Switchback Trail Run

Today was a very busy day.  Chris called me yesterday and wanted to see if I would pace him and his friend Ryan on my bike while they ran this morning.  They wanted to preview the Runner's World Half Marathon course.  There are so many turns on the course and it is tough to follow.  Of course we got lost on the one section that I didn't know very well in one of the neighborhoods.  It ended up being 14.5 miles total.

That workout was a good warmup.  It was nice and slow on the bike.  They ran fast of course.  I've been wanting to head to Jim Thorpe and check out some of the trails.  The place is beautiful (with huge mountains everywhere).  I convinced my dad to drive up there with me and my mom came along too.  It was only going to be short run.

There are supposed to be some really amazing trails, but for now I was just sticking to one of the main ones, the Switchback Trail.  The trail used to transport coal rail cars between Jim Thorpe and Summit Hill.  It later became a ride and a big attraction that put Jim Thorpe on the map.  Now, it is a recreation trail.

I started at Mauch Chunk Lake Park, outside of town.  This was a pretty setting to begin.  They had some cool signs there that dated the history of the trail.  They also had an old rail car.

I ran toward Jim Thorpe.  It is a nice stone path through the woods.  I cruised along and enjoyed the beautiful fall day.  It is so nice to be able to run without sweating everywhere.

The trail was rather flat in this section.  It was like a normal rail trail around here.  There were quite a few families and people riding and biking.  The forest that it went through had a lot of pine trees.  I love pine forests.  They are so cool.  The trail also ran along a creek.  It was so peaceful.

I plugged away.  I wasn't feeling too bad, but I can't say I felt great either.  My calf is still a bit sore after last week's long run.  A softer dirt surface might've helped that out a little, but I didn't have that here.

I was disappointed that this section wasn't more technical.  I know there are some pretty technical parts of it with elevation change.  After looking at the maps, it appears they are on the upper loop.  Instead, I just had a nice picturesque run.  Since I was only planning to run about an hour, I wasn't too concerned.  I just wanted to get a feel for the place.

The path went out about 2 miles before coming to Flagstaff Road.  I could've actually parked at this spot and I might've made it close to Jim Thorpe.  The problem is that I was unable to find the trail.  I ran along the road a bit and went on to what I thought was the trail.  It was a nice, short singletrack section.  It came out back where I had come from though.  I then ran the other direction and came to a dead end in the pine forest.

I tried running on Flagstaff Road to see if I could find the trail again, but I had no luck there either.  When I got home, I saw that it was actually behind some industrial building across the road.  Now I know.

I was able to get to about 3.5 miles before heading back, since I was running all over the place.  Going back on the main trail was a little tough because it is slightly uphill.  I got used to it though.

When I was heading out initially, I saw signs for a couple spur trails.  I decided to run up one of them.  It was the Fire Line Trail.  This was a fun singletrack with some climbing.  I only went out about a quarter of a mile though.  It was good to explore a little.

I got back to main trail and ran toward the lake.  It wasn't too long and I was back there.  I finished up right at 6 miles.  That was a solid day.  I then noticed the trail across the street from the lake.  I'll have to try that direction next time.  Hopefully I can find the more technical parts in the future.

The ride and run weren't quite enough.  I wanted to ride a few more miles.  I went out in the dark and rode around the neighborhood by house.  I added a solid 10.5 miles to a productive day.

I've already biked 25 miles, so I'll likely have 100 miles riding by the end of the week.  With my 50K coming up, I'll probably taper the running portion of my workouts this week.  I'm feeling good and energized, so I might consider running again tomorrow.  The weather could play a big role in that decision.  I haven't been to Trexler in some time, so maybe I'll go there.

6 miles - 54:59 (9:10 pace)