It amazing what a difference that fiery ball in the sky can make. The temperatures and wind were both their usual miserable selves today, but the sun was out. That made my run so much more bearable.
I decided just to stay close to home and enjoy an somewhat easy trail run at Jacobsburg. It has probably been close to 2 months since I ran there. It really is a great place to run. I just don't care that much for it because the elevation isn't challenging enough. When I hit trails, I like to be pushed to my limit.
I only packed a ColdGear top, but luckily I had a lighter long sleeves shirt with me. I wore that along with my jacket, tights, some gloves and a headband. The gloves and headband came off pretty early and stayed off most of the run.
I was just planning on 4 miles and maybe I would add a 5th if I was feeling good. I was definitely not going to run more than that though. I headed off on the main path where people usually walk their dogs. Some sections here were washed out and will need some spring maintenance. It wasn't bad for a trail runner.
I was a little surprised early on. I thought for sure my legs would be sore after 10 miles yesterday. They felt great though. I had minor trouble with some of the short climbs, but that was about it. I went out as far as I could and then crossed the road near the red barn structure.
This section was a little tough because it was uphill and the footing wasn't great. The trail was narrow and there appeared to be huge horse tracks right in the middle of the trail. My foot started bothering me at just over a mile into the run. It was the bottom of my right foot. Every uphill was tough and there were a lot of those. Even if there aren't much in the way of big hills here, there are plenty of rolling ones.
For some time, I was thinking that even 4 miles might be tough. My foot was bothering me that much. I just kept plugging away though. The trail was a little soft here and there and muddy in spots, but overall it was in pretty good shape.
Going through the section near Route 33, I bashed my foot on a couple rocks. Nothing too serious, but it did sting. The problem was that with the wind, my eyes were watering and I couldn't see the rocks too well. A couple of them caught me by surprise.
Getting to the 2nd mile was great. Even though my foot was hurting, I knew I'd manage to get my 4 miles in. The section with 3 road crossings is always tricky. It is usually muddy and an uphill climb. I battled through it though. I thought about taking one of the roads back to the main parking lot, but I decided to keep going. I lost some time at the last road crossing as I had to wait for 3 cars. That is rare because these roads aren't very busy. That cost me about 10-15 seconds.
I crossed the final road and began feeling much better. It was a lot more flat and downhill. I also think my foot was getting used to running at this point. As I came up to the intersection that I was looking for, I saw a dog. I was wondering where its owner was. Then I saw a woman get off a white horse and start yelling at it. That was a new experience for me. I've seen people yell at their dogs before, but never a horse. Horses on the trail annoy me, so I had no problem with that.
Usually at this intersection, I'll make a right and head north along the creek to a parking lot. Since I was almost at 3 miles at this point, the plan was to go left. That would eventually get me back to the main road and I'd finish up right around 4 miles. My timing was perfect because I'm not sure where the horse and dog were going, but I wasn't planning to go the direction they were coming from. I'm glad whenever I can avoid horses all together.
I was now on a nice ridge section above the creek. This was the section that I fell at last year. I was thinking of how easy the section was and tripped on a rock. No way was that going to happen today.
Before I knew it, I was back onto the main road. I had about .4 miles to go. I thought about sticking to the road, but I decided to opt for the trail instead (once I arrived there). From here, the trail used to go back to the main parking lot. However, they are constructing a new building. I was curious as to where the trail went.
I finished up at 4 miles right before hitting a dead end at the construction area. I was feeling good, but I was too close to the parking lot to try getting in an extra mile. I had to walk up another trail and around the new building and the parking area. I probably could've added another half mile with how long this section was. It was alright though and I was happy with the run.
As I was walking back, I started to think about possibly leading an LVRR run there on some Sunday morning in the spring. Maybe I could work it in with the BCR group. They run there often. I know I have a few friends that are interested in getting to know the trails there. I have an idea of a 3 mile loop and a 5 or 6 mile loop we could do. We could run one and stop back at the cars to refuel and people could leave if they didn't want to continue on. I certainly don't want to lead a regular group run there, but doing it once would be fun. I know the trails better than a lot of people.
The rest of the week should be interesting. Tomorrow, it is going to be nice out, but I'll be off from running. If I can get my bike tire fixed, perhaps I will ride. Whenever I do get it fixed, I want to start doing 2 workouts a day. One before work and one after it. I'm going to try getting to Trexler on Wednesday, but we shall see. We are supposed to get some snow, although it will be worse farther south. I'm excited because the weekend weather looks very good. That would be great for my 5K.
4 miles - 37:24 (9:21 pace)
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