Thursday, August 22, 2013

Night Run at South Mountain (Emmaus)

Sometime plans change and you just have to roll with it.  It is good to squeeze in a workout when that happens.  Initially, I was going to head up to Stroudsburg for the Nazareth football scrimmage.  I decided not to go that far.  I would've run up there.  Instead, I was going to run closer to home.

Things changed again in the late afternoon.  I was riding my bike and apparently one of our other stores at work needed me to make a delivery around 9 PM.  That meant that I had to change up my plans again and run after work.  Actually, I probably could've squeezed in a run before heading to work, but I'll use any excuse I can to run after dark.

Our other store is close to Emmaus and I've been meaning to get over there and run the trails on South Mountain anyway.  That's exactly what I decided to do.  By the time I was ready to go, it was already 10:30.  Even though I still needed to run 16 miles during the rest of the week, I figured this would have to be a somewhat short run.

I thought about wearing a bright shirt, but it was just too hot for a shirt.  I figured I probably wouldn't run into anyone anyway and if I did, they should be able to see my headlamp.  I could've parked near the Alpine Street Trailhead, but then I would've been starting right at the singletrack and would've been climbing fairly early on in the run.  I opted instead to park in town in Emmaus.  I actually ended up right by the Emmaus Run Inn.

I headed out on the street and then went to the spur trail.  This gave me around a mile or so of relatively flat and fast terrain to warm up to.  When I first got to that spur trail, I was worried because I thought there was a car in the parking lot.  I wasn't crazy about encountering any people.  I then realized that it was actually on the road below.

It must have been over a year since I last ran there.  It seems like they've added things like benches and tables and such.  There are some boardwalks on the spur trail and it rained a lot today, so they were quite slippery.

I got the main wooded trail not long after that.  The spur is made up of stone and relatively wide.  This section to the top of the mountain is a narrow dirt singletrack.  I was now to the fun part.

Things got very interesting in this area.  I'm not sure if my batteries are low on my headlamp or if I need a stronger headlamp, but either way I was having trouble seeing.  I only had one spare battery available.  Some logs on the trail that were almost a foot high.  At times, I didn't even notice them until I was right on them. 

It was also foggy, so that contributed some to the poor visibility.  I had to be very cautious as I slowly climbed.  At one point, I actually didn't even notice a small spring and I ran right through it instead of over it.  Somewhere around 1.75 miles, I tripped over a rock or log that I didn't even see.  I maintained my balance.  At least I was going uphill.  I probably would've crashed if I was heading the other way.  I decided at that point that running on the singletrack wasn't a great idea.  I turned around and headed back down.

Coming down, I was very cautious.  I didn't come across any issues.  I was back to Alpine Street before I knew it.  The beginning of this area is flat, so I decided to start up the other side of the loop until I encountered any issues.  Not too far into that, the trail started to descend.  I didn't want any elevation change, so I headed back. 

I cruised along the spur trail.  I heard a dog in the distance.  He must've heard me running through the woods.  I'm glad he didn't try to find me.  I saw a cop go toward the trail just as I was back onto the street.

I was back onto the roads of Emmaus around 3.5 miles.  I headed away from my car for a short out and back.  Later on, I ran by a bar with tables outside.  The few guests/employees must've really enjoyed a seeing a sweaty, shirtless guy running through the dark.

I came up behind a cute young lady at a light.  I made sure to announce my presence so that I didn't scare her too much.  Back at my car, I was at about 4.25 miles.  My plan now was to get to 6 miles and call it a day.  My pace had now quickened thanks to the road running.  I was around a 9:30 pace.

I wanted to stick to the sidewalks of the main road.  That would keep me very visible and I wouldn't need a headlamp.  I kept going and going and going.  It seemed like running less than a mile was taking forever.

I tripped over a curb.  Again, I kept my balance.  Apparently the sidewalks were just as dangerous as the trails.  At least I survived both incidents without a scratch.

I finally was at mile 5 and I turned around to head back.  I figured that I would have a little extra running when I got back to my car.  I did that and ran a short out and back on the opposite side of the street.  I was now finished.  I grabbed a drink at the water fountain in the triangle and dried off my body.

I wish I could've run a little more trail, but I'll take it.  There's no point in taking too much of a chance at night, especially alone.  I also don't know this trail that well.  I would actually run after dark all the time if I had a training partner that was willing to do so.  I'm not afraid to run at night on trails, but if something ever did happen, I'd be screwed. 

I'd like to try to get 10 miles of running in tomorrow to complete the week.  If not, there is still Saturday.  I would like to use that mostly as a rest day though.  I still have a lot of riding to do.  I need to put in 50 more miles in the next two days (after 15 miles today).  My dad has off tomorrow and I'm hoping that we'll go to Lake Nockamixon in the afternoon.  If we do, I'll bike the loop around the lake.  It is a relatively flat 18 mile loop.  That should be a perfect location to do a long ride.

6 miles - 56:43 (9:27 pace)

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