Today was some beautiful weather. The temperature was cool, the humidity was low and there was a nice breeze going. I had to take advantage of it. I decided to both run and bike today. I was hoping for 10 miles of trail running and 25 miles of biking. It didn't quite work out that way.
I opted to head to the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. I wanted to climb some, so I figured I'd head up the Appalachian Trail. When I was hiking the other side of the Gap over the winter, I could see the AT. It looked like a long, gradual climb. I think it was, but that didn't make it easy.
The elevation at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center is under 500 feet. The elevation at the top of the mountain is over 1500 feet. That is quite the climb. The one thing I wasn't looking forward to with this run is that I knew some of the most difficult climbing would be early in the run. There was no chance to warmup.
The beginning of the run is actually on the Woodpecker Trail. It is uphill, but not as bad as the AT. I was able to run a lot of it. On the AT, a lot of the early portion was run/walk. I'd run easy until I was tired, which didn't take long. My breathing isn't that great right now. The trail is also very rocky, so that caused me to walk some. One section has huge boulders and there is no way to run it. I had to walk that and I even had trouble finding the blazes on the trees.
Run, walk, run, walk, that seemed to be the theme in the early going. I was able to run by the shelter along the trail. No one was hanging out there. The only time I actually saw anyone during the run was on the way back down. A family was building a fire in a camping area near the shelter.
Most of the AT went through trees with barren ground. Some sections were clear of trees and there was often brush along the trail in these sections. I'm hoping none of it was poison ivy. I was surprised that the trail wasn't clearer with how many people must hike through it.
I came to the blue blazed North Trail around .8 miles into the run. I couldn't believe I was only that far along. It said on the sign that it was 2 miles until both trails would meet up again. The North Trail runs along the barren top of the mountain. I continued on the AT.
The first mile was just so slow. It was around 20 minutes. All the walking caused it to take forever. That first mile had the steepest climbing. Still, there was plenty of gradual climbing. Every now and then, there was a short downhill too.
Even though it was cool out, I still ended up being soaked from sweat. Running uphill for a long time is hard work, regardless of how nice it is. I was wearing a hat, so my head couldn't breathe either. I also forgot my water bottle at home. That would've been nice to have.
As I was near the top of the mountain, the trail passed over a stone road. I thought it was odd that there was a road that high up, but then I realized that it probably led to the communications towers that are on the mountain.
At around 2.5 miles, I was finally at the top. I saw the North Trail again and this time, I headed on it. I went past one of the communication towers. This trail made the climb worth it. It provided awesome views. I could see the turnpike below as well as the Lehigh River. Palmerton was off on the other side. It was hard to run and take in the view at the same time. The trail was on a semi steep section, so I could've fallen if I wasn't careful.
The reason for the great view is that the zinc plant nearby had killed off all of the trees. Now, there is a lot of tall prairie grass along the trail. The trail is windy. I know there could be rattlesnakes on the rocks in that area, so I was getting kind of uncomfortable. I couldn't see very well with the tall grass. After a short distance, I decided it was too risky to go on.
I headed back to the AT. When I got there, I decided to head the other direction first, before coming back down the mountain. This was mostly flat and wooded. I ran until I hit the 3 mile point. I then turned around and headed back down to the parking lot.
Going down the mountain was certainly faster, but it was still a slow go. There are a lot of rocks and it is steep, so I didn't want to run out of control. I did enjoy the easy of the downhill though.
When I was by the shelter, I saw a sign for a spring. It was nearby and I saw it as I ran past. I was tempted to drink from it, but I'm not sure if it is clear or not.
I was finally back at my car. It was only 5.5 miles into the run. The run was much slower than I thought it would be. Thus, I was already around one hour and thirty minutes into the run at this point. I thought about running a couple miles on the flat D&L or LNE Trail, but I figured there wasn't a point. I had a good workout in. I was planning to ride anywhere. I didn't have a lot of time to do that before my evening plans.
Biking was tough because it was so cold with the wind blowing on my bike. Riding into the headwind was so much harder. I rode over to Notre Dame-Green Pond High School. I also rode around NCC and Moravian Academy's campus for some extra distance.
By the time I finished the 25 mile ride, I was exhausted. I only had about an hour of rest between tough workouts. This was one of the hardest days I've ever had exercising. Some time, I hope days like this are normal days.
Tomorrow, I'm going camping. I'm hoping to ride my bike again and get a lot of long mileage in again. After that, I plan on a very long trail run on Saturday. I hope it all works out. I've never run at the park that we are camping at.
5.5 miles - 1:25:20 (15:31 pace)
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