I don't remember who I was talking to last week, but I said that I have to run these really long runs at a familiar place. Today, I didn't listen to myself and paid for it. I planned 25 miles. I headed out to Tobyhanna State Park in the Poconos.
On paper, this looked like a good route. There was a 5 mile Lakeside Trail, that I didn't think I'd enjoy. However, there were two other trail options. One of them went out to Gouldesboro State Park. It appeared that there were would be some water there, so I thought that would be perfect. Things didn't go as planned though.
It was a tricky day. I wore a sleeveless shirt, as it was windy. That was especially true as I started near the lake. I did still sweat a lot though.
I headed out along the Lakeside Trail. It was a stone trail, as I suspected. I knew I wouldn't enjoy this too much. It wouldn't be bad for a short run, but it's not my kind of thing for a long run. On the plus side, it was super flat.
I walked some of the smaller uphills that I could find. I needed to be conservative early. This trail was busy. It is perfect for families or pet walkers and there were plenty of them. It had some lake views, but a lot of it was through the woods.
About a mile and a half out, I came to the Yellow Trail. I think I had hiked that briefly when we camped at this park. I remember not liking the trails that were there. I thought it was because I recall it being mostly grassy. I think some of it was rocky too. I don't know since I didn't take this trail.
I continued on. I was looking for the red blazed Frank Gantz Trail. After mile 2, I came to its intersection. In a perfect world, this would be a fun singletrack to the other park. Instead, it absolutely sucked. It was super rocky and went in and out. It was almost as bad at the AT. I was practically walking.
I was very frustrated. I figured I'd go for a bit though. I only made it out about half a mile on this trail and decided to forget about it. It was time to turn around. This was not going to be a good day, since I couldn't run this path.
I came back out to the Lakeside Trail. I was less than halfway around the loop. I could deal with this trail for a loop, or two or maybe even three. Any more than that though, would've annoyed the hell out of me.
At one point, I was walking and feeling like crap. The other issue was that my legs didn't feel all that great. Right as I decided to run, the trail became less stone and more natural trail. I think that that was the last time that I walked. At least I enjoyed some of this.
I cruised along, enjoying this boring loop as much as I could. At least it was easy. I now figured that this day was basically a waste. I guess I could've run a second loop, but I figured I'd just call it a day and rest up.
Eventually, I came out to the dam. That was kind of fun. I didn't have to run to the top of the dam, but that was possible, so I did it. Right after the dam, I came to a deer on the trail. It was a small one. I ran toward it and tried to yell for it to move. It wouldn't and it just froze. I decided to turn and run back the other way, rather than pass it on the narrow path. It then started to run on the trail below the dam, behind me. Then, it saw a hiker there and it froze again.
I turned back around again, now that the trail was free. I was nearly done with the loop at this point. I was near mile 6 when the loop was completed. However, I thought I need 7 miles for 60 miles for the week (it turns out I only needed 6).
I went out a bit. I thought about going out a full mile, but it was too chilly to walk back too far. I went out to 6.6 miles and then came back. I finished up right by a beach area. I then walked back to the start, very disappointed.
I didn't listen to my own advice of not running a place I didn't know. I need to save the weekdays for exploring places. I wish I could find a very good place for long runs. The fact that I didn't get a good run has continued to eat at me.
I now need a big day tomorrow. Gary is hosting a run around Nazareth. However, I think I might go to Trexler instead. I want to run 3 loops there. That would be a tough day and a quality workout. It would be great practice for my 50k. I'm most worried about how hot it is supposed to be, especially with little shade at Trexler. I also know that back in the spring, I was very sore after 2 easy loops there. A third one might be killer, but it's worth a shot. I do plan on taking Monday off anyway.
7 miles - 1:09:13 (9:53 pace)
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