Ironton Rail Trail with the BCR

Today was the Saturday morning group run with BCR.  A while back, I posted photos of the Ironton Rail Trail near Coplay.  It is a little farther out than the group usually goes, but it is a cool trail.  There is a caboose and some neat signs and other relics of its railroad history.  When the BCR asked earlier in the week where to run at, Tom suggested we go there.  I was excited when it became the chosen destination.

I talked to Mertz when I went to apply for a job where he works.  Since he has to work today and the run was far away, he didn't want to have to drive out that way twice.  Flo said she was going and then messaged me last night to say she didn't want to travel that far either.  I was very disappointed because I hoped to push it a little more.  I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.  Things ended up working out anyway.

If this was any other regular BCR run, I probably would've skipped it without Mertz and Flo.  Not only was their absence an issue, but I pretty much had no sleep.  I got home late last night and had a lot of stuff to do before bed.  I only would've had around 3 hours of sleep if I fell asleep right away.  Instead, I basically got no sleep.  Since I pushed the group to run here in the past, I felt that I had to be there this morning.  I drug myself out of bed.

The weather was cold at 7:30 AM.  The temperature was right around 20 degrees.  There wasn't too much wind at least.  I wore my fleece vest over my ColdGear and had on long pants, a headband and gloves.  After it warmed up a little, I ended up taking off the headband.  I also took off the gloves, but my hands got cold, so they went back on. 

I thought maybe I'd end up running alone and maybe end up leading the pack.  There were some other runners there as fast or faster than me, but they don't always run as fast as they are capable of. 

We started off and Tom and I went out ahead of everyone.  We chatted for awhile.  I was surprised at how fast we were going.  Tom can run fast, but I haven't run with him going this hard very often.  Gayle joined us after awhile and then went ahead of us.  With the downhill start, it was a nice 7:38 opening mile.  Nothing I can't handle, but definitely tough.

I hung with Gayle and Tom for awhile, but I really had to work to maintain their pace.  I wanted to work a little harder than normal, but wasn't planning to go at this fast of a pace.  Sometime before the end of the 2nd mile, I was informed that they were running near their goal pace and that's why they were going so fast.

After a 7:16 mile 2, I decided it would be wise to just drop back.  I wasn't feeling all that great.  I wasn't breathing well.  I'm sure the lack of sleep was getting to me.  I don't usually run early in the morning, so when these group runs go fast, I struggle to keep up.  I had the same issue running with Flo several times.  I think I'd do better during the middle of the day with this kind of pace, but I don't know.

One thing that made the path tricky was the ice, especially on the section that runs parallel to the river.  It was slippery and I went from onto the pavement to back off of it again.  I didn't find the dirt area to be much better though.  The tough part wasn't the ice that you could see, but the ice that you couldn't.  A couple spots looked clear, but I would slide on them.  At least I didn't fall and I don't think anyone else did either.  I'm not sure how Gayle and Tom kept that fast of a pace up over the ice.  They were well ahead.  They were still visible at least.

Part of the trail was closed for construction, so there was a detour.  It wasn't there when I was here last.  It wasn't bad and didn't add any distance to the run.  I could hear some people coming up from behind me.  It was Chris D and Alison.  I knew Alison had some good speed, but was surprised to see her running that fast.

The two of them slowly reeled me in.  I could here them coming closer and closer.  I was dieing and slipping back.  They eventually caught up and passed me.  That actually turned out to be good.  They weren't going too fast, so I was able to hang off the back of them.

The three of us pretty much stayed together for the rest of the run.  From the cement kilns on, it is about 3/4 of a mile of gradual uphill.  That is tricky because it was icy too.  Alison dropped back and I ran with Chris for a bit.  After some time, I couldn't take the hill, so I just dropped back and ran with Alison.  We talked a little about running in San Fran and Boulder (two things I wish I would've done when I was at both places).

Alison and I finished up together, just behind Chris.  It was a very productive run for me.  Hard enough to push myself, but not too hard.  I didn't kill myself.  I need to challenge myself, but not over do it.  Only the last full mile was over an 8 minute pace (8:06).  I finished at 5.3 miles.

We ended the run and waited for the rest of the group.  When they all came back, I got some good pictures of them in front of the big caboose near the parking lot.  It is a cool feature and I really liked it.

I didn't want to go to breakfast, but I had suggested online that we go to Griddle 145 just south of Route 22.  I went there on Sunday and it has a unique menu and generous portions.  I felt that I should go since the place was my suggestion.  It was good and I think everyone enjoyed it, even though it is a little pricy.  I saw my friend Jill, who is very active in the running community, at the restaurant.  It was good to see her.

I'm not sure of my schedule this week.  Gayle and Tom are doing a long run tomorrow at the D&L Trail.  I might join them.  I'm not sure because I would like to run some faster paced stuff this week.  If I do that, I'll like take tomorrow off and run fast on Monday.  I don't want to run three days in a row.  I am trying to be cautious as I build up.  Whenever I decide to add speed to the mix, it can't be the same week that I add an additional running day.  I'm happy with where I'm at right now, but soon I have to start working harder.

5.3 miles - 40:49 (7:42 pace)