I decided to head to Blue Marsh Lake (near Reading) for a long run. This was the location of my first ultra last year. I was hoping to run for 3 hours. However, it was super humid again and we didn't get there until 11 AM. I was running on the trail, while my dad was kayaking in the lake.
We parked off of Old Church Road. That's the one place with a bridge over the lake, so there are multiple options. The whole trail loop is 30 miles, so I was planning on doing the short loop around the western side of the lake. I figured that that would be over 6 miles. I hoped to do it twice and add on mileage too.
There were a few people finishing up their loop in the parking lot when I started. I headed out on the trail without a shirt and with my half headband on. I was ready for a tough run.
I headed out on the trail along the lake. This part is beautiful. It is mostly flat singletrack. It's super fast and easy. I tried to take it at a relaxed pace. The first few miles were kind of quick.
I tried to force myself to walk a little bit because of the heat. There are some open areas in the sun in this part, so I walked some of those. I tried to enjoy it as much as I could. Even with short walks, I was still clicking off sub 10 minute miles.
After going out a few miles, I came across a tree. It was very big and I had to climb over it. I hope that they clear that out before the race. There were some mountain bikers every now and a few hikers too. One guy said something as I passed him, but I couldn't understand him. Mostly, I had the trail to myself.
Before long, I was over 3 miles into the run and headed to the ski slope area. I knew this hill(s) would be tough, but I'm not finding many overly challenging hills these days. There were some gradual climbs early on in this part and they weren't too bad. I hoped that I had enough saved up to climb the big one(s).
I then began the steep ascent. It was quite steep. I went up and up and up. At one point, I thought of quitting and walking. Then, I saw what I thought was the end of the hill. However, it was just a short, flat section.
The hill climbed even more after that. I began to take on the climb. It just became too much. It was super steep and challenging enough. Throw in the heat and it was near impossible. That said, on a cool day, I'm not sure I could climb the whole thing yet. I really only got up about 2/3 of the way.
After that, it was some nice and fun downhill. I enjoyed this and recovered a bit. Then, there was more climbing. This was another steep hill, although much shorter. I actually was so exhausted that I walked most of it.
I've been a little overconfident lately. These hills, combined with the humidity, were very humbling. Eventually, I'll be able to run them too, but it may take awhile. I'll at least try again come fall.
After the climb, I still walked a little. It was flat, but it was now a sunny, open field. These parts weren't much fun though. They weren't massive hills, but there were quite a few gradual ones. I was happy to get to mile 5 and at least be that far along.
I began getting very frustrating with some of the rolling hills in this part. They were tough and I walked here and there. There was also some annoying stones used as road at one point. I got lost in this area last year, but this time around, I found my way. At a road, the trail loops around and then goes on to a park road. That slightly uphill and hot and annoying.
I was very frustrated at this point and not sure how much I'd be able to run. A couple more climbs got me very pissed off. At least I was back in the woods. The last mile or so descending through the woods was actually a lot of fun.
I came out to Old Church Road and had to cross the bridge to get to my car. It was very hot. I got there at 7.2 miles. I thought this loop would be about 6.2 miles, so that extra mile was tough.
I didn't want to waste too much time stopping. I grabbed some more water, dried myself with a towel and ate an S-Cap. There was a guy that just started his run as I was doing all this. He headed toward the other side. Nothing over there is easy, so I wasn't going that way.
I wanted to run to at least 10 miles at this point and was hoping for 12 miles. However, I wasn't going to do the first loop again. That had too much climbing for the awful weather. I instead went back on the flat, easy section.
The body felt okay. The rest was nice and prevented me from overheating. I was at 10:17 pace when I left the car. I wanted to go out at least 2 miles and turn around.
It was very hot and this section was very easy. I had to be careful and try to make sure that I'd at least walk a little with every mile. I didn't want to overheat. I did just that and ran most of the time. I looked at my watch too often now.
The legs sure weren't bad and I could run a lot. I was super hot though. I passed some young people that were running for some reason. They were overdressed and clearly not running much.
I got to the giant downed tree and turned around. I was at about 2.1 miles from the car. I cruised on back now. The pace was close to 10 minutes per mile.
I passed the kids again. I walked here and there, but tried not to do it too often. After all, this section was super runnable. I was getting low on water.
I continued along and came out to the parking area, near mile 11.5. I decided to go out the other way briefly and keep going. I'd be at 12 miles soon. Since I was now running under a 10 minute pace, I decided that I would continue to run until the 2 hour point.
I went out briefly and this section felt slow. However, it really wasn't. One of the miles was under 9 minutes. I stumbled my way back in and then ran partway over the bridge to get over the 2 hour mark.
I was quite happy with this run. It would've been nice to run for another hour, but I was close to my limit with the heat and humidity. I was soaked and needed a rest. I got out of the sun as quickly as I could. When my dad came back, I jumped in the water of the lake. That was so refreshing. I was thrilled to be done. I'll be more productive whenever the weather gets better.
This is the third time I've run at Blue Marsh and every time has been a huge challenge. The first time was a training run before the race. It was a hot day, just like today. The race itself was hot and today was obviously bad. Maybe next time, I should come here during better weather.
Tomorrow, I'm going to the Eagles game. I will probably have to take the day off. It's either that or run at night. Perhaps I'll try that, but most likely around my neighborhood. It will be cooler tomorrow. Regardless of when my next run is, it will be more enjoyable. I want a few solid runs and plenty of climbing next week.
12.31 miles - 2:00:25 (9:47 pace)
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