Sloppy Blue Marsh Run

It was a disappointing running weekend.  I did enjoy the icy time at the DWG, but it wasn't very productive.  Yesterday, it rained a lot.  I tried for an easy late afternoon run at Jacobsburg, but forgot my gloves and my hands were too cold.  Today, I made it out and I made up for the crappy weekend.

I'm running the Naked Bavarian 40 miler at Blue Marsh in early March.  I've run there a few times, including my first ultra, but I want to get some more training runs in there.  It is a two loop course and I'm hoping to eventually run one of the 20 mile loops in training.

It was cloudy and slightly breezy at the start.  However, the temperature was probably around 40 degrees.  Every other time I've been to Blue Marsh, it has been super hot and humid.  This was a nice change.  I wore a lightweight long sleeve shirt and shorts.  I had on gloves and headband to start, but took them off pretty early.  Most of the time, I felt good.

I went to Old Church Road.  I started later than I had hoped because I worked and the drive there was over an hour long.  I began after 3 PM.

I put on my MICROspikes because the trails looked snowy and icy.  They were in spots, but other spots were clear.  I ran through a lot of early ice and snow, as I headed to the main day use area.  I figured I'd go out about 3 or 4 miles in that direction.  I know going the other way is super easy, so I could finish in that direction.

I cruised along, making good time.  The first few miles flew by.  The first two miles were super easy.  Then, there were some uphills.  I even hiked one of them.  They were all runnable though.

The MICROspikes are heavy and they do seem to stress my legs more.  It makes the run more of a workout.  I moved along though.  I was happy to get out 2.5 miles.

I figured that I would run until the one bridge crossing.  I didn't want to run on the road.  That occurred right around mile 3.  It was nearly a perfect place to turn around.  I stopped for a few pictures along the way, but for the most part, I ran.  The lake was completely frozen, so that was cool.  The trail was mostly sloppy mud.

I ran up and down some of the moderate hills on the way back.  When I got to mile 5, I decided that I had enough of my MICROspikes.  They trail was clear enough to run without them.  Taking them off was amazing.  My feet felt so much lighter.  I didn't realize how much those weigh, until that point.  I carried them the rest of the way back to my car.

This part of the course is so fast.  Before I knew it, I was back to my car and past mile 6.  I wasn't even running for an hour yet either.  I dropped the MICROspikes off and headed the other way.

This direction is super flat.  There's very little elevation change.  Even in the sloppy and muddy conditions, I was able to run close to 9 minute miles and that was going easy too.  I brought along some Tailwind for this run to get some calories.  That did a pretty good job.

It wasn't long and I was out to mile 8.  I ran just past that and turned around.  I would've liked to have done 12 miles, but 10 miles was enough for today.  I was running out of daylight anyway.

This terrain was so non technical that I kind of lost myself.  At one point, I looked up and was surprised to be running uphill slightly.  I didn't think there were any hills.  This wasn't much of one, but it was still a hill.

I continued along the lake.  I finished up with mile 10, just before getting back to the road crossing.  It was a speedy trail run.  I was happy with my day.  Next time, I'll hit the more challenging parts of the course.

It was a solid outing and a good way to begin my week of running.  Tomorrow, I will have to do some more elevation.  I keep meaning to try repeat climbs.  Maybe I'll do that, but stay local.  Maybe I can run up steep stuff with my MICROspikes.

10 miles - 1:33:35 (9:21 pace) 750 feet of elevation gain