I wasn't feeling all that eager to run today, but I eventually got out the door. Tom has planned a long run on the D&L south of Easton for a few weeks from now. He commented the other day that it was closed in a section and that we would have to work around it. A few weeks ago, I ran south from the Theodore Roosevelt Recreation Area. This time, I decided I would head north and see how far I could go.
The weather was perfect. It was late afternoon and a cool fall day. It was a little breezy along the river at times, but overall not too bad. I almost went with long sleeves, but decided on short sleeves. That was a good choice.
I was hoping it wouldn't take more than 5 miles each way to get to Easton. Driving to the start though, I knew the run would be close to that distance. As I was walking (before running) a woman on a bike passed me. She was cute. The path was fairly well used today. Early in the run, a small dog off its leash jumped on my leg. The owner had three dogs and the other two were on leashes. I guess this was the nice one. At least he didn't bite.
Less than a mile into the run, there was a short up and down steps section. At the bottom of the steps, the woman on the bike was stopped, so I had to run around her. I didn't really want to because I figured she would pass me later. I tried running hard briefly to gap her. It didn't work. Not far down the path, she was able to pass me. I ran over a foot bridge and she rode on the adjacent concrete section.
All of that made my first mile faster than I expected. It was under 9 minutes. My pace continued to be faster as I got settled in. The path is pretty flat and easy to run on. It is like a nature type path, so it isn't that smooth. The young lady stopped again and I said, "hello there again!" That got a laugh.
Even though I was telling myself to slow down, it wasn't working. The second mile was just over 8 minutes and the next two miles went right under 8 minutes. I was getting faster and faster. The effort was just slightly faster than what I would call a true easy pace. It was probably like my marathon easy effort. I had to at least labor slightly with my breathing.
At one point, there was a sign that said something about the trail being flooded and enter at your own risk. This was the area they were doing repairs in. Right below the Route 78 Bridge, they had rebuilt the path. It was nice and smooth.
Farther down, I finally got to the part that they are really working on. A guy on a bike had just come through there, so at least I knew it was passable. There was only a path for about one person wide to go through, but it was runnable. Actually, even though I was trying to slow down, this mile was a speedy 7:16. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to run this are during the day when they are doing construction, but in the late afternoon, it was fine. It should be good on the weekend. Even if the path is blocked for some reason, we could always just run through the canal itself. That is empty and appears smooth.
After the short repaired area, there was another section they had redone. It now had stone. The repaired areas were nice. They are wide and smooth. Actually the area they were working on was kind of interesting. The dirt was soft and bouncy.
I was now over 5 miles, but I could see the train bridge right near the Forks of the Delaware, so I had to keep going. I made it all the way to the park just past the bridge. There was construction fence there, but it was easy to step over. The whole path was runnable. The mission was a success.
It was good to be headed back. I was feeling a little weird. I figured I would run to mile 11 and then likely just stop and walk the rest of the way. I just cruised along. I did start getting tired and light headed at times. It wasn't anything too bad though. I just made sure to keep drinking.
Most of the way back was uneventful. My pace continued to drop as I cruised along. I was now running consistently under 8 minutes. I still wasn't pushing much either. I just counted down mile after mile. This path got kind of boring after awhile, but really it wasn't too bad because it was all new to me. It also likely won't be as bad when running it with a group.
I came through with a late mile of 7:31 and was very surprised. I thought maybe I should consider running hard. I went slightly faster at mile 10 and that was 7:19. By now, I was getting fatigued. However, I figured that I might as well see how hard I can run the final mile.
After 10 solid miles, I pushed hard for mile 11. I haven't run hard in so long. Everything has just been base building mileage. I've been considering mixing in some harder stuff every now and then though.
It felt great pushing it for a change. Of course it was uncomfortable, but that is the beauty. The only thing was this mile seemed to take forever. When I looked at just the current mile pace for the first time, it was 6:21. Of course I started to slip, but not too much.
Eventually, I was around 6:28 pace for that mile. I probably could've gone under 6:30, but then in the last tenth of a mile, I came to the short step segment. There was no way I could fly up and down these and not lose time. I ran by a woman there that was trimming her shrubs. With me breathing so hard, she must've thought I was crazy. After the up and down I slowed slightly and this mile ended up being 6:35.
After all those miles, I was quite impressed with that fast last mile. I honestly had no idea how fast I could even run a single mile. I think having this strong base is really going to help my speed once I concentrate on that. I think I'll have to start running hard at least once a week. Maybe I'll even consider a hard marathon again. Time will tell.
Tomorrow, I'm going to watch the Runner's World 5K and 10K. I may bike down there. I haven't ruled out running somewhere in the afternoon. I've already put in over 50 miles this week, so I don't know. I have a party with the BCR people to attend in the evening. The Runner's World Half Marathon is on Sunday and I'll be watching that too. Then, the Eagles battle the Cowboys for first place. It should be a good weekend.
11 miles - 1:25:04 (7:44 pace)
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