I love running with the BCR folks. The problem is that I just hate the morning. I woke up a few minutes before my alarm and could barely drag myself out of bed to even turn it off. I did manage to do that and just woke up later in the morning.
I was sort of glad I didn't go so early because the weather looked cold. It seemed to warm up as the day went on. I was having some trouble deciding where to run at because it seemed a bit windy. I wanted to run at Lehigh Gap along the D&L, but thought the wind might be brutal coming off of the river. In the end, that is where I ended up going. The scenery of the mountains alongside the path just can't be beat.
I started off around noon and it was actually warming up quite a bit by then. There was still some wind. That caused me to struggle with what to wear. I had on tights and a ColdGear top. I decided to wear my fleece vest. That was mainly because it had pockets and I could keep some gloves and a hat in case it was worse than I thought with the wind. In the end, I would've been better off without the fleece and probably would've been okay wearing just shorts. I definitely didn't need hats and gloves.
As I drove towards the Lehigh Gap I noticed there was some snow on the ground. Around us, all the snow has melted. I was concerned that the trail could be snow covered. To my relief, it wasn't. There was snow here and there.
I started off heading north along the trail. It was very sloppy in front of the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. There was no snow, but because of the snow melt it was soggy and sloppy. I cruised along. I didn't think I was running as fast as I actually was, but my lungs felt it.
Before hitting the mile mark, I encountered some snow. Most of the trees in this area are dead, so I figured the snow would be minimal. I guess the sun just didn't hit some of these sections at all. It wasn't more than an inch on the ground, so it wasn't too difficult to run in. I did run on both sides of the trail, while trying to find the cleanest part of the path.
I thought about turning around, but then the trail cleared up and was relatively dry. It was in the best shape that it had been in. I was surprised that my first mile was under 8 minutes (7:58). I certainly didn't try to pick it up in the next part, but with good trail conditions, I guess I went even faster.
Earlier, I saw a guy on a bike come up the trail from the south. His bike said, "trail patrol." I asked him how conditions were the other direction and he said much better. Since the part I was on at that time was actually good, I kept going. I wanted to go out 2 miles and then back. Since I was planning 6 total miles, I'd have 4 of them done by the time I headed back the other direction. I considered going up the short hill to the LNE to get some hill work in, but I missed it because I was talking to the guy when I passed it. My lungs were working hard enough anyway.
With about 1/3 or 1/4 of a mile from turning around, the path got quite snowy and slow. I wanted to make it to 2 miles though, so I kept going. Eventually I hit the turn around and headed back. Mile 2 was run at 7:51. My breathing was certainly heavy.
As I headed back, I told myself to slow down a little. I sort of did, but not too much. When I got back to the good section of the trail, I'm sure I was moving well. I starting off going this way because I thought going out would be the worse wind. It turns out I was running into more of a headwind in this direction. At one point as I was nearing the bend, it was very cold. Most of the time, the wind wasn't too bad and I was actually hot.
As I closed in on 3.5 miles, I was still running right at an 8 minute pace. I took off my vest at this point and when I got back to my car, I threw it in there. That was a big relief. I was really dieing at this point. Even though I slowed down some, I still worked too hard early on and struggled with my breathing. These 2 miles were still run at 8:05 and 8:04.
The guy on the bike was correct. The trail was in much better shape to the south of Lehigh Gap. There was almost no ponding water and no snow at all. I cruised along. Since I was worn out, I backed off a little. I didn't have the energy to push it, but I set a goal to not let my overall pace slip below 8:05. I was still at around 8:02, so it really didn't take a lot of effort to do that.
I looked at my watch over and over again. As I approached the small airport, I was nearing mile 5. I just had to stay focused on getting to the turnaround. Once I did that, I could battle through the last mile. The trail still looked good when I hit mile 5 (8:05 pace), so I kept going. At least I was fairly consistent with my pace.
I decided to go a little farther and actually head to 5.25 miles before turning around. That would allow me to walk a little for a recovery after the run. Finally, I was there and relieved to be on the way back.
I looked at my watch and counted down what seemed like every .05 miles. That went by so slow. My breathing was a little better at this point because I wasn't running against the wind and I felt like I was falling apart, so I couldn't push it. Actually my pace was pretty quick. My legs were finally tiring as well. When I got into the last quarter mile, I picked it up slightly. I finished up at exactly an 8 minute pace. A good 6 miles in the book.
I'm still not sure what happened last week that caused me to be sore for almost three days after only a 5 mile run. I wanted to run 6 miles then, but my legs didn't allow it. Now, after 6 miles today, my quads are only mildly sore. About what I would expect.
I'm still going to be cautious. I am going to keep my running to every other day for at least another week. Then, I'll add a 4th day to the schedule and a few weeks later a 5th day and then eventually a 6th day. The only speedwork that I plan on this winter in the 5K race that I'm doing on February 9th. I have plenty of time to get back to where I want to be for a spring half marathon and a fall full marathon. I just need to keep taking it easy.
I'd like to try a long bike ride tomorrow. I rode 7 miles yesterday while it was in the 20s and it was brutal. We'll see what the weather is like tomorrow. If I don't bike, maybe I'll hike. We'll see. If I feel good, I might try running at Trexler on Monday. If not, I'll make it somewhere on Tuesday (likely Trexler). Right now, I'm doing well. I hope it keeps up.
6 miles - 48:00 (8:00 pace)
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