Nightcap

The plan today was to make the weekly trek out to Trexler.  I would've preferred going in the morning, but Lafayette had their football spring game.  Instead, I took off later in the afternoon.  Originally, I was hoping to do the whole loop, but after seeing how windy it was at home, I knew that wasn't happening.

The winds here were around 20 miles per hour, so of course they were much worse there, especially at the Environmental Center.  The good thing was that the temperature was in the 50s, so things weren't as bad as they could've been.  I was going to run from the Environmental Center, but right before I started, two people headed down the trail walking their dogs.  The one was barking a lot when I was behind them walking, so I opted not to run there.

Instead, I headed to the parking lot by the zoo.  The good thing is this would allow me to run the section that I'm less familiar with.  It starts off with a steep hill and it was already windy.  I had on a long sleeve shirt and that was actually too much, because the temperature was fairly high.

I made it up the hill, but I was then onto the grass and going slightly uphill again.  It's a lot of climbing in the early going.  I hate the grassy section too.  Plus, it gets a lot of wind.

Finally after a short while, I was out of that area and conditions got better.  They rerouted the trail, but I took the old trail.  I don't mind the reroute except that it just goes through grass and they haven't even bothered to cut a path through the grass.  I had a chance to recover in this section.  I was dreading how much uphill I would have on the way back.

I already knew I'd be doing an out and back.  I was hoping for 2 miles in each direction.  My legs just didn't feel great.  That often seems to be the case when I run from this area.  I need to get over that.  I don't know what it was, but the calves were sore.  It seems like my body actually feels worse after a day of rest.  It is like it gets all stiff.

After the first mile, I crossed the road.  On the other side, it started to go uphill.  My legs just didn't have it, so I turned around and ran back to the road.  I was disappointed that I couldn't go farther out.

I was right near the covered bridge, so I just decided to head on that trail.  It is a flat stone trail along the creek.  I ran along the east side of it.  I didn't feel good at all.  I couldn't wait to get to mile 2.

By this point, I realized that I wouldn't be running 4 miles.  I started to focus just on getting to mile 3.  Some of this section was windy.  It definitely wasn't comfortable.  I ran past the ford.  I thought about running through the water, but I was borrowing my parents car and I thought they might get pissed if I got it wet. 

I was about to run over the pedestrian bridge.  Then I saw a double blue marked trail.  I opted to take that for a short distance.  I gave up quickly though as it was climbing and climbing.  I then headed back down and crossed over the creek.  I ran around the outside of the zoo to get some more mileage.

I was now on the pavement and my legs didn't enjoy it.  There was also a hill too.  I managed to get to three miles and finish the run.  I was glad to put in some mileage there and run an unfamiliar section, but it was mostly just a wasted trip.

I was thinking about ways to run differently at Trexler.  I'm always running the loop slowly.  I need to come up with ways to run faster.  I thought about running one mile moderate to hard, then one mile easy and repeat that off and on for the whole loop.  That will get my body used to running hard there, without over taxing it.  I'll try that in the future.

Since I was so disappointed in this run, I decided to head out for a night run for a few easy miles.  I'm becoming quite the night runner.  I really love it.  This would just be a short two miler on the Saucon Rail Trail.  That is usually where I go at night.  Nor-Bath is closer to me, but I like Saucon more in the cover of darkness.

I am tired of starting at the same spot.  I decided tonight that I would begin from the south end of the trail.  There is a park there, but I figured that it would closed after dark.  I parked at nearby DeSales University instead.  That turned out to be a good decision.

I was just a few hours removed from my first run, but I felt good.  The legs weren't sore any more.  It was windy and chilly, but actually not that bad.  The wind definitely started dieing down.  I still had to wear a jacket, just it case it was worse than I thought.

I had on a white shirt, but I ended up putting the black jacket over it.  That wasn't the best thing, because I was planning on running on the road briefly.  Flo has my reflective vests, so I couldn't use those.  I thought I had my headlamp in my bag, but I left it at home.  It certainly wasn't the safest running conditions for me tonight.

I took off from the DeSales gym and headed toward the trail.  After I left the gym parking lot, I realized that I put a backpack in my car and then started running.  I was hoping no one saw that because after the Boston bombings, that could look strange on a college campus.

As I was running alongside the gym, a campus cop vehicle pulled out from behind the gym.  I was worried that he might say something, but he didn't.  I ran on the shoulder of the road and then into the grass if a car came.

It was about half a mile to the park.  That was good because I was planning on running 4 miles and the out and back to the trail would take up a good chunk of the run.

I ran into the park and saw a group of people walking out.  They informed me that a cop was kicking everyone out of the park.  I was glad I didn't park my car there.  I wasn't stopping in the park, so I kept running.  I made sure to run right behind the cop's car.  That way he could see me and stop me if he really wanted to.  I'm not sure if he was in his car or not, but he never said a word if he saw me.

I was onto the Saucon Rail Trail in no time.  It was now about 2/3 of a mile into the run.  I felt like I was really cruising.  The conditions were great and it was a peaceful night.  I think I was running downhill too.

Of course running alone on a dark trail, not much happens.  I did come across a guy on a bike.  I barely even saw him.  He was dressed darker than me.  At least I had my white shirt exposed.  I wondered if he would've even seen me, if he came up from behind. 

Before I knew it, I was through miles 1 and 2.  The 1st mile was only a 9:02, but the 2nd mile sped up to 7:57.  I went through one of the flashing road crossing sections right before turning around.  I think this one even lights up a sign way down the road, because cars are coming up a curve.

As I was going out, I thought I heard people in the yard of a house above the trail.  As I ran back by them on the return, I could see two people at the top of the bank next to the trail.  I didn't want to startle them, so I didn't say a word.  I assume they saw me though.

I passed the biker again.  Most of the remainder of the run was uneventful.  I could tell that I was now going slightly uphill.  The terrain was annoying at times too.  I would go off the middle of the trail and end up running in soft stone.  I didn't enjoy sinking in.  Even with these obstacles, mile 3 was still run at 8:03.

I went back through the park and everything was closed off.  My calves felt great up to that point.  I think I was running more on my toes at that point.  However, once I hit pavement, I started getting sore.  I finished up right near the DeSales gym.  The calves were quite sore.  They were clearly bothered by the lack of rest.  I tried massaging and stretching.  Now, I'm doing some icing.

I know I need new trail shoes.  I have to check the mileage on my road shoes.  I think they have a lot of mileage on them.  That could be part of the problem.  They should probably be replaced

I was glad to get a couple runs in.  I got some solid mileage and ran over 44 miles for the week.  If I could shake this calf issue, I'd be doing even better.  I'm just under 5 months from my planned marathon and my mileage is already in the mid 40s.  That is solid.  I might have to keep it in this range for awhile if I don't get healthier. 

Tomorrow will be my long run day.  I'm hoping to run 18 miles.  I'd like to get it done in the morning.  It most likely would be late morning.  Some BCR people are running at 8 AM at Jacobsburg tomorrow morning.  That would allow me to get some miles in that weren't done alone.  The downside is that I would have to run all of it on a trail instead of a flat route.  I also wouldn't have much recovery from tonight's run.  The other big issue is that it is supposed to be around the freezing mark that early in the morning.  It will be near the 50s later on.  I'll have to get up early and decide then.

Run 1: 3 miles - 28:06 (9:22 pace)
Run 2: 4 miles - 33:15 (8:19 pace)