Dave Decker's Loopy Run at Lehigh

I didn't run on Thursday, but I did bike for an hour yesterday evening.  I thought that might cause me some problems for today's run, but it didn't.  It was one of Dave Decker's classic loopy runs.  This one was more challenging than the winter one because it was on the trails at Lehigh's Mountaintop Campus.  That made it a very hilly up and down course.

I was excited for this run because I couldn't really run much the last two times he put on runs like this.  A year ago, he held a trail run here, but I wasn't in great shape because I just came back to running.  I only managed 8 miles.  In the winter, my legs were beat up and I only ran 8 miles.  Today, I was hoping for much more. 

I arrived early and it was already crowded.  There was a huge turnout of close to 40 people on hand.  The way the run works is that each loop starts on the hour.  You have to complete the loop within that time frame to start the next loop.  The loops were a little over 4 miles long.  Dave marked the course with ribbons and also small American flags at the turns.

We started off as big group.  I wore my GoPro camera to get some photos of the run.  I especially wanted some of the group at the beginning of the loops.  The camera worked fairly well and got some good photos, although running through the woods, a lot of them end up blurry.

The weather was nice and cool at the beginning.  I was happy with that, especially since I knew it wouldn't last.  The start was actually very slow.  No one wanted to lead.  I started off easy and found myself out front.  Since I ran here last year, I did know the trails a bit.

It starts off downhill, but it doesn't take long until we are climbing.  Early on when I was out in front two deer ran across in front of me.  That was cool.  I thought I got some photos of them, but apparently not.

There was a guy, whose name I didn't know, out in front for some time.  Then, on the uphill I took the lead.  I ran a good amount of the uphill on the first loop, but also walked quite a bit.  There was a pretty long climb.  I wanted to make sure to save myself.

Eventually, Wayne and this guy Todd passed me and took the lead.  I wasn't too far behind the though.  For whatever reason, the first few miles seemed to take long.  I guess I just wasn't used to the slow pace.  I ended up running a lot this loop with Emily and her sister Allison.  I wasn't about to push ahead and try to stay with Wayne and Todd and I wanted to go easy on this one anyway.  Allison was complaining quite a bit.  She was also breathing heavy.  She doesn't run trails or hills much.  I felt kind of bad because this was easy for me.

I was actually amazed at how easy it seemed.  Maybe it was the slow pace, maybe it was walking up hills, or maybe I am just that much stronger than a year ago.  It was definitely easier now than it was then.

After the uphill, there is a lot of flat or downhill and that middle section is very runnable.  Then, the route ends with a lot of uphill in the final mile.  The end is actually an uphill stair climb.  When I got to that point, I was feeling good.  Wayne and Todd were walking up it.  I kept running and just passed them.  I knew they'd kill me later on, so it felt kind of good to be the first one done.  Emily was right behind me.

That first loop took 47 minutes.  The good thing about finishing early was that you get more time to recover.  I rested a bit and grabbed some Gatorade.  I think just about everyone was able to finish this loop in time.  I knew it would be tough for some of the slower people to do so later on.

We started off the second loop after some recovery.  In some of the early downhill, there are mountain bike obstacles.  Rather than take the normal route, I decided to try to be funny and run over those.  There was a jump at the end that I didn't see until I was basically on top of it.  At that point, I was flying and couldn't slow down.  I ended up over running the trail slightly.  I nearly took a major spill, but luckily I didn't.

This time, Wayne and Todd knew the course and they took off ahead of us.  I did more of the same as the first loop.  I walked a lot of uphills and ran the rest.  I was surprised how great my quads felt.  I love trail runs.  For most of this loop, I ran with Emily and Allison.  Around the halfway point, Angie came flying up behind us and passed us.  She was strong.  I followed her fast pace for awhile and could've kept with her, but I figured I would probably pay for it in later loops.

Now, it was Emily, Allison and I.  Allison was moaning after the first loop, but toughened up and headed out for a second loop.  Now, she was really complaining.  After a while, it got kind of comical.  One cool thing is that we ran on the road at the lookout.  While there, Emily and I stopped to wait for Allison.

Emily kept telling Allison that we would go easier.  Of course, Emily doesn't actually know the meaning of easy.  When we got to the uphill part in the final mile, she took off.  I didn't want to leave Allison alone and I was in no rush because we would easily finish, so I hung back with her. 

She fell at one point, but luckily was okay.  She complained and then complained some more.  Still, she was tough.  I tried to keep her thinking positive.  I made sure not to run too fast and I made sure to walk quite a bit.  Hopefully I was helpful.  When we got to the road section at the end, I ran ahead of her.  I finished up this loop at a slower 51 minutes.

We were over 8 miles at this point and I still felt great.  I couldn't believe it.  With my recovery time after this loop, I grabbed my chair, a towel and an energy bar.  It was starting to get warm and so that I didn't chafe, I took off my shirt.

It was off to the 3rd loop.  I knew by now that I'd have no issue finishing this loop.  Wayne and Todd took off ahead of me.  Angie and Emily did that same, but were behind them.  I didn't want to push too much though.  I thought I would have to run this loop alone for good portions of it.  Then, a woman came up behind me.  Later, she introduced herself as Linda.

At first, it was kind of annoying because I wanted her to go ahead of me.  I'd rather follow someone than be followed and have to set the pace.  She never did go ahead of me though.  Eventually, we got to the uphill final mile.  She fell off and I went ahead. 

I ended up running a good portion of the uphill at the end of this loop.  I actually passed Mel and Christina on this section.  After finishing this loop up, I was at almost 13 total miles.  This loop ended at just under 50 minutes.

One thing I did need was a new pair of socks.  There were a lot of rocks and my toes were paying for it.  I could feel the feet getting hot.  The new socks were a huge help.  That was just about my only problem, other than the heat.  I couldn't believe how good I felt and how easy the run felt.  I knew I'd definitely complete a 4th loop.

I tried to convince Emily to run another loop, but surprisingly it didn't work.  Now, it was just Wayne, Todd, Angie, Mel and I continuing on.  Wayne and Angie went well ahead.  Todd ran this loop with his wife, so they were well behind.  I ran with Mel.  He stayed behind me most of the run.  Angie walked a lot of the early uphills, as did I.  I wasn't too far behind her.  For some reason, there seemed like a lot more uphill in the beginning of this loop.  Maybe it was because I was walking more of it.

As I went through the flat and downhill section, my groin started to bother me.  It was a problem when I extended it, such as when I leaped over big rocks or logs.  One thing that was funny is how my attitude kept shifting.  This loop was tough and finally getting to me.  When I was running on flats or downhill, I felt like I could run a 5th loop.  On the uphill parts, I thought there was no way that I'd run anymore.

Ending this loop was definitely a struggle.  I still tried to run quite a bit of it.  Really, it wasn't that difficult to come in under an hour again.  This was the slowest loop yet, but it was still only 53 minutes.

I made sure to drink a lot more after this loop.  I was still undecided of whether or not I would keep going.  I waited to see how I would recover.  This time, the recovery period seemed short.  The heat was certainly getting to me.

I wasn't sure if I could run the whole loop.  I figured I could get about half of it, but I knew the rest would be tough.  I decided that I might as well try and I could cut back on a road if I needed to.  I headed out and felt good with the downhill.  Then I got to the uphill before the road crossing.  I walked up it and even walking it was tough.  I knew a lot of uphill would be coming up.

If I could've made it through that uphill section, I probably would've been good.  Just thinking about all that walking and how hard it would be caused me to call it a day.  I could've finished this loop, but I didn't want to overdo it and jeopardize my marathon training.

Of course quitting there didn't make it easy.  I still had to walk up the mountain along the road.  I had run almost a mile at that point and still had about another mile to walk to get back to the parking area.  I was exposed to the sun at that point too.  I walked back and sat right down because I was exhausted.  My feet were getting very sore.

I recovered some and then relaxed and chatted with everyone else that was done.  I waited until Wayne and Todd came back.  They were the only ones left running.  I was happy to put in 18+ miles on trails.  That was the most that I've ever done on a trail.  It would've been nice to get over 20 miles, but 18 was fine.

I watched Wayne start again for a 6th loop.  He was the only one that was going to keep going.  I was tired and didn't want to wait another hour, so I headed home.  It was nice to be running on trails, where my legs didn't get as beat up as they would've been on 18 pavement miles.  It was great having so many wonderful friends to run and hangout with.

Tomorrow, will certainly be an off day.  I might try an easy bike ride at some point.  I'll probably do a longer ride on Monday.  On Tuesday, I'd like to run again.  Maybe I'll do so at Trexler.  It would be nice to consistently get back to 3 or 4 days a running a week.  What I did learn today is that I might not have any speed right now, but my endurance is great.  It is probably at an all time best.  That will help for the marathon in a few months.  I was already thinking about running my first ultra in the fall and this might have pushed me even more into that direction.

 18.33 miles

Loop 1 4.25 miles - 47:04 (11:04 pace)
Loop 2 4.40 miles - 51:45 (11:46 pace)
Loop 3 4.30 miles - 49:53 (11:36 pace)
Loop 4 4.38 miles - 53:20 (12:10 pace)