I headed out to Trexler this afternoon to continue my streak. I have now run there 10 straight weeks and 11 times in that period. Some days have been more productive than others. Today, was the best yet. I hoped to run the full loop. That didn't happen, but I made progress and had a good workout.
I guess there really is no such thing as spring at Trexler. It seems like there is only winter and summer. At home, the wind was minimal. Not so when I headed out west. It was incredibly windy at the Environmental Center. It might have been the worst wind of the winter. Thankfully, the temperature was fairly warm (in the mid 40s). The sun was shining most of the run too, so that was a big help.
I went back and forth on attire. I couldn't believe that it was warm enough for just shorts and short sleeves. At the same time, I knew when the wind was gone and I was working to get up the hills, I would be hot. I thought about a lightweight long sleeve shirt or even arm sleeves, but it the end I went with short sleeves. It was a good decision.
Starting off with the wind was freezing. Of course, as usual, that didn't last too long. I went out nice and comfortable. I got over the big hill fairly easily. The top is always very slow and my breathing is heavy, but that is only at the very end. Maybe in a couple weeks, this will really seem like a small hill. I'm happy that my progress is noticeable on this hill. My legs don't really get sore on here at all now, it is just my breathing that I struggle a bit with.
As usual, there is opportunity for a lot of recovery after the hill. The first mile was a comfortable 9:34. Going up the gradual hill was brutal. It is steepest in the beginning and the wind was directly in my face. Luckily, I am so used to the trail that I knew once it went around the turn, it would get much easier. That it did. Again, I had two dogs barking at me. There are two sets of them there and this was the second set I believe.
The wind was off and on in this part of the run, depending on which way I was facing. The second mile became a speedy 8:39. That is going uphill without working hard either. What a difference some nicer weather can do.
Going over the grassy sections slowed me a little and provided some struggle, but I really was still feeling quite strong. It is amazing how familiar I am now becoming with this section. I knew right when I went around a turn that I would have to run over some old railroad ties. I now need to learn the back section of this run as much as I know the first three miles. Mile 3 was fast as well at 8:35. I wonder what I could do in this section if I really pushed it and had no wind. I could probably run the first one under 9 minutes and the next two miles under 8 minutes. I hope to be even faster than that in the future.
After some downhill, I was now hitting the section that I was less familiar with and it would get tougher. Last time I went through here, I wasn't quite sure where I was. There is a very short uphill and then a "false" hill (meaning I always confuse it with the big hills). I got up both of those without stopping. There are some rolling hills after that, but they aren't too bad. I was very hopeful that I could run 4 straight miles to begin the route.
Of course I knew that if I got to the big hill before 4 miles, I was screwed. I would have to walk. I was secretly hoping that I am strong enough to get up the big hill without stopping. It turns out that was just because I haven't run or walked that hill in so long. I had forgotten just how brutal it is. I got to it and made it up the first curve. It didn't take long before I was walking. That was at 3.93 miles. This hill is such a bear to walk up. It is so steep and seems to go on forever. I saw a trail off to the side, but that just went to a dead end and then downhill. I had to bushwhack to get to the main trail.
At least I was willing to walk for a change. After that hill, I got back to running again. I ran along and was doing okay. However, it wasn't long before I encountered the second massive hill. This isn't as bad as the previous one, but there is just no way I could run up this one either. I probably did give up too soon though. In the future, I need to push on until I'm beat. At the top, I stopped my watch briefly. I thought I was going to quit, but realized that that was a dumb idea. I kept plugging along.
After these hills, there is some recovery time and some downhill. Throughout this run, I took it easy on the downhill. I tried to use that as a recovery. Normally, I let gravity take me downhill and I am just flying. I'm not sure which one is better. I definitely won't hold back on raceday.
I began to approach the next interesting segment of this run. That is the creek crossing. Since it is March, I knew it would be cold. It is very refreshing in the summer, but I wasn't sure what to expect today. I was just happy that the water wasn't too high today. I crossed it and it was quite a shock to the system. My feet seemed like they were numb for the next quarter mile or so. Things were fine after that though.
By this point, my body was certainly beat up. Usually it is my lungs that limit me here. Now, I had got out so far that it was my legs that were getting very tired. I came to a somewhat long hill and just didn't have much left in me. I started here a couple weeks ago and getting up this hill wasn't a problem. I even ran some repeats on it afterward. However, there was a cumulative effect from all the hills and I just couldn't make it to the top. I did run some of it and walk some more of it. I was determined to make it to 5 miles and I was almost there.
I did make it to 5 miles and stopped my watch briefly again. Then I realized I should try to keep going since I was at the top of the hill. I knew I wasn't going to continue on on the trail though. I headed towards the zoo and was going to take the shortcut back to the car. After some fast miles, it was amazing how slow miles 4 and 5 were. I ran them in 10:43 and 11:59.
As I headed toward the zoo, I was on pavement and going downhill. Suddenly, I was recovering and feeling great. I thought, why not keep running until mile 6. I was actually near the race's starting line and considered running back on the trail. Then common sense got the best of me. I realized there was no point in trying to run 3.5 more hard miles. I was too close to the limit. I ran along the creek on a flatter trail and then over a covered bridge. I was going to stick to the road and run back to the Environmental Center. I changed my mind though and headed back along the other side of the creek.
At this point, I was getting kind of sore. I ran past 6 miles, but realized running to 7 miles would be tough. Since I was approaching 1 hour of running, I just decided to stop at that point and walk back. That was tough because I was cold and it was windy. There was some brief rain too. Plus, I still had a lot of uphill walking to go.
What made today tough was deciding when I had enough. I probably had another trail mile or two left in me. However, when I got to the zoo, I had 3.5 miles to go. I knew I couldn't do that without a lot of walking. Eventually, I'll get to the point where I can run the rest of the thing. I don't need to overdo it now though.
I felt so awesome after the run. This is the first time all winter that I've run long enough here to really give my legs a workout. I felt so beat afterward and I loved it. There is just something different and rewarding about running these tough hills at Trexler and doing it right. You really feel like you have accomplished something after a good workout here.
The workout also left me hungry for more. I feel like I can run/walk the whole loop and do it at a good pace without running too fast. I might try heading back to Trexler again on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. If I do, maybe I'll try to run the exact race route. If I can make it to the Environmental Center, perhaps I can get 7 straight miles of running in before the big hills. That way seems better because if you are going to have difficult hills to walk, they might as well occur at the end of the run, not the middle of it.
I tried to compare today's run to last year's Quadzilla race times, at least the sections of it that I ran. Even with running easy today, I think I ran over this part of the course faster than last year's race pace. That is pretty darn impressive. I think right now, I'd have no trouble running the course under 1:30. I could probably even do it with an easy effort. I can't wait to see how I strong I can be in a couple months.
Tomorrow will be my usual LVRR Group Run. I'm hoping some better weather will bring more people out. I wanted to run the St. Luke's course, but I haven't taken the time to figure it out, so that won't happen yet. It should be a fun group run and hopefully an easy day.
6:16 miles - 1:00:01 (9:45 pace)
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