After a PR 5k yesterday, it was an easy day today. The plan was to just run 10 miles. I thought about traveling, but decided to head to Freemansburg to run on the D&L. I wanted a softer surface. That area recently had been resurfaced to gravel.
The weather was nearly perfect. It was in the upper 40s, with the sun shining. There was a slight breeze. I wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt.
I thought about running out 2.5 miles in each direction. I was going to head toward Easton, but then I saw a goose down the trail. I didn't want to mess with it. I headed the other way.
I started off feeling pretty good. There was only minor soreness from last night. The pace was comfortable and the first mile was a surprising 7:40. Usually my opening mile is slower than that.
I was enjoying the scenery and beautiful day. I was also deeply in thought. I didn't even look at my watch until the first mile was nearly over. This trail is never super busy, but there were quite a few people out during the run.
This direction was a little chilly, with the slight breeze in my face. The second mile was a 7:28 and the third one was a 7:24. At mile 3, I came to Sand Island. I decided that I would keep going out. The canal was busy on both sides of Sand Island. People were fishing everywhere. I had to make sure to not get in the way.
I kept going out. I figured that I'd head to mile 4, before turning around. The trail did start getting a little uneven. However, I made it to mile 4. That mile was run at a 7:14.
It was good to turn around. I looked forward to get to miles 5 and 6. I was at mile 5 back at Sand Island. It was still a little breezy, but better in this direction. These were run at 7:21 and 7:05.
I am running on softer surfaces because it seems better for my sore foot. However, it seems to bother my quads and lower back a little bit. They started getting kind of sore. I ended up eating some small bugs that I couldn't see. That was annoying.
I saw another runner and a few families on bikes in this area. The run was very uneventful from that point. I was back onto the new section around mile 7. That mile was run at 7:08. I now had a mile left until I was at my car.
I arrived near my car at mile 8. That was a 7:02 mile. I headed out in the other direction. I had to slow greatly to get around a goose. It was no problem though.
I went out in the other direction. There were a bunch of people that were biking in this area. Quite a few people were fishing in this Freemansburg area as well. There was a big group of geese that I went around.
I went out to mile 9 and kept going. Mile 9 was a 7:02. When I looked at my watch it was at 9.11 miles. I decided that that was a good time to turn around.
I cruised on back. Now, I had a headwind. I looked at the overall pace and saw it was around 7:15. I picked it up a little to get under 7:15 pace. I didn't want to get near the geese again, so I ran briefly on the road. I ended with a 6:56 mile. I had quite the walk back to the car.
It was an outstanding weather day and I enjoyed the run so much. I wasn't looking forward to it beforehand, but I was glad that I made it out there. Knowing that there would be days like these are what helped me push through the brutal winter. I knew it would be great if I was in good shape when spring finally rolled around.
I've been backing off this week. I've now run 30 miles for the week, after 80+ each of the last two weeks. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to run 10 miles. That might be one or two runs. I'm not sure. I'm hoping to run with the BCR in the morning.
10 miles - 1:12:19 (7:14 pace)
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