Saturday, February 6, 2016

At Least 7

I had a strong start to the week, but faded down the stretch.  I took Thursday off and Friday I wanted to do 15, but I had to work in the afternoon.  I was going to go to Mt. Tammany this morning for 12 miles, but I couldn't get out of bed.  I still hoped for 15 miles in the afternoon.

I haven't been to the Ironton Rail Trail in some time.  I thought that that would be a good place for a long run.  The weather was nearly impossible to figure out.  It felt warm, so I went with just a lightweight long sleeve shirt.  However, the slight breeze was bone chilling, as it pierced my shirt.  I quickly went back to the car and put on my jacket.  I also had tights and shorts on.  I went back and forth between cold and hot.

I started off not feeling so great.  I just felt tired, slow and sluggish.  With two days rest, at least there was no soreness.  Within the first mile, I figured I was also going to be very hot and overdressed at times.  I quickly realized 15 miles wasn't going to happen.  This wasn't going to be my day.

Even the downhill in the beginning wasn't great.  I ran along anyway.  I knew I'd do one loop of 5.3 miles and I was hoping for 7 miles at least.  That could be a productive day.

A bunch of people were using the trail.  Some were running, some biking and others walking (often with dogs).  I saw a woman that started around the same time as me.  I saw her a few times and she had her face covered from the cold.  I couldn't understand that, as it wasn't that cold.

I was sweating a lot pretty early on.  Any time the wind was at my back, I was super warm.  My gloves went off and my sleeves were even rolled up.  Eventually the headband came off too.

I cruised along, continuing to feel sluggish.  My one foot landed funny a couple times and produced a brief, sharp pain.  It was better quickly though.  The road crossings caused me to wait a little, but they weren't too bad.

I love this trail because it is a loop.  The kind of remote section not far from the river was a little cold at times.  Even this part was busy.  I looked at my watch a lot, but the miles clicked off fairly quickly.

The last time I was there, they were building a bridge.  Now, the trail goes under it, with a cool tunnel.  After that comes the short stone section.  It is the only non paved part of the loop and it was sloppy. 

I knew the worst part was coming down.  It was the gradual uphill by the cement kilns.  Someone on a bike made a comment.  I think she could tell I was struggling, but I didn't hear what she said.  I kept battling, but was feeling so slow.

The one good thing was I was catching this guy.  I finally passed him right at the end of the loop.  I was over 5.4 miles now.  I was determined to get to 7 miles.

Now, I had a nice downhill.  I continued on the loop for a little out and back.  I kept going and had to cross the road once.  At .75 miles into this loop, I turned back around.  I headed back toward the car.

I didn't want to end with the uphill, so instead, I ran out the spur section.  I've been on this before, but now it is paved.  I went out to the Whitehall Parkway and then finished up there and walked a bit back.  Next time there, I want to go out and explore more.

It was a disappointing run in that I didn't do as much as I wanted to.  However, it was probably better than I didn't overdo it this week.  After 18 miles last week, I did 35 this week.  That is reasonable.  If I got up to 50+ miles, that might have caused some issues.

I do want to build on this.  I'm going to watch the Super Bowl 10K tomorrow morning.  After that, I'm hoping to try the 15 miles again.  I may just go to Ironton again, since I like it so much.  Maybe I'll be able to dress better.

7 miles - 1:01:34 (8:48 pace) 92 feet of elevation gain

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