I started off by parking at the Steel. I was surprised at how busy it was at lunchtime on a Friday. There were a lot of people in SteelStacks when I went to use the restroom. This weekend they are having a big Oktoberfest festival there and there were tents everywhere. The festival had not started yet though. I'm so glad that they are able to put the old steel to good use with a lot of events throughout the year. One of the parking spaces said, reserved for Dick Yuengling. That was pretty cool.
I put on my arm sleeves with my shirt sleeve shirt and it was still freezing with the wind. I knew that that would probably be fine once my body warmed up. However, I figured that since I was planning on running easy, I'd just go with a light windbreaker jacket instead of the sleeves. In the end, that was a mistake.
The run begins somewhere in front of the old blast furnace. That is such a cool structure and a great way to start and finish. It then heads out west until Webster Street. I forget sometimes just how big this whole steel complex is. This part of the run was nice because instead of concrete sidewalks, they were paved. It was quite cold and windy at this point.
From Webster it was a bit of an uphill to Lehigh's Campus. The climb wasn't too bad. All of a sudden it was warm and I had to open my jacket up. I won't lie; running through a college campus with some eye candy isn't too bad. Probably would've been better if it was a warmer day though. The course turns onto Packer and then back down on Broadhead. That is a nice downhill segment.
Now that I look at the map, I actually went too far before turning right again. The course actually goes onto 4th Street. I didn't turn until 3rd Street. That didn't have any impact on the mileage though. After that, it was on to New Street and over the Fahy Bridge. Obviously on raceday we will run across the bridge. Today, I had to go on the pedestrian walkway. It was actually a bit tricky to find the walkway entrance.
As I crossed over the bridge, I was just getting too hot. I knew the Lehigh River would produce some chilly air as I went over the bridge, but I didn't care. I had to take my jacket off and carry it around the rest of the run. That was a bit of a pain. I often switched hands.
After the bridge, I originally thought the course went down towards the Celtic Classic and Musikfest area, but it actually just goes right up the hill across from the bridge. This was a little tricky with the uneven brick walkway. I noticed throughout the run that I was running up on my toes a lot, especially on the uphills. I guess I do that quite often now both on hills and uneven surfaces. That might be what gets me uphill faster than a lot of people, even when I don't run many hills in training these days.
When I thought about this route now, I got pissed. It climbs up the hill on the side of the library and then drops right back down to Main Street and then Main Street climbs again. I hate going uphill, then right back downhill and then right back uphill again. Such a waste of energy. Main Street is a cool place to run though. It wasn't too busy today. I did have to let a few people know that I was passing them.
This 10K course doesn't have any scary hills, but it sure does have a lot of small climbs. There is no rest from climbing up Main Street. You turn right onto Broad Street and climb some more. This section brought back a lot of memories of going to Musikfest over the years.
After running through town on Broad Street for a bit, the course turns right onto New Street. Then it makes a left onto Market Street. This area is a little more open and the roads easier to navigate than directly downtown. I actually couldn't believe that I was only at the 3 mile mark at this point. It seemed like I had run a lot more than half the course, but obviously I hadn't.
This part of the course was flat and I cruised along comfortably. There are some nice houses here, but I didn't check them out much. I turned right again on Maple Street. One thing I'm not crazy about is how much this course turns. The good thing on race day is that at least I'll be able to run on the roads and not have to use the sidewalk.From this point, a lot of course is downhill. The course does turn right on Center Street and then left a block later. I actually went a block too far and headed back onto Market Street. That is one of the few times that I got this course wrong. After that, it is back onto New Street.
New Street goes around City Hall and back to the Fahy Bridge. The off ramp loops around under itself, but since I was on the pedestrian walkway, I couldn't go that way. That shortened my route a little. A lady in front of me had a dog that was going crazy with its leash. I'm glad that she crossed the street before I got there. I didn't want to have to deal with that at all.
I still couldn't believe how much of the run was left at this point. It was well over a mile. Again, I forget how big the Steel Complex is. Plus the course goes around the back of the Steel to finish up.
There was one more little uphill to go as the road went along the front of the Steel. It then went down in front of the outlet shops that are next to the casino. There is an old bridge/walkway up above that you run underneath. They are considering making this into a pedestrian walkway. That would be a good use of it.
The race then finishes up under the flaming arch in front of the blast furnace and SteelStacks. The arch wasn't flaming today, but I'm sure it will be lit on race day. This a cool area to finish up at. I just hope it isn't this windy next weekend. My watch read 6.1 miles after the run. That's close enough to 6.2 that it will be on race day. I think running on the sidewalk made things shorter.
This was a nice and easy run. The weather made it a little tricky, but I survived. This course won't be too easy, but I'm glad that there will be a lot more competition than last week's 10K. I think I can handle the hills fairly well and should run strong. I might be able to set another new PR. That's what I'll shoot for.
Tomorrow is the conclusion of my 60 mile week. It is my longest run before my true half marathon in the beginning of November. I look forward to getting through that 18 miler. I am going to run it with the BCR. I am going to end up skipping breakfast though and running after they finish up. It is supposed to be cold in the morning, right around the freezing mark. I'm not sure how I'll even dress. I might bring a couple options of clothing with me.
6.1 miles - 51:31 (8:27 pace)
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