I stepped out the door yesterday prepared to do a track workout. Then, I felt the cold wind and decided that that wouldn't be very productive. Today, I was definitely going to run. At first, the plan was to go to Trexler. I brought my trail shoes with me to my new job and was going to run after work. When I was done with work, I decided that I'd just run closer to home. Then when I got home, I changed my mind again and headed to Trexler anyway.
The weather has been tricky each of the last two days. The temperatures have finally risen into the mid 40s. The problem is that it is still windy and cloudy most of the time. I thought it would feel a lot better with a 10-15 degree increase, but it hasn't. One reason why I didn't want to go to Trexler was because it rained most of the morning.
I was fully prepared for a slippery and muddy route. I figured that by going in the normal direction, I wouldn't encounter quite a much mud. The beginning is a bit more rocky. I started off flying down the hill. I came across a guy walking his dog. The path was a little slick, but overall not too bad.
I then climbed the long hill. That didn't have the best grip, but it was very runnable. I didn't slip too much. I guess this hill will never get easier. It's to the point that I can make it to the top without stopping. However, I am barely running by the summit. It is just so tough because it gets steeper and steeper. If there wasn't a lot of downhill recovery time after the hill, I'm not sure that I'd mentally be able to get up the hill.
I went past the bison pen and they were out, but near the top of their enclosure. I'm amazed at how easy the hill near there is. It is much more gradual than the steep hill. I made it up with only minor breathing issues.
There was a lot of stone for grip on the soggy trail, but plenty of mud too. The most problematic mud sections were usually around turns. It was hard to get any grip there. That was the case early on and I nearly fell. The meadow like section was just slippery all over, as was the short downhill before the road.
Going down the road was a nice break. I saw a woman walking two dogs. After the run, I saw another guy walking two dogs as well. I was surprised with how many people were out there. The weather was better than it has been, but not great.
I went over the rocky section. It was challenging because I haven't seen it clear in awhile. Most of the rocks have been covered with snow lately. I stepped on a sharp one that stung, but made it through alright. It was fun.
The long uphill was tough. Really the most difficult part of this is the first section. After that, it levels off more and gradually climbs. You can recover much better once you get past the first part. I almost didn't make it that far. The wind was just so brutal. It was cold and blowing right in my face. I struggled with what to wear again. In these winds sections, it was awful and I needed my windbreaker over the short sleeve shirt, with shorts one the bottom. Other times, I was hot and could've done without the jacket.
I was surprised that the sloped section of the trail had as much grip as it did. I figured I would be slipping and sliding there, like I have been doing all winter. It was better than I anticipated. My foot was a little sore at this point.
I arrived at the view, but couldn't enjoy it because it was so cold at the top. I was working too hard against the elements to enjoy much of the run. With everything dead and no snow, the surroundings weren't as beautiful as they could be.
I approached the 3 mile point and had a decision to make. The trail was going downhill fast and I had to turn around soon if I was going to do so. I didn't want to climb too much. I wanted to try to complete the whole loop, but I knew at this point I was likely too beat to finish it. I kept going anyway. There were some big tracks in this area. I guess they were horse tracks. I never see horses there.
I knew the hills were coming. I thought I was at the tricky "false hill" before the big hill. I'm not so sure if that was the case though. It seemed too easy. The "false hill" is usually kind of hard. I forgot about some of short hills in amongst the big hills in this section. I had not run there in some time. I was happy to see that I was near 3.3 miles at this point. This is farther out than I've been able to go all winter.
While climbing the first small hill, I knew the big hills would be tough. There were some rocks, but also a lot of mud. The grip was tough because it was so steep. I got what I thought was the first big hill at 3.5 miles. I'm not sure if that was actually the big hill or not. It looked like the trail might have been moved and that this was now a switchback section. That would sure make the steep uphill much easier and it would kind of take away the fun too. I haven't run this area in so long that I could've been wrong with where I actually was.
I kept plugging away. Although every hill was tough at this point, I felt a little better than I did earlier. I got into a groove I guess. As I approached 4 miles, I started climbing a steep hill. Was it the 2nd one or the 1st? I'm not quite sure. Either way, this one was steep and very difficult to get up. I knew I wouldn't be able to get to 4 miles, even though I was so close. I gave up earlier than I probably should have and turned around. Near the bottom of the hill, I hit the 4 mile mark.
I was next to the road, but had to look around to find a path out of there. I ran on the road for awhile. I didn't feel like running far on it though. I decided just to quit right around 40 minutes. That made for a good workout.
The problem was that I had a long way to walk back again. Eventually, I made it to the zoo. This time, I found the perimeter trail and used that rather than the zoo road. It made for a much shorter walk back to my car. I guess the route that I took was likely the way to bypass the creek crossing. Now that I know it, maybe I'll keep running and use this route in the future. At least I could get 5 or 6 miles then. Maybe I can even do the rest of the loop from there.
I'm amazed at the workout that I did get. My body is beat up and exhausted. I nearly fell asleep watching TV. I'm glad I pushed myself a little farther. I need to keep going though. Maybe in better conditions, I can actually complete the whole route. I can't believe I'm still struggling as much as I am at this point. I just have to keep going and plugging away. In addition to going once a week, maybe I'll head to Trexler twice a week from time to time.
Tomorrow will be the 2nd of 3 straight days of running. Not ideal, but I'll manage. It will be the LVRR Group Run in Bethlehem. Friday, maybe I'll do some speed or hill work. If I do hills, it could be at Trexler again. The BCR is running at Plainfield on Saturday, so I doubt I'll be there. I don't like that trail much and it is paved, so I'll likely pass.
4.28 miles - 40:01 (9:22 pace)
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