Parkway 17 Miler and Boston Marathon

I was planning on starting this post talking about my long run today, but I'll have to begin with the Boston Marathon.  There was a bombing there at the finish line this afternoon.  I had a few friends there and I'm glad to hear that they were okay.  Two people were confirmed dead and dozens others were injured.  I'm praying for those involved and their families.  It does look like it could've been worse.  I am trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon and this won't stop me from running the race whenever I do get there.

Anyway, on to my run.  I wanted to run long yesterday, but was windy when I was photographing the Emmaus 4 Mile Classic race.  I also was starving because I didn't eat, so I couldn't begin a long run after that.  I almost ran the long run in the dark later at night.  Trying to fit in a run that takes over 2 hours can sure be tough.

I decided to just take off yesterday and run this morning.  It did work out great because I didn't have any work today.  I was hoping for that, so that I could get the run done before the Nazareth track meet.  I decided to run a few loops in the Parkway in Allentown.  The meet was at nearby Allen High School.

Last week, I ran 16 miles for my long run.  The plan for today was to run 16-18 miles.  I was really hoping to run 18 miles.  I went into the clubhouse to change into my shorts and short sleeve shirt with compression sleeves.  As I walked out, it was raining a bit.  I had to wait in the car for it to stop.  I don't mind running in the rain, but I certainly didn't want to start a long run in it.  Things cleared up rather quickly.

I made sure to put on my hat in case it did rain again.  It was cloudy and cool and that made it almost perfect running weather.  At times, there was a breeze, but it wasn't too bad.  It did drizzle a little bit, but it was brief.

I started off heading towards the covered bridge.  I was hoping to run one loop in this direction, one loop in the other direction and then a 3rd loop in the original direction.  The loop is about 6 miles, so that would give me 18 miles.  I haven't run in the Parkway since I moved our group runs out of there in October, so it was good to run there again.

One reason I wanted to run there was so that I wasn't running alone.  There were quite a few other runners out there.  I passed some of them several times.  I was never really too close to anyone, but it was good to have company.  I'm sure the rain scared some people away.  There were still a lot of people fishing in the creek.

The scenery is great there and it is one of the best places to run in the area.  It is just far away.  I should probably get there more often.  The funny thing is that I'll be running there again on Thursday for our group run.  The St. Luke's Half Marathon course goes through there.

The opening mile wasn't bad.  As usual, my calves were sore.  Everything else was good though and I felt pretty strong.  It was nice and slow.  A comfortable 9:08 pace.  I wish I could've kept that pace or just a slightly faster one, but even running easy, I end up in the low 8 minutes.  There was a group of what looked like cadets running from the Police Academy right by the start.  That was cool, but I didn't see them again.

The beginning has some hills and this route is definitely not as flat as a lot of my long runs.  Still, other than the Fish Hatchery Hill, none of the hills are too big.  I was able to manage them today.

I got to the Fish Hatchery Hill a few miles into the run.  I did plan on going up it, at least the first time around.  I figured by the end, it would be a struggle.  This time, it was sort of difficult.  It was certainly nothing I couldn't handle, but I was breathing pretty heavily as I got to the top.  I always thought it was easier in this direction, but I'm not so sure.  It seems steeper this way and not as gradual.

Going down hill was fun.  I took it easy, instead of flying downhill like I often do.  Shortly after the hill, I passed a couple with a dog.  The dog sort of ran with me in the grass for a short bit.  I think he really wanted to run into the creek though.

After about 5 miles, my legs started to come in.  I was glad when I finished the first loop.  It was tough mentally though because I knew I had a long way to go.  I should probably run with some other people instead of going solo all the time.  I finished up the first loop at just over 6 miles.  I stopped for water right after that.  That is one good thing about the Parkway, there are a lot of water fountains.

I looped around and headed back out in the other direction.  I just focused on getting to mile 7, then 8, then 9 and eventually 10.  I knew when I got to double digits, I would feel a lot better.  It was great knowing where everything was along this route.  That was especially helpful in the closing miles.

Eventually I made it to mile 10.  Between miles 10 and 11, I ran up the big hill at the Fish Hatchery again.  This time, it was in the other direction.  It was surely hard, but not as bad as I thought.  The question was more so whether the hill would have any cumulative damage for the later miles.

I hit mile 11 and felt great.  Even with the big hill in it, I still ran that previous mile at an 8:18.  This was kind of typical of my pace.  It did fall off toward the end.  I hope that one day I can feel this great after 20 miles.

I did still feel good through mile 12, but as I approached mile 13, I started slipping.  My legs just start to get sore and my lower back was getting sore as well.  My calves were actually pretty good from 5 miles on.

Somewhere near the 13 mile mark, I went past two runners that were now walking.  They said, "looking good."  That was a nice boost.  I saw them quite a few times during the run.  They probably ran for a good hour and a half or more.  One of them actually had one of our LVRR shirts on.  Not sure how she ran so long in it, since it isn't a tech shirt.  Props to them though for going long.

After 13 miles, I really started to slip.  I just plugged away.  I was wondering how I could run almost 5 more miles.  I tried to focus on getting to mile 14.9.  That would put me a 5k from 18 miles.  At this point, I was on my third loop.  I kept running in the same direction as the 2nd loop.  I wanted to have a nice downhill finish.

One thing that did keep me going was thinking of my friends that were running the Boston Marathon.  At the time, I didn't know about the bombing.  I knew a couple friends were running there while I was.  If they could get through that tough race, I could get through a long run.  That was a big help.

I stopped for water before the 3rd loop.  The brief water stops were good.  It allowed my legs to freshen up and I didn't feel too bad when I restarted.  I knew I couldn't run the full loop this time, because the Fish Hatchery Hill would just be too difficult.

I first ran to the Robin Hood Bridge and then crossed over the creek.  I just wanted to get to the Fireman's Bridge in the other direction.  That seemed far away, so I focused on each segment.  The covered bridge came first.  I stopped at another water fountain near the clubhouse.

Most of this direction was at least flat.  Still, I was falling apart.  It was good to get to the Fireman's Bridge.  At that point, I knew I had about a mile and a half to get back to the clubhouse.  At least, I would have to walk back there if I quit.

I went over the one big hill and then the two smaller hills before the clubhouse.  Getting up the hills at that point was a little challenging, but going down them was great.  It was nice to get some recovery, even if brief.  I remember these hills being a challenge when I made a comeback in 2011.

I hit mile 15 and was plugging along.  I stopped at one water fountain right by the covered bridge before the hills.  About a mile later, I stopped again at the last water fountain near the clubhouse.  I drank and drank and drank.  Restarting was very hard.  I was getting kind of lightheaded at this point.  I was over mile 16 though.

I realized that there was just no way I was getting to mile 18.  Two more miles than last week would just be too much.  After the clubhouse, I ran back on the road.  I went out to around 16.8 miles and turned around.  It was great to head back and finish.  It was a good 17 miles.

The 2nd last mile was over 9 minutes (including a water stop), but I picked it up in the flat last mile.  That mile was 8:34.  I was so much more beat than I was last week after 16 miles.  I think the stone used in the Parkway might be tougher on my legs.  They seemed destroyed.  I was so exhausted afterward as well.  I just wanted to lay down and go to bed.  I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.  I couldn't get up the energy to walk up the clubhouse stairs and take a shower.  When I got to Wawa, I took forever to drag myself out of the car and put on some long pants.  I did manage to sit around at the track meet for some time.  That gave me some rest and recovery.  I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.

I'd like to run at Trexler tomorrow, but I'm not sure.  It depends how beat up I'll be.  If nothing else, I should try to at least run 4 or 5 miles there.  I need to be ready to go for some faster stuff on Wednesday though.  Biking tomorrow morning could be a good recovery.

17 miles - 2:23:05 (8:25 pace)