I had planned to run with Kelley in the morning, but she had a rough night and cancelled on me. I also planned to run 2 loops at Trexler, but I ended up with a lunch meeting at work. I forgot to bring my watch along, so I changed those plans too.
The weather was pretty crappy today. At least it wasn't hot, but there were crazy winds. They were around 25 MPH. I saw they would lessen late in the evening, so I headed out to run after supper. It was still super windy.
I went to the Saucon Rail Trail to run 10 easy miles. I didn't want to run out and back in one direction. I wanted to go in two directions. Therefore, I headed to Upper Saucon Community Park. I actually parked across the street, because I thought I might be running after dark. I began the run after 6:30.
I couldn't decide what to wear, but I played it safe and went with a lightweight long sleeve shirt and shorts. That would be a great decision. The wind was brutal at times.
I headed south in the new direction. I knew I could go out about 2 miles there before the trail ended. I've only run on this part about 2 or 3 times since they opened it last year. It was refreshing to run somewhere new. Plus, the wind was mostly at my back in the first part of this run.
I actually didn't look down at my watch until it beeped for mile 1. That was an 8:25 mile. I ran by the golf course and looked at some of the big houses. It wasn't too bad without wind in my face. I actually got kind of hot at times.
Right before the turnaround, I saw a young lady walking. There were a few walkers and bikers, but I think the wind and the approaching darkness kept a lot of people away. The trail ended right before mile 2. I ran on the road very briefly and turned around.
Heading back was sort of nice in that I was going slightly downhill now. However, the wind was in my face and becoming a real pain. I couldn't wait to get back to my car. Even at that point, I'd only be 40% done with the run. The legs were feeling just okay.
I got back to my car and it was very windy. There were lacrosse games at the fields, but they were now wrapping up. I was onto pavement as I went to the other side of the path. I wasn't enjoying the wind one bit.
It was nice to be heading out the other way. I wasn't sure how far I'd be able to go out, with all the wind. The farther I could make it, the better though. I was going slightly downhill, so that did help.
Getting to mile 5 and being halfway done was good. However, I didn't feel all that great. Both of my feet were bothering me. I still can't tell whether the one issue is simply a blister or a bruise.
One section near the other golf course was very windy. I saw some of the trail surface blowing around and a tree branch fell right before I got there. I had to be careful of those. I managed to make it out to mile 6.5 before turning around. That was good. Shortly after the turn around, I came across five or more deer next to the trail. I'm not sure if I missed them moments earlier.
I knew when I arrived back at my car, I'd be at mile 9. Now, I had the wind mostly at my back. I fought the uphill though and my feet bothered me more. I focused on just getting to mile 8. Every mile except the first had been under 8 minutes.
I was very glad to get back to the park. I had to run by a couple walkers. The uphill by my car was tough. I headed in the first direction for this final mile.
It was always a trade off. Nice and calm, but uphill on the way out. Then, windy and downhill on the way back. At least it was only another half mile with wind in my face. It was good to be done with 10 miles. The quads were slightly sore, but not too bad.
Tomorrow, I'm definitely going to try running at Trexler and doing 2 loops. That will be as big of a mental challenge as physical. I was hoping to maybe run with Kelley in the morning, but I guess that isn't happening. Maybe I'll run 4 miles on my own, if I can get up.
10 miles - 1:17:34 (7:45 pace)
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