It is barely November, but winter is raring its ugly head already. A winter storm is on the way today. It was freezing when I went out for my run. Originally, I was going to run in the morning, but it looked like the storm was going to hit within the hour. I figured that I'd wait until the evening, when it was really snowing. At least that might be fun. By mid afternoon, it still wasn't snowing yet. I figured I might as well just get out there.
The plan was for an 8 miler. I haven't been to the Ironton Rail Trail for awhile, so I decided to head there. I couldn't decide what to wear as it was quite cold when I was standing in the parking lot. At first, I went with a lighter weight orange long sleeve shirt. I was quite chilly with that though, so I switched to a ColdGear shirt. I left my gloves in my fleece vest yesterday, so all I could use was a headband to cover my ears. I still had on shorts too. It was in the upper 30s. Not cold enough for long pants yet.
In the parking lot, another runner commented on my Mizuno shoes. He had the same pair on. He said he got his at the Finish Line. If he was still around when I was done, I would've chatted with him about the store, since I know quite a few people there. However, he had left.
The start was great because it was downhill. My legs were awkward as usual. After a third of a mile, they warmed up. I can't believe that my quads didn't recover at all with all of the rest in the last two weeks.
I went off the main trail and onto the spur trail. I thought I'd get about 2 miles on there and then do the main loop once. Instead, I turned around early on. It was just too windy. I went the other direction and it was much better.
Without my gloves, my hands were quite cold. My left hand was the worst and I often had to put my hand in my pocket. After awhile, it warmed up.
I was actually quite warm in the beginning otherwise. I cruised downhill. I didn't feel all that great though. My legs continued to be sore. My miles were almost the same pace as yesterday. I started off around 9 minutes and continued to drop the pace into the low 8s.
I haven't run this trail in the fall before. With most of the leaves gone, I could see a lot more. At one point, there was busy road next to the trail. I think it was Route 145. I'm not sure. There was also a lot of work next to the trail. I think part of it was a nature trail. In the first mile, I saw a Sheetz and Dunkin Donuts. Not exactly a good thing that early on when it is freezing.
Most of the run was uneventful. I saw a walker here and there. As I was a couple miles in, it got very cold. It was windy when I was running near the Lehigh River. It was more brutal than the race on Sunday. It also began to snow. I'm glad that didn't last long. Earlier, I thought I might be wearing too much. Now, I was glad that I had on what I did.
Even though I knew the end of the loop was uphill, I was looking forward to it. I also knew I'd be out of the wind at that point. I didn't feel great and the first half of the run seemed like it dragged on forever. The second half of the run was much faster. The one good thing is that I didn't look at my watch too often throughout the run.
I pushed on during the climb. I was happy when I got back to the start. I knew I'd at least go to mile 6. That was only half a mile away. I was still determined to get 2 more miles in. At this point, it was back downhill. It was also much warmer than down near the river. I continued on out until I hit mile 6.8.
I then turned around and headed back. I knew this would be somewhat tough because it was back uphill. When I got to the final mile, I just decided to push fairly hard. It wasn't all out, but much faster than before. Even going uphill, the pace was brisk. The overall pace dropped and dropped. After most of the miles being run around 8:15, I ran this final one at 7:30. It was good to do that because I want to finish runs better. I struggled to finish the half marathon strong. Some of that was the wind, but regardless, I probably would've slipped some.
I was so glad to be done with this run. It was such a raw day. I don't mind running in the winter, but that is when I am acclimated to it. Now, the temperatures have dropped dramatically in a short period of time. It is closer to mid winter weather than it is early November. In the end, I was glad I battled through it. Runs like this throughout the harsh winter will make me even stronger come spring.
I think all my running this week will be at an easy pace. Tomorrow will be the LVRR Thursday night group run. Since the trail was blocked with trees last week and Lights in the Parkway will be kicking us out soon anyway, I decided to move the run. We'll now run in the Bethlehem Steel complex. That is more well lit. We can run around the complex, on the South Side of Bethlehem and even through downtown Bethlehem. It is better than the dark and lonely Parkway. Almost no one is showing up for runs there anyway. Maybe a change of scenery would help. I look forward to seeing what happens. I have some ideas for loops, but I'm not completely sure.
8 miles - 1:06:17 (8:17 pace)
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