My body has been so beat up lately. My quads have been the biggest culprit. My ankles are also sore, my foot has bothered me and my IT band is acting up. I realize that I needed to back off. Two speedwork sessions a week are just too much. At least two sessions on Monday and Wednesday are too much. I decided it was time to change things around and do less.
I still wanted to get some speed in, so I opted for an 8 mile progression run. The first 6.5 miles would be easy and that final 1.5 miles would be hard. That would be good practice for finishing strong too.
Running a new route is usually a joy. I'm to the point now that I don't have many new options though. It dawned on me that I haven't run the spur on the Ironton Rail Trail. The main loop is a 5.5 mile paved loop through a residential area. The spur is a straight 2.5 mile desolate stone section.
I had to go to the bathroom before the run, so I parked at the trailhead on Chestnut Street. This closer to the spur loop than where I usually park. It has some cool little features like a small train for kids to play on.
I used my foam roller a lot since my last run on Saturday. I also applied quite a bit of Biofreeze to my quads. I was surprised they felt so good. There was little soreness. Starting off the run, they were still a bit stiff. Because of that, I started off running awkwardly. That didn't last long. It was about a third of a mile when I came to the spur. The running was downhill at that point, so that was a big help. The spur goes under McArthur Road. I was able to notice the Sheetz on that road, so I stopped there for lunch later on.
This next section was interesting. I guess I was in the Whitehall Parkway. There were a lot of old structures along the trail. One of them said 1891 on it. I guess they were part of the cement industry. There is a historic walking tour there on Saturday. I wish I could go. Hopefully in the future they will find some cool uses for some of these structures.
This section also had a few trails coming into it. I saw a map, but didn't have time to check it. I came across the trail a couple weeks ago in this area and saw a sign for the Whitehall Parkway, so I guess that's where I was at.
After crossing that road, I saw a squirrel eating some corn that was left on the trail. The trail then goes along a creek. That was peaceful. It went right by a quarry as well. I didn't realize that it was a quarry until I came by there on the way back.
The trail then crossed a busy road. There were quite a few dump trucks in this area. It made the road dusty. The trail then followed a quiet road to a park. I was passed by a few bikers. I was glad they let me know they were coming because the trail was narrow.
The arch in my right foot started bothering me at this point. I guess it is something that I should keep an eye on. It has happened a few times lately. I might need to start rolling a golf ball under my foot. Thankfully, it went away rather quickly during this run. I didn't fell great through this section, but I was doing okay.
The next part was probably the most interesting section of the trail. It was a cement plant that looked abandoned. That's too bad, but I guess that's the reason that the railroad is no longer needed here and we have a trail instead.
I was so busy looking at the cement plant that I almost missed the dead snake on the trail. It was bigger than the living one that I saw on Saturday. I have never seen a snake, alive or dead, while running before. Now, I saw one of each on back to back runs. How weird is that?
The trail is marked every half mile. That was good because I wanted to make sure that I knew how far I had to go before turning around. I crossed another fairly busy road. That is one issue with this trail. The road crossings aren't easy.
I came to the 2.5 mile marker on the trail, but saw the guy that just biked past me had kept going. There was also a guy either running slow or walking fast in the other direction. I figured he must be coming from somewhere. I have to give him credit as he was still moving when I finished up. He had to be going at least 6 miles total. It turned out that the path just went a bit over a tenth of a mile farther before ending at an old and deteriorated bridge.
The extra segment was good because it got me to right around the 3 mile point. I knew that I wanted to at least get 5 miles out of this run before arriving back at the main trail. There was another nice relic from the railroad era along the trail at this point. They really do a great job of incorporating the rail's history into the trail.
Going back was mostly uneventful. I was just seeing the same things again. It was quite windy on the way out, so I was hoping that coming back would be calm. I never got away from the wind for more that a short period of time. The weather cooperated and was great though. I didn't get back from the Eagles game until after 2 AM. Therefore, I needed this cool weather when I started at 11 AM.
When I got back to the main loop, I was at about 5.3 miles. I didn't want to run back toward the car because it was uphill, so I continued in the other direction. This section was busy with walkers.
I planned on going out and back from here, so that I didn't have to climb the hill at all. The final mile and a half would be at a hard pace. This progression run was working out perfectly. I had picked my pace up. Miles 4 and 5 were both done at an 8 minute pace and mile 6 was a 7:34 pace. I didn't feel as though I was going any harder either. I just started to feel a lot better.
I had to stop at the two road crossings in this section too. That slowed me some. Luckily, I wasn't worried about my pace too much at this point. Traffic is just annoying.
I turned around at mile 6.4. That meant that I would have a a tenth of a mile to get used to that direction before I picked up the pace. When I hit mile 6.5, I started flying. I kept pushing and pushing.
When I had 1 mile to go, I knew it would be tough. I was hurting and my legs didn't like the sudden burst of speed after miles of casual running. I kept at it though. I got to the second road crossing again and it was jammed. I thought this would throw off my time. Luckily, an old man let me cross the road. I barely broke stride. I continued to hammer it home. Even though the final mile was tough, I thought about all the mile repeats that I had done. This was only one mile repeat, so it couldn't be that difficult.
With about .4 of a mile left, I suddenly found myself at the spur route. Looking back, I now see that I miscalculated and didn't go out far enough. I didn't realize it at the time. I didn't want to go back uphill, so I headed on the spur route again.
I decided that I didn't want to run fast on the stone spur route, so I quickly turned around and went back to the main trail. I continued going on. My pace was right around a 7 minute mile.
I just continued to push and push. I watched my pace drop. I only had a tenth of a mile remaining when I hit the final road crossings. Since there were no cars, I flew across the road. It was great to be done. I put in a nice 6:52 final mile. That last mile and a half were right around my 5k race pace. I was moving.
This workout was a great way to give my legs a much needed break, but also incorporate a little speed. I felt quite strong afterward. I think one speed session a week is the way to go. I'm already where I want to be at with total mileage and long run mileage anyway.
Tomorrow will be a 7 miler or 8 miler. I'm not sure where I'm going to run. I haven't been to Jacobsburg for a long run in awhile. If I feel like traveling, I may head some place new like Jim Thorpe.
8 miles - 1:03:21 (7:55 pace)
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