Although I was near the Sands Casino this evening, the title of this post isn't about gambling. After a disappointing short run yesterday, I wanted to do a double session today. I got out and ran 4 miles in the morning and another 4 in the evening.
Flo made a comment yesterday that she was running outside today. I asked if I could join her for an early morning run to begin the double session. We were scheduled to meet at Penn Pump Park in Easton at 7:30. I waited and waited, but she didn't show up. I had to go to the bathroom after a while, so I went to the mall to use theirs. Of course when I was gone, Flo called me because she was back at the park. I knew that would happen. She came on foot since she lives nearby.
As usual, it was another miserable weather day. When we started it was around 20 degrees with a windchill in the teens. I had the usual, gloves, a fleece vest, hat, long pants and a long sleeve shirt. I wonder when this cold spell will end.
It was great having company. That definitely made this run in the terrible weather so much easier. Since Flo came from the north, we started off heading south on the new section. She's faster than me now and I haven't run that fast very often this winter, so it took some work to keep up early on. I didn't want to slow down though. If I had to do that later than that would be fine.
We chatted and time flew by. I was talking about how I need to drop some weight. I know I need to watch what I eat. It is just hard to do. She suggested doing some workouts at home, but I just have trouble doing anything indoors. I'd rather run or bike any day over working out to a video or taking a class. I guess I'm old school. When it does warm up, I am definitely going to bike more. I'll probably try to do two different workouts a day.
The first mile was a fast 7:28. It was definitely faster than I'm used to, but not too far out of my comfortable zone that I can't handle it. Much more reasonable than when I ran with the guys in the BCR that were going hard on Saturday morning.
This section of paved path south of Penn Pump Park is really nice. There are some road crossings, but they are lightly traveled. Throughout the run, we had the path basically to ourselves. I only remember seeing a person here or there. We ran out to the Crayola Factory and then turned around.
It was windy at the turn around and I was definitely feeling it. The pace had slowed a little, but it was still brisk. The trail is closed off, so getting around the gates is tough. It will be much better when they officially open it in the spring. Flo could squeeze through some narrow spaces between fence posts, but I'm too big, so I had to go around a lot of them.
We hit the 2nd mile in 7:42 and I told Flo that it was getting a little fast for me. I had to slow down. We did, but basing it on the times, I guess it really wasn't much slower. We ran past Penn Pump and on north. I only wanted to run 4 miles, so I didn't want to go all of the way out. I needed to get another run in later. There is a bridge that the path crosses over, so I ran to there. That 3rd mile was a 7:46.
At 3.25 miles, I turned around and left Flo. That was a relief because I was starting to get beat by the faster pace. I did miss her company though, so it was a trade off. I backed off and cruised home in the final .75 miles. That mile was still run at 8 flat though. I was actually sweating like crazy by the end. I took off my hat and gloves late in the run.
After the run, the inside of my left calf was sore. I could sort of feel this coming on as it was mildly sore overnight. I think it is from doing some faster runs and running on hard surfaces lately. Other than the tough trail run yesterday, almost all of my runs in the past week have been on paved surfaces. Also, when I run faster, I run on my toes more and it seems to stress that area a lot more. I made sure to massage it after the run. It felt better, but I have to be cautious.
It was a great run and I was glad to have Flo's company. It was also nice to get a run out of the way early. I've been sleeping better lately, so I might do that more often. Getting out of bed to run early is just always tough for me. That's especially true in the extremes of summer and winter.
After the AM run, I rested up. I then headed to Bethlehem for the weekly LVRR Group Run in the evening. It was freezing cold then too. The one encouraging thing is that it was still light out when I pulled into the parking lot. We are getting closer and closer to having the sun out for this run. That is if it ever comes out during the day.
I waited around in the cold, but no one showed up. I didn't promote the run, so it was no big shock there. We only have a couple regulars, so if they don't show, we have no one. I've actually been surprised that I haven't had to do a solo run in a long time.
Since I was on my own, I wanted to run on a softer surface. That is one good thing about the no shows. I headed to the Saucon Rail Trail. I haven't run at night on a dark trail in some time either, so I looked forward to that.
I wasn't sure if I could park at Water Street after dark, so I just parked on the road next to that park. I started off heading out through the dark. I know this trail well, but it was actually nice in the dark. I sort of didn't know where I was most of the time because things kind of looked different. I just focused on each little increment.
My calf was sore as it had been earlier, so I tried to take it easy. This was a much more comfortable pace than the AM run. Whenever I felt like I might be running on my toes, I tried to back off. The softer surface did seem to help, but I was still sore.
I cruised along. The first two road crossings are kind of busy, but after that it wasn't bad. Just after one of them, I came across another runner. He sort of startled me because his clothes were so dark I didn't see him until the last minute.
At times I was cold and other times it felt comfortable. Everything depended on the wind. Sometimes, my hat and gloves were off. Other times, I had to put them back on.
Just as I was thinking about how nice it was to run on a clear trail, I came to an icy section. It got so bad that I turned around at 1.7 miles into the run. Not quite the 2 miles that I had hoped to go out, but it was decent. I'm glad the moon was bright so that I could see the ice. The trail goes along town for awhile, so there was some street lights too. Not a bad place to run in the dark.
Since I cut the run short on the way out, I was looking for ways to add some distance. At one lightly traveled road crossing, I ran down the road. My calf really started to bother me. This was actually a bike lane. It didn't go very far before I got to a bridge that was closed. I turned around and just headed back to the trail.
I looked at my watch a little more in the homestretch than I did at the beginning of the run. At the start of it, I didn't see my watch until 1.1 miles were complete. I focus on my watch less when I can't see it. That is one great thing about running in the dark. That 1st mile was run at a comfortable 9:06. The 2nd one was 8:40 and the 3rd one was 8:37.
As I passed some type of maintenance barn, I noticed 2 deer standing behind it. They were just staring at me. It was cool how the light shined on them. I've seen deer here plenty of times in the daylight, but it was much different at night. It was more unique. I wish I would've had my camera on me, although I'm not sure there was enough light to get a good picture anyway.
At a couple of the road crossings, cars had to stop for me. They were probably surprised to see some wacko out there running in the cold, in the dark. The second time this happened was at Water Street. That road was too busy, so rather than cross it, I ran in Hellertown for the final half mile or so. I headed south and looped around the block until I was back at my car. The final mile was 8:53.
My calf was sore, so I continued to try to stretch and massage it out afterward. That helped some. Hopefully resting it tomorrow will help as well. I'd like to get back off of paved surfaces too. I thought about adding another day of running next week, but not if this keeps bothering me. I might even skip speedwork next week too. We'll see how I feel early in the week.
Although there was some soreness, it was a great two runs today. I wish I could do that more often. Some time in the future hopefully I'll be strong enough to make that a consistent part of my training pattern. Maybe this summer.
Tomorrow I am off. The last time I checked, the BCR had not announced where they were running this week. If it is paved, I might have to skip the run. If not, I might join them. We'll see. I have a busy Saturday planned with 4 high school basketball games to attend. I'm actually not sure how many miles I'll do either. I'd like it to be a fairly long run.
AM
4 miles - 30:56 (7:44 pace)
PM
4 miles - 35:15 (8:49 pace)
Car stop for me
Other runner
Dead end road.
Deer
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