Saturday, August 23, 2014

Lackawanna State Park Long Run

It's time to start training for my upcoming 50K.  I don't want to just finish, I want to do fairly well.  It is going to be a challenging course.  I need to pack in some quality long runs over the next few weeks.

Today, I decided to do the first of back to back 20 milers.  I went to my friend Eric's to do the Ice Bucket Challenge.  I wanted to run a trail fairly close, so I went to Lackawanna State Park.  I ran there when we camped last year and I love it.  It's great for looping long runs.

It was a rare day without warmth and humidity.  Instead, it was cold and rainy.  That was just as tough.  I had to actually wear a shirt.  I actually waited in the car for over an hour until the rain nearly stopped.  It was almost 11 AM went I started.

I parked in the lower lot and ran through the camping area.  Near the dump station, the trail begins.  Within this first half mile, I was into the woods and saw a deer.  I love this section with huge pine trees.  The needles make everything so soft.

When I ran there before, I ran the loop counterclockwise.  I also didn't run the whole thing, as I sort of got lost.  Today, I decided to try running in the opposite direction.  The early pine forest part was a slow go.  It was downhill with a lot of flat rocks and roots.  I had to be cautious and not slip.

This was a fun section.  There is so much beautiful singletrack through the woods at this park.  It is among my favorite places to run.  I wish it was closer to my house.

It wasn't too long and I was crossing the road.  I was off of the North Woods Trail.  I was now on to the Bull Hill Trail.  This part was a lot of fun too.  Last year, I got confused in this area.  This time, I knew where to go coming the other direction.  I ran by a pond and was then into the woods. 

This section seemed to go for awhile.  It was back and forth, back and forth.  There are old stone walls and a few times, the trail crossed over into them.  There was some up and down, but it wasn't too steep.  It was all so runnable, although not fast.

The changing directions so often, did get annoying at times.  I kept on going though.  It was damp and I had on my visor, so I was a bit wet.  Looking at the map, I guess I ran through the Ziegler Preserve too.

I had run through an open field section earlier.  That was kind of dull, but at least different.  The trail through Ziegler Preserve seemed to take forever.  Part of me wondered if I was on the right path.  The trails are marked, but they aren't too great if you aren't paying a lot of attention.  There are nice big signs when new trails intersect.

Finally, I came out to the road.  I thought that I had to go to the left to cross the road and get on the trail.  I did that as I approached mile 5.  I walked up the steep hill for a bit.  I got to some houses and realized that I must've gone the wrong way.  At least the road made the pace slightly faster.  I came back down the hill and not far after the lot I came out of way the next road. 

It was a dirt road that quickly led to the next trail.  I took the Abington Trail from that point.  It ran along the lake and then went uphill.  I had no desire to climb, so I stayed along the lake and took the Lakeshore Trail.  This was a lot of fun.  At times, there were nice views of the lake.

More importantly, this trail was more straight and smooth, when compared with the earlier trails.  I was able to fly and gain a lot of time there.  I was running most of the time, since the uphills were only minor.  I saw a deer on part of this trail.  It was right in my path and ran up the trail.

After running along the lake, the trail went into a cove.  That was cool too, with some more water views.  The trail was along a ledge, so I had to be cautious in the wet conditions.  I was amazed that I never fell at all.  I only slipped a few times during this run.

After this section, I was crossing the road again.  Before and after the road was some sections with a lot of brush and less trees.  Even so, they weren't too overgrown.  Things were quite well maintained.  I crossed over Route 534.

I was now to the Turkey Hill section.  I ran this a lot before.  This is similar to the Bull Hill Trail.  It's up and down, in and out.  It goes by, around and over some old stone walls too.  The legs were feeling it a bit, so I stayed on the lower trail, when I had the choice. 

I ended up coming out to the main road sooner than I wanted.  I wasn't 100% sure how to get to the next section, but I thought I had to run down the road and then in a park road for a bit.  I was correct and I found that trail kind of quickly.

I was already over 8 miles and it was apparent by now that this loop was longer than I anticipated.  I thought it would be 7 or 8 miles and that it would be perfect for refueling.  I was getting low on water, but I kept plugging away.

The trail had some short climbs.  Again, I was rarely walking.  I was slowly going up these switchbacks.  This time, I stayed on the middle trail, which was the Frost Hollow Trail.  That was kind of flat with some decent longer up and down sections.  It was very runnable though and I probably gained time on it.

This sure isn't a fast trail run though.  It wasn't long and I was through this section and out along the dam.  That's cool to see.  I then took a stone road for a bit.  After that, it was back into the woods.  The North Woods Trail section was very dark. 

I took some switchbacks and was back at the camping area in no time.  Then, it was downhill to my car.  This segment was way longer than I thought it would be.  It was about 10.5 miles and took over 2 hours.  That did include some extra running when I was slightly lost.

There was a church service at the pavilion near my car.  I enjoyed some music.  I stopped for a few minutes, but kept the watch running.  I refueled with a bar and refilled my water and added some Nuun.  I used a Hammer tablet earlier.  Both seemed to work okay.

I thought about pushing myself for another full loop, but I didn't think I'd have enough water for that.  Therefore, I planned the shorter loop that I ran last year.  That was a better option.  This time, I ran counterclockwise.

After going up to the dump station, it was a nice downhill through the woods.  Then, I was back to the dam.  I climbed up above it and enjoyed the Frost Hollow Trail again.  I continued to run, as I made my way through miles 13 and 14.  The legs were getting beat and I was tiring, but I need to work on running more on long trail runs.  No more taking it easy and being conservative.

It seemed like I was going slow, but it wasn't long until I was to the main road.  This time, I took the Abington Trail across the road.  It was fun running up initially.  I did walk a little, but the uphills were so runnable that I kept plugging away.  I went through mile 14 and so on.

I then ran on Joey's Trail and the Turkey Hill Trail.  Again, I stayed low when I could.  I didn't want to climb more than I needed.  I just continued to run as much as I could.

Instead of going behind the lake, I crossed over it on the road bridge.  This would be the way to go for the shorter loop.  I ran this section on the closer side of the lake last year and it was fun.  I came across a few mountain bikers.  Almost no one was out biking or riding today.

This trail is called the Orchard Trail.  It goes up and down, but they are very small climbs.  I was running decent at mile 16.5 and quite happy.  I continued to move along.  I came out to the road crossing.

I headed back to the North Woods Trail.  In no time, I was at the pond where I got lost last year.  Since I came the other way earlier, I knew where the trail was after the road crossing.  I walked some of the grassy uphill.

After crossing the road, I got back to running.  I wasn't moving fast at this point, but I was clicking off the miles.  I drank a lot more water early on this time, so it was nearly gone. 

Again, I enjoyed the North Woods Trail.  It's just so beautiful, deep in the woods and so much fun.  I was hurting a little as I approached mile 18, but I continued along.

I didn't want to climb and go back to the camping area, so I headed out on the stone road and then to the dam.  I was over 18.5 miles at this point.  I ran up and above the dam.  I was still running most of the time.  I even managed to put in a solid 11:18 mile with some trail at this point.

I turned around sometime past mile 19.  I wasn't going to head all the way back.  I came back to the dam and ran up the grassy road next to it.  I was beat and walked a little here, even though I was nearly done.

I had a short climb on trail.  Then, I was out to the day use area.  I was over 19.5 miles now.  I ran out on the pavement and ran past my car, into the next lot over.  At that point, I turned back and headed for my car.  I was going to stop at mile 20, but I saw that my time was close to 3 hours and 45 minutes, so I continued until that point.

This was a great run and I'm glad I went back to this park.  I'll be there often.  It's not the fastest trail run, but it's so much fun and the trails are just outstanding.  I find sections of trails that I enjoy like this, but rarely do I enjoy so many miles of trails, like I do at this place.  I was happy to get in 20 miles and not get to wet.

I felt much better after this one than some of my other trail 20 milers.  I guess I'm getting stronger.  I was especially happy with that because I probably ran 98% of the time for this run.  Still, 20 trail miles is tough.  It always sounds much better on paper than it ever is.  I enjoyed the beginning, but the end was a struggle.  My feet were a little sore and my quads too, but I should recover okay.

Tomorrow, I want to knock out 20+ miles again.  I'm really hoping for 25 miles.  I want to up my training big time this fall and winter, as I prepare for more ultras.  I need a lot of long runs, not just total mileage.  I should probably find someone to run with.  That might be a big help.  I think I'll probably go to Jacobsburg tomorrow.  That run should be faster. 

20.10 miles - 3:45:01 (11:12 pace)

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