South Mountain (Lehigh) Long Loop

I was tired yesterday, so I didn't run in the afternoon.  I went out to South Mountain (Lehigh) at night.  I tried to run, but my headlamp quit before I even hit the trail.  The batteries are new.  I don't think it likes the cold.  At least that didn't happen on the trail.  I packed up and headed home.

I was determined to run at South Mountain.  It has some challenging climbing, but not too much.  With a 50k tomorrow, I didn't want to overdo it.  That said, I wanted to do a little more than the usual 4.5 Decker loop.

The weather was tricky once again.  I had on short sleeves and a jacket.  I wore tights, but shorts probably would've been better.  I kept a glove on my handheld hand, but other than that, I used no other gloves or hats.  If anything I was overdressed again and chilly by the end.

I started off with my usual route.  I had to be cautious on the muddy early downhills.  I was happy not to fall.  I was going fairly slow.  It does amaze me how much things change as the run goes on.  Early on, some sections seem technical, but later in the run, the same section would be easy.

I crossed the road and began the short but steep climbs to the top.  First, I stopped for a bathroom break.  I saw three deer, but they ran off.  All four deer today ran off, unlike the other day when they were just hanging out on Mt. Tammany.

The climb is always tough in the cold air.  The other challenging thing early on is that my eyes water.  That's not a big problem on roads, but it is interesting with rocks on trails.  At least I didn't fall.  If I didn't know this first climb so well, I might've walked some of it.  I didn't though.  I huffed and puffed and made it up both that one and the next climb.

Then, it was on to the fun downhill part.  That was good for recovering.  Most of this route is fun singletrack.  The switchbacks here are neat.  There's some technical running too.

I got to the bridge over the creek before long.  Usually, I head on the road to the lookout at that point.  However, today I wanted to do the longer route.  I've rarely run this piece and don't quite know it.

I knew how to go through the art garden section, where Lehigh students have made weird art sculptures.  I ran through there and snapped a few photos.  The problem was I didn't quite know where to go after that.  These trails aren't heavily used, so at times the trails are hard to follow.  I had to backtrack a few times.

Eventually, I came out behind an old TV studio.  However, I realized that I was going the opposite way that I wanted to.  I turned around and tried another way, but that didn't work either.  Eventually, I went behind the TV studio and ran the loop backward from the way I sort of know.  I clearly need to get better at this section.  At least I added some distance and elevation to the run.

Finally, I came out where I wanted to.  I went to the lookout and took a photo.  Then, I went back on to the familiar route.  That had a nice gradual climb.  I thought about a friend that I thought was a good friend and I ran with here once, but now haven't talked to in months.  That was depressing.  One great thing with trails is I don't look at my watch much and when I do, I usually check the time or elevation gain first.  That makes the run fly by.

I was disappointed to see that I'd only be around 6.5 miles if I finished up the loop normally.  I decided not to turn up the hill.  Instead, I stayed on the trail.  That's when I saw another deer.  This was a fun singletrack switchback section.  It kept going down and down.  I wanted to see where it would go, but I also didn't want to descend too much.

Finally, as I was getting tired of the switchbacks, the trail turned and went along the ridge.  That was fun and there were some cool views between the trees.  I forgot that we had run this section during Decker's first run there.  Some parts were rocky and quite the challenge.  Other times, it was fun and very runnable.

This did seem to go on for a long time.  It had a nice view of the Sands Casino.  Eventually it began to climb.  That was mildly tough, but it was a gradual ascent.

I didn't totally know where I was until I came out to a powerline clearing.  They were actually doing construction above me.  I could've taken a new paved road there, but I opted to stay on the trail.  A little bit later, I took the less steep turn.  I then realized that I was near the start's road crossing.  I needed to go up the other way.

I did the steep climb to finish.  I was breathing pretty heavy, but it never got too steep.  I knew what was in store too, so that helped.  Finally, I ran on the road and to my car.  I finished up at 8.5 miles.

This was actually a great route.  I forgot about the whole last few miles and just how challenging they can be.  There are still more trails and I think even more climbing that I can do there.  This loop would actually be perfect for doing a couple times for 20+ miles.  It's basically all runnable too, so that makes it enjoyable and at the same time, it can be challenging.  One other nice thing is that throughout the entire run, I encountered no other people.

Now, it is time to rest.  I'm not actually tapering as I'm racing the 50k on Staten Island tomorrow.  That should be fun, except that it is supposed to rain a lot.  My shoes aren't great in the mud


either.  At least the temperature will be warm.  This is an easier course than I usually train on, so I should be able to run most of it and PR with ease.  My PR is rather pathetic at this point.

8.5 miles - 1:39:49 (11:45 pace) 1,504 feet of elevation gain