.  I guess the hills played a part in that, but they didn't seem that tough.  It went away though.

This was a good workout because it provided some good scenery and was something different.  Now, I can focus on my long run.  The BCR is meeting at the Nor-Bath Trail tomorrow morning.  I think I am going to get there at 5:30 AM and get my run in before group even starts.  I'm planning on 14 miles.  I need to get to Kutztown before 9 AM for a cross country meet.  It will be a difficult and long day with little sleep.  I will probably end up falling asleep watching college football on Saturday afternoon.

4 miles - 35:26 (8:52 pace)