I haven't been feeling great lately. I have a cough that is a pain, although mostly at night. Therefore, I've rested most of the week. I wanted to put together a big weekend though. The plan was for back to back 30 mile runs.
I was going to meet someone at Watchung, but wasn't up for it. I ended up cramping on my left calf while I was sleeping. I decided to just head to Jacobsburg, but I didn't get started until almost noon.
The weather wasn't bad. I was sweating a bit, but it was a nice summer day. I could surely take it any time. Of course, it is still summer.
I cruised along nice and easy at the start. My watch lost signal for a bit, but it didn't seem off by much, if at all. I was doing the normal loop. It was crowded along the creek, but after that, I was on my own.
I ran the gradual uphill and then across the road. My calves were already sore. I was definitely dehydrated overnight and paying for it now. I knew it would be difficult to run with this issue. I was hoping it wouldn't cause me problems until later though.
Some guy was cutting a log on the trail. I like jumping over those. There aren't many obstacles here anyway. Shortly after that, I saw an older couple trail running. I usually don't see many trail runners here.
I crossed the three roads and headed to the Sober's Run loop. I was worried about going through here on a weekend, because of all the horses. I was correct, as two came right out of the powerline. They went uphill fast, as I was conservative and hiking up the powerline.
I knew I'd catch them though. Not only did I have to catch and pass them, but there were four more horses in the area too. Two were coming the same direction as me, and two were going the other direction. Both they and I had to be careful, but I got around them.
I cruised downhill, feeling a little better, but still not great. This loop was going by quickly though. I saw another horse, but luckily, it turned. I finished up the loop at right around an hour. That was solid.
I was refilling my water bottle. Two guys ran by without shirts. I was surprised to see one of them was local IndyCar driver Marco Andretti. That was fun to see and I was distracted thinking about that later on. I thought maybe I'd encounter them again, but I didn't.
I headed out for loop #2. This started out as more of the same. I wasn't feeling all that strong. I hoped that perhaps I just needed more calories and I'd get stronger. That didn't happen though. I was happy to get to mile 8.
I saw a couple of the horses again on the singletrack. My calves were continuing to really bother me. I had on shorter socks too and started to notice a blister forming. Getting to mile 10 was a big relief.
Again, I hiked the powerline to be conservative. I enjoyed the downhill some more, but the soreness would not leave. I kept plugging away, because I often feel like crap this early and can bounce back.
When I got to the end of the loop, I decided to go uphill, around the new building. That would force me to hike and hopefully rest and recover more. I was really dragging though, as I approached the half marathon distance.
I ran along the fun ledge singletrack. Then, it was downhill and across the creek. I began to realize that I was going to have to cut this run short. I just felt like complete crap. I did a short out and back up a gradual hill.
I got to mile 14. By now, I decided that mile 15 was enough. I could push on more, but it would've got ugly. I figured the more that I beat myself up today, the worse I'd feel on Sunday.
I ran around the parking lot. I did another short out and back. I was now over 15 miles and done with the run. I was hugely disappointed, but sometimes you have days like this.
I obviously had calf issues. I think all the small stone they put down all over the park bothers me too. My legs can't take a lot of running here. It's not true nature trail. I need more stone laced singletrack. So much of it is runnable too, which makes it tough.
I'm supposed to be back there again tomorrow. People are meeting at 7 AM. They are doing around 10 miles. I'm really hoping I can hit 30 this time. It may be a big struggle, but I'll get there. I'd be much happier if I can bounce back with 30 tomorrow and then maybe do 15 more on Monday. We will see what's in the cards.
It is funny to think about 15 miles and almost 3 hours of running as a failure. I guess that I've come that far that I expect more. I need to be able to handle a lot if I'm going to tackle the West Virginia Trilogy in the fall. This should be good prep work.
15.02 miles - 2:38:35 (10:33 pace) 921 feet of elevation gain
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