I almost made it out yesterday to run, even though I didn't plan to. The weather was nice, so I strongly considered it. I was exhausted after going to the Lafayette-Lehigh basketball game and just couldn't drag myself out there.
That meant that I had to get out and run today. It certainly wasn't easy. I was tired and took a brief nap and had no energy. I grabbed some coffee to try to refresh me as I headed out the door.
The weather was much better today than it has been lately. I wanted to take advantage of that and try to run 800 repeats again. I was thinking about 5 or 6 on the D&L Trail. I headed there later in the afternoon.
I knew I was going to wear shorts, since the temperature was supposed to be around 45 degrees. The big question was whether to go with a long sleeve or short sleeve top. Since I planned on a fast workout, I went with the short sleeve top.
Although it was much warmer than usual, it wasn't as good as I expected. For one, it was still cloudy out. Having the sun out makes a big difference. It was also still a little windy and being along the Lehigh River and I was running into it. The beginning of the run was definitely cold. I had to blow on my hands until I was warmed up.
Usually I can tell in the mile warmup whether or not it will be a successful day. Today, it was tough to gauge. My legs felt fine, but running didn't seem easy and my time appeared fairly slow early on. I did get faster and faster throughout the mile and was right at 8 minutes flat.
I started my first 800. Just like last week, I didn't seem to have a fast gear. It only seemed like I was going slightly faster than the warmup. I was breathing hard and it just felt like I was going nowhere. This half mile seemed to take forever. I was done with it and under a 7 minute pace, but it was way too much work.
I could've pushed through a couple more of these, but I figured what is the point? I listened to my body and it said, "take it easy today." If I can't run the first repeat well, I'm certainly not going to run the next few any better. I cruised after that and when I got to a quarter mile of active recovery, I just decided to keep that pace and make this an easy run.
I think the issue was the ground. The stone trail can be great for the legs since it is soft. With all the snow melt and recent rain, it was really soggy and super soft. It was almost too wet and made it hard to run. I have encountered this before. I didn't anticipate it would be this bad.
The trail made every step much more difficult. Even slowing down and running at an easier pace wasn't easy. That is because my foot was still impacting the ground over and over again. Also, this beginning section is slightly uphill.
I continued on and made it a goal to get to 2.5 miles before turning around. The good thing is that after the fast segment, it was only 3/4 of a mile until that point. I considered going out to 3 miles because I figured it would be downhill on the way back. I was just struggling too much though.
I'm glad I didn't go any farther. Coming back was very difficult as well. It might have been slightly downhill, but it didn't matter. It wasn't easy and my body was taking a beating. When I got to around 3.5 miles, my left knee near the kneecap got very sore and my right calf started bothering me as well. I knew I could make it to 4 miles, but I wasn't sure if I'd get to 5 miles.
There is a road along most of the trail. It got so bad that I decided that I would just run back on the harder paved surface. I as soon as I could make my way over to Route 145, I did. It was busy, but the shoulder was pretty wide.
My legs eventually came around on the pavement, but that took awhile. This part was tricky because the road goes up and down whereas the trail remains relatively flat. The elevation change was tough.
The road to Cementon comes off of Route 145. I had to take that back to my car. In the beginning, it has a decent shoulder. However, it sort of goes along a cliff with the trail below as you get closer to Cementon. That meant that there was almost no shoulder and I was right up against the guardrail.
This section was very hairy. Not only was the shoulder small, but the road was busy. There were quite a few cars that went by me. I noticed a few people on cellphones. I'm just glad I wasn't hit by the morons. I had a women start to swerve towards me a little bit at the end of the road. I noticed she had a cigarette in her hand. She wasn't too close to hitting me, but I had nowhere to go if she did. I was right next to the guardrail.
It was a relief to get back to a sidewalk in the final quarter of a mile. I will never run on that road section again. If I ever have a similar problem as I did today, I'll just run until I can't. Then I'll walk back.
I finished up and was happy that I at least got 5 miles in. It was disappointing, but certainly better than nothing. I am glad I bailed early and saved myself for another day. Some times it is good to push through, but other times like today, it is definitely not. I will live to run another day. If I knew the trail was going to be this bad, I would've ran elsewhere.
I wasn't planning on a run tomorrow, but after today's disappointment, I might get back out there. The weather is supposed to be good again. Maybe I'll run some speed stuff. Perhaps I'll try some 800 repeats, but stick to the more dependable track this time. I have to go in to my new job tomorrow. I'm not sure how much work there will be yet. I'll have to fit my run in when I can. I should be able to do that later in the afternoon.
5 miles - 41:31 (8:18 pace)
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