One Year Later

Today was an important run for me.  It wasn't so much the run, but the date of the run.  A year ago today, I had major surgery that led to the most depressing period of my life.  I had bowel resection surgery and bladder repair related to Crohn's Disease. 

I knew there would be a little down time after the surgery, but I had no clue how bad things would be. I thought that I would be back in a couple weeks.  I ended up bed ridden 24/7 for around 4 months.  I grew weak and was extremely depressed.  It was so bad that I often said that I wanted to die.  Of course I wouldn't have taken my own life or anything like that, but I didn't have any idea when the horror would end.  Days seemed like weeks, weeks seemed like months and so on.  Thankfully it finally ended in March and I was back to running in April.  I am so grateful for that.

I will never forget that time period.  It made me stronger and even more motivated than ever before.  Any time I'm going through a tough patch in training or a race, I can look back to that time and think that things aren't so bad in the present.

I just went out today for an easy 7 mile run.  I originally thought about heading to a trail, but since I had some shopping to do in Bethlehem, I went to the Saucon Rail Trail. 

It was in the 40s and a little chilly when I started.  Not too bad for December actually.  Still warm enough that I could wear shorts and a lightweight long sleeve top.

Usually I just start at Water Street and head out and back.  It is possible to go the other direction for a short bit before the trail ends.  I decided to do that this time.  It worked out great because I got in a mile that way.

As usual, the first mile was a slow go.  I'm very pleased though because my quads were only very mildly sore.  My foot bothered me a bit early, but that got better early in the run.  I ran by a couple cats and a guy with two dogs on a leash.  Otherwise, mile 1 was uneventful.

I was now out onto my normal route.  Since it was getting close to supper time, the road crossings were a little busy.  It didn't slow me too much though.  I continued to cruise along, enjoying that my body felt pretty good.

I startled a guy as I came up from behind and passed him.  For a bit, it seemed like he might try to stay with me.  I knew he was going too slow to do that though.  I hoped that maybe I would see him again after I turned around and maybe I could pass him again.  He was walking when I encountered him later on.  He did pull me into a faster pace when I initially saw him up ahead.

I passed a young girl going the other direction.  I thought at first that it might be Elizabeth Chikotas from Saucon Valley, who was 2nd in the State Cross Country meet this year.  It wasn't though.  I am surprised that I never come across her or her teammates on this trail.

My times continued to drop as they often do when I run.  It was a slight uphill most of the way out, but I guess I just end up pushing more.  I don't feel like I am.  Finally after a few more road crossings, I was turned around.  I was now feeling good after 4 miles.  

It was a little cold though.  I felt chilly in both directions.  So much for having the wind at my back at any point.  To keep from being too bored, I just continued to focus short term, on the next mile.  Before I knew it, I was at mile 5.  Now that I was going slightly downhill, I was feeling even better.  I was cruising.  That 5th mile was at 7:36.  I was getting closer to an 8 minute pace overall.

Since almost all of my running is easy now, I decided that I would make this a progression run.  I'd run the last mile and a half at a moderate pace.  I did just that at mile 5.5.  Shortly after I crossed a road, but didn't have to stop.

I flew by a bunch of people in the final mile and a half.  That 6th mile ended up being a 7:05.  Not bad since only the second half of that mile was at moderate pace.  The final mile was obviously faster still.  I passed several people.  I made sure to yell to two women that I was passing so that I didn't scare them.  I went by them in a flash.  I had to slow right before the finish for a final road crossing.  A car stopped for me and I finished up quite exhausted.

That last mile was a 6:51.  I can tell that I haven't run fast too often lately because that took a lot out of me.  It wasn't an all out effort either.  I actually would've thought that it was a little faster than it was.  My overall pace really dipped at the end.  It kind of hard to imagine that that final mile is my goal marathon pace for either the spring or fall.  A 6:51 pace is what I would need to break 3 hours.

I went over to South Mountain to run some hill sprints.  After the fast finish, my legs were feeling it and I figured that hill sprints would be better off saved for an easy day.  Hopefully I can do them tomorrow.  I may try to do run in the same area tomorrow and run on Lehigh's Cross Country course.  Maybe that can save my legs, although running on grass has always bothered me.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm heading to the Eagles game tomorrow night, so I don't have a lot of time.  I'm missing my group run, but I don't mind it since hardly anyone is showing up anyway.

I was stretching after this run and my shin bothered me some when I did that.  Hopefully I won't have problems there.  I'm definitely feeling better lately with only running 4 days a week, but I still can't quite shake some of the soreness.  I might have to back of my spring marathon plans or my goals for that race.  I'll just take it a week at a time and see how things go.  There are still over 5 months until that race.

7 miles - 54:11 (7:45 pace)

Dreary Day at Jacobsburg

After a day off, it was time to get back at it again.  I am trying to save my legs from a regular pounding, so I decided that I would head to Jacobsburg to run on trails.  I haven't been there since the end of October.  Today, it was cloudy and rainy, nothing like the beautiful colored leaves that greeted me there about a month ago.

When I arrived there was only 1 car in the parking lot.  That's sure a lot different than the summer time when it was always crowded.  A couple young guys showed up and started running right before me.  They went up the tough part of the trail.  They were wearing basketball shorts and standard attire, not running clothes.  I figured they were amateurs and I guess they were since I saw them a short time later.  They were probably finishing up a mile loop.  At least they were out there running though.  No one else was running today.

Although there was some light rain and it was foggy and cloudy, the temperature was great.  It was warm enough to wear shorts and short sleeves.  Since I think it is still hunting season, I decided to put on an orange vest.  I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I started off on my usual path along the creek.  It is relatively flat and makes for an easy beginning.  My legs felt amazing on this softer surface.  They were barely sore at all as I started out.  I tested my new insoles.  The results were so so.  My feet still had some soreness.

After passing the young guys heading the other direction, I went over the bridge over the creek.  After that, things got difficult.  I went to the left and headed uphill.  I didn't think this would be challenging, but it was much harder than I anticipated.  I haven't been on hills or trails much lately.  I figured that just being in pretty good shape would help me overcome the hills.  That was far from the case.  I was breathing heavily and struggling to climb.

Even when I was around 1.25 miles into the run, I was still climbing.  It leveled off some, but was still uphill.  I couldn't wait to get to the flat section.  Finally I did.  All throughout this section, I saw relatively fresh horseshoe prints.  I had to make sure to watch for meadow muffins.  That is a new favorite word that I learned recently.

With all the rain we have had lately and were having, some sections were quite muddy.  The dirt part of the trail is rather narrow in this meadow section though.  Sometimes I ran on the dirt.  Other times, I stuck to the grass.  I enjoyed myself much more once the trail flattened out.

The end of this loop got even better.  I was now going downhill.  This part of the run was longer than I thought.  As I got to the turn off the trail, I was around 3 miles into the run.  I used to loop back into the parking area from here, but they've now closed the trail there because they are putting up a new building.

Instead, I headed over the road and to some of the other sections of the park.  I thought about going into the Sober's Run area, but I was so far into this planned 6 miler, that I figured I should just head up the road and little and work my way back.  I was only on the pavement for less than half of a mile, but it was still difficult for my legs.  That was particularly true because the road went uphill.

I finally was back on the trail and very happy.  With all the climbing I had done, I opted for the flattest routes back.  I could've added some distance as I was heading back, but that would've required ascending, so I took the shorter route.  Even with this route, there was still some climbing involved.

I figured that I would at least get to 5 miles by the time I got back to the parking lot.  Before 4.5 miles, I went straight, but saw that that led across the road (where I didn't want to go).  I headed the other way on the trail that I usually take back to the parking lot.  When I got back to the lot, I was somewhere under 5 miles into the run.

Normally when I have to add a little to the run, I'll go along the creek where I started this run.  That makes for some easy mileage.  Even though the hills had worn me out, I was inspired by the young guys earlier and decided to take the tough route above the creek.

This isn't the best way to go when it is raining.  The trail is narrow and it is sort of a cliff.  It wouldn't be too difficult to fall here, especially in wet conditions.  I just made sure to lean away from the cliff.  I climbed the stairs and continued along the path.

After going up for awhile, the trail heads down and back up again.  This section was made even more difficult by fallen trees.  They were all over the trail.  I assume that they fell during the hurricane.  It wasn't impassable, but I had to leap over trees in the rain on this narrow cliff.  Not exactly fun.

When I hit mile 5, I looked down a my watch and it said that mile was run in 9:11.  I though that that was an ironic number, since I was in a dangerous situation.  After running along the top of the ridge, it was back downhill.  That didn't get any easier.  I had to make sure I controlled myself and didn't trip and fall off the cliff.  Complicating the trail is that there are exposed roots from a few trees that are still standing.  Those can be very slippery in the rain too.

I survived the cliff and was looking forward to finishing up.  The up and down of that section did a number on my legs and feet.  They were quite sore.  It wasn't like the pounding of a road though.  My left foot bothers me quite a bit and my right foot was sore going uphill.  I'm a mess.  I've been massaging my left foot a few times lately.

I finished up in the flat section along the bottom of the creek, near where I started.  My pace was under 9 minutes, so that was good.  I don't worry much about times on trails though, since they are so uneven.

I was relieved to be done.  It was a tougher run than I thought.  I definitely need to hit more hills this winter and spring.  I'm just glad I didn't run at Trexler the other day.  That probably would've killed me.  I'm going to try to get on trails more to build strength and reduce the pounding on my legs.  We'll see how that goes.

I didn't get a chance to run hill sprints today, so I might do those tomorrow.  Otherwise, I will be off from running and will get back at it on Wednesday.  Tomorrow, I'll likely get out and ride my bike if the weather isn't too bad.  That should give me some more strength without any pounding.  I have no idea where I will run on Wednesday, maybe Trexler.

 6 miles - 53:33 (8:56 pace)

Afternoon Long Run

The BCR ran on a hard surface, so I passed on that run today.  I was considering getting up and running at Trexler with a group there.  However, it just rained too much beforehand for my liking.  I wasn't crazy about 10 tough miles through slop.  Instead, I just waited until the afternoon to get my run in.

I was on Facebook around lunch time and it seemed like everyone I knew was posting photos of their Christmas themed runs.  That did help me get out the door.  I wasn't crazy about running alone, but 10 miles isn't too bad.

The temperature rose to a nice 45 degrees when I started.  The rained ended in the morning, but it never did clear up.  It was still a cloudy and dreary day.  I could wear my shorts and a short sleeve shirt though, so I was happy. 

I thought about running at some new places, but I didn't want to go too far.  I opted to run on the D&L Trail.  Instead of starting at Cementon, I decided to head to the Cove Road Trailhead.  I've run through there, but I haven't started from there too often.

I went back and forth trying to decide which direction to start out with.  Eventually I would head each way.  It was just a matter of whether I wanted to begin with the easier southern section or immediately climb the hill going north.

I opted to head south.  That would allow me a good warmup mile which would be slightly downhill.  I run this section the most, so the plan was to do 2 miles out and 2 miles back and then head north for the final 6 miles.

As usual, the first mile was on the slow side.  I was happy that it came in just under 8:40.  I ran yesterday, so the quads were slightly sore.  My left foot was too.  I got some new insoles, but I was afraid to try them out on such a long run.  I figured that I could just deal with any discomfort.

Early on, I passed a house and a dog barked at me and moved towards me.  I was thankful that it didn't leave the property and chase me.  I love this slight downhill section that I was running.  It made my legs feel so much better and the run was a joy early on.  I just cruised along comfortably.

I felt so good that when I hit mile 2, I just decided to keep going.  I figured that I could get to 2.5 miles and be halfway done when I got back to my car or I could go out even further and complete a full 6 miles before I hit the Cove Road Trailhead again.

My pace steadily dropped.  About fourth tenths of a mile from the 3 mile marker, I passed a guy running the other way.  I was hoping that I could catch him eventually.  I knew he had a good jump on me though.  I never did find him.

I got to mile 3 and turned around.  It was immediately difficult running the other direction.  All of a sudden, I was running a slight uphill.  I knew this would be the case until about mile 8 or so.  I just had to dig in and enjoy the run as much as I could.  I saw a bike with an annoying flashing light up ahead.  I didn't want it in my eyes, so I kept my head down.  When the bike passed, the guy said "hi" and seemed overly enthusiastic.  I thought that was odd.  Then I realized that it was Peter that used to come to the LVRR Group runs in the summer and fall.  So few people were out today and I happened to see someone that I know.

Even though this section was a slight uphill, the pace continued to drop.  The 4th mile was a solid 8:12.  The 5th mile even dropped under 8 minutes.  It was uphill and a bit of a struggle, but I just tried to focus on getting to mile 6.

Sometime around the 5th mile, I came to a guy riding one of those bikes where you are almost laying on your back.  He turned around just before he go to me.  I knew following him would make for a good pacemaker.  He was going faster than me, but not by too much.  I was worried that he would get to the house with the dog before I did.  He did and the dog barked at both of us.  It didn't chase this time either.  With my pacemaker, this 6th mile was 7:43.

I was now back to my car and it was time to work.  I just focused on the next two miles and getting up the hill.  It's not a steep hill, but it is definitely noticeable early on.  As I naturally do, I worked a little harder and my pace dropped.  I kept battling and battling.  I did feel like I was working more.

That 7th mile did seem long.  I looked at my watch a lot going to the 8th mile.  I definitely worked harder during this one.  I knew I'd have a lot of downhill to the finish.  That mile before the turnaround was a nice 7:30.

My pace was just a few seconds over 8 minutes as I headed into the final 2 miles.  It had gone down and down throughout the run.  By now, my legs weren't sore at all and I felt good.  I did feel lightheaded when I woke up today and I felt the same way as I turned around.  It almost felt like I might fall to the left.  The trail was leaning that way a little, but I felt odd.  This mile seemed to be a struggle.  Maybe I wasn't really going downhill.

As I got into the last mile, I checked my watch frequently.  I was struggling some by this point.  I guess I was finally getting tired.  With seven tenths of a mile left, I picked up the pace.  My GPS watch wasn't working right as I looked down and my pace went up.  Going downhill, my overall pace finally went under 8 minutes.  I continued to push through the finish and I was winded when I was done.  The 7:19 last mile was definitely tough.

Since I didn't run on Thursday and I wasn't around any hills on Friday, I ran my 5 hill repeats after this run.  Those were so difficult on my tired and beat up legs.  It was good to get them done though.  This was a great workout.

I'm not sure when I'll run next.  I need tomorrow off, so I'll just likely run on Monday.  My legs seem a little better than they have been.  I need to stay on the soft surfaces and continue stretching, massaging and strengthening my legs.

10 miles - 1:19:26 (7:57 pace)

December Rain

Yesterday was supposed to be my regular LVRR Group Run.  It was cold and no one showed up, so I just skipped it.  I thought that maybe Noah, who was there last week, might show.  Otherwise, I figured I'd be alone.  Karl will come from time to time too, but he said he'd rather run in daylight and I sure don't blame him.

Originally, I thought about running alone on the D&L Trail from Sand Island.  That would reduce the pounding on my legs.  My parents were at my sister's house watching her cat while she is on vacation, so I just decided to go visit and run today instead.

A few days ago, the weatherman said that Thursday would be cold, but the rest of the 7 day forecast would be warm (for this time of year anyway).  That was Philly weather, but I still expected some decent weather here.  I guess I was wrong and as usual, the forecast was wrong.  It isn't quite cold enough to snow, so instead it is a lovely December rain.

There aren't many things I hate more than running in rain this late in the year.  It was 40 degrees, but being wet and cold isn't fun, so I knew I would overdress.  I went with a ColdGear top and jacket and tights on the bottom.  I probably should've just used a lighter shirt under the jacket.  I was hot by the end.

I decided that I would run on the Nor-Bath Trail since this was an easy 5 miler.  Instead of running at my usual locations of Jacksonville Park or Bicentennial Park, I decided to head farther out and go to the parking lot at Howertown Road.  I wanted a different perspective.

I thought the trail would provide a softer surface to protect my sore quads.  I figured the rain would make things softer as well.  I was right.  However, I didn't anticipate how much of a mess the trail would be.  It didn't think it had rained that much.

When I started off, it was a steady rain.  I wore a hat that I brought, along with gloves.  I only had very mild soreness in the beginning.  I had to spend a lot of time dancing through puddles.  Not too far into the run, I went right through one and got my foot soaked.  That was cold.  Thankfully, I avoided puddles the rest of the run.

Until the first road crossing, it was slow and I felt like I was running through mud.  To an extent I was.  I do sort of enjoy running in tough conditions like this just because of the mental challenge.  I would've probably been a good cross country runner.

Getting over the first road was a big relief.  For whatever reason, the trail was in much better shape here with much less standing water.  I still had to avoid a lot of puddles though.  At least I could run in the middle and didn't have to go onto the grass.

It was nice seeing familiar sights, while running the route a different way than usual.  I was running nice and easy and I was actually surprised with how fast my pace was.  The second mile was at 8:32 and every mile after that was even faster.

It wasn't too long before I was at Bicentennial Park.  I was getting quite hot at this time.  I took off my gloves and thought about taking off the jacket too.  Instead, I just opened it up.  I turned around not too far after the main path to Bicentennial Park.  It was great to be going down the home stretch.

I took my jacket off for awhile, but put it back on soon.  Coming back is a slight downhill and I felt great at this point and thought I was really moving.  My pace indicated that too.  I was enjoying the run even more.  I just focused on moving forward.  I concentrated on getting to mile 4.  I like to avoid looking at my watch in the first half of the run, but I look at it more frequently as I get closer to the finish.

I crossed back over the road.  I almost slipped going around the gate.  I opted to just jump over the next gate.  Now I was back to running through the slop.  Even with that, I still put in a fast final mile under 8 minutes. 

I passed a couple walking together.  They were the only people I saw throughout the run.  It is days like this where you find out who is out there and thus dedicated.  That is always me.  If there ever was a time that I'd run inside, it would be a rainy winter day.  That still will never happen though.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a 10 mile run.  The BCR group is running on the hard Plainfield Recreation Trail.  Flo won't be there and I wanted a softer surface, so I'm likely going to join a group running at Trexler Nature Preserve.  They are doing a loop or two.  One loop is 8.4 miles, so I'd probably add a short out and back to that.  I haven't run there much since Quadzilla and haven't run with this group since before Quadzilla.  I am curious as to whether I can handle the hills better now that I'm more fit.  My arch has bothered me on uphill trails the few times that I've run on them in the last few months, so I'm not sure how it will hold up.  Luckily, most of the hills are pretty short.  I'll still probably give it a try.  The weather could throw a curveball there too.  I'm not sure I want to run through sloppy conditions for 10 miles on a tough trail.

5 miles - 41:55 (8:23 pace)

Brick Training

I wanted to get up and bike this morning and then run in the afternoon.  That didn't happen, so I decided to combine the two and create a brick workout.  That is something common in Triathlon Training, where you need to get used to going from one type of workout to another.  Typically, it starts with a run and then transitions to the bike.  I have never done that before, but I've read that it is tough to get used to running after biking.  I'd believe that because my legs always feel weird after biking.  Therefore, I opted to do the reverse today.  I started with a run and finished with a bike ride.

Yesterday I was off from running, but had some fun anyway.  I went up to the McDade Trail in the Delaware Water Gap.  That is about 40 minutes away.  It is a trail that goes on for about 30 miles.  I was there briefly last year, but never ran there.  I want to run it in the future, so I figured I might as well explore it on my bike.  I started off on the Southern end and rode over 5 miles out and then back.  It is mostly a stone trail, but unlike the typical rail trails that I'm used to, it has a lot of elevation change.  It also curves in and out.

The McDade Trail was a great setting for the ride.  The hills were challenging.  I actually had to walk up one in each direction, they were that steep.  Most of them were short.  After the Smithfield Beach area, the trail flattened out a lot.  It ran along the Delaware River and went through the woods and alongside of fields.  The weather was great, so it was an outstanding ride.  It was on muddy, but that can obviously be fun.  I'll definitely be back there to run, especially when I'm looking to do a long run with some hills mixed in.

Back to today's workout.  I didn't want to run and bike on the same trail, so I opted to park at the D&L Trail at Cementon.  I could then run out on the D&L Trail and bike a mile over to the Ironton Rail Trail and do that loop to complete the workout.

I'm trying to ease back into this running thing, but I might have to be more cautious and back off.  Even though this was only my second run of the week, my quads were quite sore in the beginning.  They really slowed me up.  It is amazing what a difference it can make when your legs feel good.  The first couple miles were a real struggle.  I did complete the initial one at 8:38.

The other thing that sucked was the weather.  It was actually a nice day out for this time of year, but it was windy.  I only had shorts and a short sleeve shirt on.  Just like when I did the half marathon there, I was running into a headwind at the beginning.  I thought to myself that if I could complete 12 miles or so into the wind during the race, I could do a couple miles today.  To compound the problem, there is a cliff alongside the trail and it was blocking the sun.  Of course when I got into the clear, the sun went behind the clouds.

Not only were my quads sore, but my foot still bothered me.  I keep having minor ongoing problems.  I hoped this soft surface would help, but it didn't.  I wasn't beat up enough that I couldn't run, so I just soldiered on.  I knew things would get better on the way back.  I just had to make it 3.5 miles out.

I kept counting down every half mile, looking forward to the turn around.  There wasn't much going on.  The trail was rather empty.  I thought I saw a guy up ahead and I wondered where he went as I approached.  Maybe he was farther down the trail than I thought.  I saw a huge group of turkeys in the adjacent field.  Oddly, they were gone by the time I came back through there 5 minutes later.

I knew I'd come to the turnaround point close to the Cove Road Trailhead.  I've run there so much now that I'm used to the route.  I turned around shortly before the trailhead. I passed the guy again.  Amazingly, he was the only person I saw on the whole 7 mile run.

Before the turnaround, my legs were already beginning to come around.  It is amazing how much faster my speed gets when the legs start feeling better.  All of the final 4 miles were under 7:50.  There was still some wind going this direction, but it felt better than going the other way.

I cruised along and started to really enjoy the run, now that I was feeling better.  I watched my pace drop.  I also enjoyed some of the scenery.  It wasn't the most beautiful day, but it was still great for December.  I didn't think it would be possible for my overall pace to drop under 8 minutes, but it did.  With a final two miles of 7:39 and 7:38, I was moving fairly well.  I wasn't upping my effort either.  It was nice and easy.  I'm curious to see how fast I could actually run now if I was pushing myself and my legs would feel good.

I don't know what I'm going to do with regards to my running.  I might have to back off even more and bike more frequently.  For now, I'm going to stick with my training plan though.  Hopefully my quads will improve at some point.

I got back to the car, put on my cycling gear and a jacket.  I took a couple Sportbeans and off I went.  Crossing the main road took a little time, but I was onto the unmaintained section of the D&L before I knew it.  I knew this section was a rough dirt trail, but I didn't know how bad it was.  It was quite rocky, with some ups and down.  It is right next to a cement plant and it looked like they washed out samples on to the trail.  There were small hard sections of concrete.

I couldn't wait to get on to the paved Ironton Rail Trail.  I thought that would be a big relief.  To an extent it was, except that it was uphill at the start.  I went into a low gear and slowly pedaled up the gradual hill.  I knew that it would be fun going downhill.  I couldn't wait for that.

Finally, I was descending.  It was fast and then the trail goes around a curve.  I almost went off the path there.  I got back under control and cruised along.  It was certainly colder on the bike than it was running, but being away from the river wasn't too bad.  I took a Clif Shot to make sure I was well fueled too.

It was nice going around this trail at a faster speed than when I run there.  Before I knew it, I was on the stretch near the river.  I thought this would be colder, but actually it wasn't too bad.

When I was in Philly, I used to hate biking because real riders would just blow by me like I wasn't moving at all.  On trails like this, I don't encounter many real cyclists, so my slow pace isn't a big deal.  If I wanted to go faster, I'd bring out the better bike.  For now, the old mountain bike does just fine.  It is also less likely to get a flat and can handle some tougher terrain.

I guess I don't go too slow.  There was a couple on their bikes.  I flew by them at my easy effort.  There were riding like they were out for a very leisurely Sunday stroll.  What was odd is that I saw very few people on this trail.  It goes through a residential area and is usually crowded.  It wasn't that cold either.  I guess when the calendar hits December, a lot of people go into hibernation.

I was about to finish up when I encountered a problem.  As I got to the dirt trail, I could hear some dirt bikes flying up it.  I saw these guys there last time that I ran at this location.  Rather than mess with some potentially out of control kids, I decided to take the road back to my car.

I dreaded this because it was a steep uphill climb before descending.  The dirt path along the river is flat.  I struggled getting up the hill.  I was exhausted.  Finally, I thought I was at the top.  Then I realized that I was only about halfway there.  To make things worse, the road went downhill slightly before heading back uphill.

I struggled and struggled to get up the hill.  It is definitely not something that I wanted to do at the end of a ride after running earlier.  My legs were beat.  I thought that I could at least look forward to flying downhill.  It turns out that that wasn't much better.  It was easy, but going close probably close to 30 MPH just meant a huge rush of wind.  I was freezing and my eyes started watering.  Luckily, that was over fast and I was done with my workout.

In total, I ran for 7 miles in 55 minutes.  I then biked close to 8 more miles in about 40 minutes.  I really enjoyed doing the back to back workout.  I'll have to try that more often.  Running first was definitely the way to go too.  It gave my legs a decent cooldown on the bike.  I'm actually really tired right now and might end up falling asleep early.  It looks like I wore myself out.  That doesn't happen too often at this point.

I want to bike and run again tomorrow.  The difference is that I'll ride early in the day and run with the LVRR group run in the evening.  While I don't enjoy cycling as much as running, I think I'm going to start doing it more.  That does fill my craving for more endurance exercising without the added pounding of more running.  Hopefully it will make me stronger in my running too.  I guess the colder weather is one thing that might keep me off the bike in the coming weeks.  I'll just try to layer up and see how well that works.  It will be worth a try.  Maybe one day I will be a triathlete or dualathlete.  It is hard to picture that though.

7 miles - 55:44 (7:58 pace)

D&L Trail Bowanstown

I get so tired of running at the same places over and over again, especially when they are flat rail trails.  When I was thinking about where to run, I remembered that I haven't run the D&L Trail north of the Lehigh Gap before.  I thought this could be a good option to get my easy 5 miler in.

After some chilly days over the weekend, the weather was great today.  It was so warm that I could wear short sleeves and shorts.  It did get a little chilly as the sun set behind the mountain, but overall it was still great. Definitely not typical December weather.

I was tempted to try running up the Winter Trail on the east side of Lehigh Gap.  Then I realized that after eating a few hot dogs a couple hours earlier, it probably wasn't a good idea.  I opted instead to go to the D&L Trail at Bowmanstown and head north.  I knew about this section because we got stone from there when I was helping repair the course for the D&L Marathon.

The insole that I have been putting in my shoe has been curling up, so I tried duct taping it down.  That sort of worked.  It took pressure off the sore part of my foot, but it started bothering another part of my foot at the edge of the insole.  I could feel that early on.  It went away, but it definitely bothered me after I stopped running.

The quads weren't too bad, but there was some minor soreness in the left one.  Hopefully stretching, strengthening and massaging them will continue to help.  The surface of today's run was a blessing for them too.  It is small stones that is very soft, just like my old high school track.  It certainly reduced the pounding.  It recently rained too and I think that made the surface even softer.

The first mile felt nice and smooth.  I wasn't pushing and still laid down an 8:33 mile.  This part of the trail is lightly traveled and kind of desolate.  There is the river on one side and then a rock wall on the other side of the trail.  Even though it wasn't that interesting, I found it quite relaxing.  Maybe it was just because the scenery was all new to me.

Within the first mile, I did come across a guy walking his dog.  I only saw three people and three dogs in this 5 mile run though.  It was mostly just me alone with my thoughts.

A little after the first mile, I came to the turnpike bridge.  It is quite high overhead as it crosses the Lehigh River.  It has some big piers and looks spectacular.  They told me that when the workers put the bridge up, they agreed to build this section of trail too. 

The rest of the way out was kind of bland.  I felt good though, so I was still able to enjoy it.  I came by what looked like a water treatment plant.  There was no smell, so I guess it wasn't sewage.  That was around the 2 mile mark.  After that, the path turned into a lightly traveled road.  The second mile came in under an 8 minute pace.

I didn't like that I was now running on a hard, paved surface.  I didn't want to turn around until 2.5 miles though.  Then I saw a cute woman up ahead walking her dogs, so of course I couldn't turn around until I passed her.  I ended up going out to 2.75 miles before turning around.  I wasn't far from the town of Lehighton.

Coming back, I was happy to be back on the stone path.  It took awhile for my legs to readjust after running on the pavement, but they eventually came back around.  They were tiring a little as I approached mile 4.

These middle miles were easy and typically around an 8 minute pace.  When I got to the last mile, I decided to pick it up a little and finish strong.  I would say that I was probably running at a moderate effort.  After the turnpike bridge, it seemed like the trail was a gradual downhill.  I was moving now and the run was over before I knew it.  I put in a fairly quick 7:16 last mile.  It was a good way to finish.

After I was done, I was trying to figure out where to run my 5 hill sprints.  There was a sloped concrete drainage system and I almost considered running up it.  I decided that I would go over to Blue Mountain Drive and possibly run up that.  However, when I got there it was quite dark.  I decided it wasn't safe enough, so I passed on the hill sprints there.  The ski slope didn't look open yet, but there was snow on it.

I decided to just go home and eat supper.  After supper, I went to the Nazareth Boro Park to run the hill sprints.  It is perfect for that, with the steep hill and grass surface.  It is a good thing I brought my headlamp because I ended up having to dodge a couple branches that I guess must still be left over from the hurricane.  There were some tree trucks parked in the parking lot.  It looks like they are doing a lot of work there.

I want to run a 5k around February to see if I can get back under 20 minutes.  I thought that would be tough to find a race because there aren't very many winter 5ks.  As luck would have it, I found a 5k in Nazareth in February.  Even though the course probably won't be easy, it sounds perfect.

I'm still a little beat up, but all in all it was a great run today.  I do think that the extra rest is helping some.  Hopefully I'll feel better and better and can hit the marathon training head on in a month or so.  Tomorrow will be another off day before an easy 7 miler on Wednesday.  I might hike tomorrow since the weather will be nice again.  


5 miles - 39:48 (7:58 pace)

Dave Decker's Loopy Run

I'm trying to heal up, so I should be running easy right now.  However, I was pushed pretty hard and ran fast on Thursday evening.  That made for little recovery before Saturday's run.  I was hoping I wouldn't be sore, but I figured that I would be.  Unfortunately, I was correct.

Today was another one of Dave Decker's crazy runs.  It was a 4.4 mile figure eight loop at Riverview Park in Easton.  You have to finish one loop in an hour and then if you do, you can run another loop the next hour.  This continues until everyone gives up or can't finish a loop in under an hour.  We had a huge group of almost 50 people.

Since I'm trying to take it easy, I wanted to just run one loop and then continue to get in 8 miles.  We had a whole tailgate/picnic type setup going.  I brought a bunch of stuff, but I only arrived a few minutes before the 7 AM start, so I had to get my things out later.

I began by taking pictures of the start and then I put my shoes on to run.  Since I was kind of rushing, I didn't get any good pictures of the start in the dark.  Because I was taking photos, I began running alone.

I have run at Riverview a number of times as well as the paths around there.  I was very puzzled by the course and quite interested how it went.  I knew of an uphill by the Route 33 Boat Launch, but I had no idea how the path would come back.  Dave mentioned a tunnel, but I was still confused.

It was a bit cold at the start and in fact throughout the whole day for that matter.  The temperature was in the 30s.  On the way out it wasn't too bad because the breeze was the other direction.  Coming back was quite cold and I regretted dropping off my gloves and headband after the loop was complete.

Jennie and female Gayle were out earlier in the week, cutting all the trees that had fallen after the hurricane.  They did a good job, but we still had to go around some of the bigger trees.  My quads were already very sore within the first mile of this run.  It wasn't as bad as a couple weeks ago, but things weren't good either.  At one point, I had to get off the path to go around a tree.  Running on dirt was great.  I might have to stick to trails a lot more in the near future.  This was all pavement as was my run on Thursday.

Within the first mile, I noticed the path below and the tunnel underneath.  I somehow never saw that before.  I guess part of the reason for that was that the leaves on the trees always hid it.  I was still intrigued though as I didn't understand how our path would get to that one.  At least I sort of understood the route at that point.

As I approached the Route 33 Boat Launch, I was surprised that I had not passed any of the slower runners yet.  Although it took me a couple minutes to get started, I figured I would catch them by this point.  My first mile was a little slow, but I began to get faster.  Sometime around that part, I could see some of the people running on the path above me.  I knew I was closing in.

At around 1.6 miles, the path split off and went uphill.  There was a cone there and the rest of the course was well marked too.  Jennie went out on her bike and made sure we didn't miss the turn.  Shortly after the turn, I finally caught some runners.

People were already walking up the hill.  I was very surprised to see Kelley was one of them.  I knew she wasn't running much, but I thought she would be farther up than that.  Later she explained why she was going slower and it made more sense.

The first hill was a little tough, but that wasn't the end of it.  There was a brief downhill.  This section was nice as there were some houses on the hill.  I actually remember riding my bike in this area years ago (probably while I was in high school).  I passed a few more people including April, Melissa, Frank and handful of others.  Dave took a bathroom break and I went by him as well.

After a little downhill and rolling hills, there was more uphill.  The climb wasn't too bad, but after a few loops, it would've been brutal.  My time definitely slowed down at this point.

The good thing is that what goes up must come down, unless it is a point to point course.  There was quite a downhill.  I had to make sure that I didn't fly too hard and fall down due to all the debris on the trail.  Going both up and down the hill, there were logs to hop over.  It was almost like a trail run.

After flying downhill, I went under the tunnel and saw more people up ahead.  I picked off a few of them including female Gayle and Christina.  I went by so quickly that Gayle asked who it was passing them.  Having people in front of me helped pull me along.  I would estimate that I passed about half the people within the loop.  My fifth mile, which included the big downhill, was a nice 8:07 pace.  I was definitely taking it easier today and was much happier with my pace when compared to some of my other recent fast runs.

While everyone else rested after the first loop, I continued on.  I wanted to do 8 straight miles and not stop.  With all of the trees on the hill section, I decided that I would turn around before the hill.  One loop was enough climbing too.  I went out and again I was lonely.  My legs just felt so beat.  I had begun the run with an insole, but it was uncomfortable, so I took it out.  That meant that my foot was sore.  I was trying not to run up on my toes so much, but I couldn't help it.  Often I'd catch myself doing it and would change my form.  I think my form is a big reason for the sore quads.

Miles 6 and 7 seemed to take forever.  I turned around right before the Boat Launch at mile 6.25.  Somewhere around mile 7, I passed the second loop going the other way.  Flo was running with another guy.  I was disappointed to see that Mertz had quit already.  I later saw him on a bike.


My last few flat miles were pretty slow.  They were around an 8:50 pace.  I actually don't mind that pace if I was running it healthy, rather than beat up.  I made it back to the starting point and was happy to be finished with my 8 miles.  It wasn't easy.  Staying on my feet the rest of the day sure didn't help either.  I am sore now.

After I was done running, it was all about hanging out the rest of the day.  First, I watched the second loop come in and took pictures.  Flo said she didn't even recognize me at first and thought I was some creepy guy.  That's not the first time that has happened.  Photographing this event was fun.

We had a fire going at the pavilion and a lot of food too.  It was fun sitting around and chatting.  There were quite a few people that only did one loop and more than only did two loops.  The fire crowd got bigger and the running crowd shrunk with every hour.

The fire was great, but at least I was smart enough to have several layers on.  I was laughing at Flo because she weighs nothing and wasn't wearing much.  Therefore, she was huddled over the fire the whole time.  We even had marshmallows to roast too.  A few people carried wood for the fire at the end of their loop.

Some people had impressive runs.  Karl had a good day.  After several loops, there were still 11 people or so.  Angie and Mel went pretty long.  I knew female Gayle would last awhile.  Most people left the fire by late morning.

It didn't take too long until the group was down to four runners.  I figured the end might not be so far away, so I stayed around.  If I thought we would be there all night, I might've left early.

Gayle was hurting and she finished up at 2 PM.  That was still an impressive 7 loops and over marathon distance.  It was down to three runners at that point.  One woman from New York, Mary, was running consistent times.  She was impressive.

After 8 loops, the final three runners had enough and they quit.  That's a lot of running.  To be honest, I thought it would go a lot longer.  It probably could've if the three of them would've been very competitive.  They weren't thrilled about the cold.  I'm glad I didn't try to run this because I don't really know when to quit and likely would've hurt myself.  I'm sure these three would've killed me.

After they finished up, we hungout for another hour.  There was less than 10 of us at that point.  It was still fun.  It would've been an even better day if things ever got warmer.  Maybe next year, I'll really try to do well in this event.

I have too look at my schedule and see when I'm going to run next week.  I'm thinking I need a trail, perhaps Trexler.  I was hoping to run four days next week, but we will have to see since my legs are sore.  I am disappointed that they aren't getting a lot better.  I'm going to continue to stretch and strengthen them.  If I have to, I guess I'll hop on the bike some more.  I need to build my mileage back up, but not wear my body down.

8 miles - 1:08:30 (8:34 pace)