Yesterday's attempt at 15 miles was a failure. Today, I wanted to try again. I went to cheer on friends at the Super Bowl 10K first. Then, I headed to the Ironton Rail Trail again to try once more. I got there around noon. I had not eaten lunch yet.
This weather was much more agreeable. It was much warmer. I went with shorts and a short sleeve shirt. I think people thought I was crazy, as they were all bundled up. I was comfortable though. It was slightly chilly early on, but that didn't last.
I saw yesterday that the spur trail was paved and plowed. I wanted to head on that first. I had yet to be there when it was paved, so I thought I'd check it out. It is a cool early section through the Whitehall Parkway. Already, my watch got all screwed up and added distance. I estimated it to be about a quarter of a mile.
I cruised along, not feeling too bad. When I got out to the quarry road crossing, I saw the trail was snow covered now. The good thing is the road there is very wide and not too crowded. I ran on the road for a bit. I came past a dog walker.
I saw the trail was still snow covered, so I opted to take a different road, away from the trail. This had a slight uphill. I was already over 2 miles into the run. I went out for a bit. Then, I tried to go into a neighborhood. However, I was in a circle.
I continued on briefly, but then turned around. I wasn't ready to head back yet. I decided to go over the snow covered trail anyway. That was a sloppy and uneven mess. A bike even passed me. When I could, I ran back on the road near the trail. This road was a little busier.
I then turned down Portland Street. I wanted to see if they extended the trail any more, but they had not. I did an internship at a building on Portland Street, but the business is no longer there. I wanted to run by it.
I continued on, adding distance and going a bit slow. I then turned down a road. There were a couple houses on it. I could hear gunshots and saw I was next to Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays. That must be annoying living there.
This road came out to a main road, so I finally turned to head back. I was over 4 miles now and feeling okay, but not great. I had to take it piece by piece. I headed back. I got to mile 5 and wondered how I could do 10 more.
My body was starting to get sore already. I figured if things got worse, I might have to pack it in early. I was really bothered over the new pavement. At 6.5 miles, I wasn't very hopeful.
Then, I finally got back to the original loop. My legs seemed to feel instantaneously better. I think the new pavement was too hard for me. I could've gone back to my car exactly at 7.5 miles, but I opted not to.
The big question was whether I could survive with no water or calories. Going downhill was a great relief for my legs. When I got to the cement kilns, I bumped into someone I knew. I reported the trail conditions to him.
I had about 8.5 miles in now. I knew it would be tough, but I was focused. At the very least, I had to finish this loop and get around 13 miles. I continued to look at my watch, as I took it easy. There were plenty of runners, bikers and walkers.
Getting into 10 miles and then 11 miles was great. I felt after that that I was gradually going uphill. That was tough. I was able to focus on catching a slower woman running. After passing her, I just focused on each upcoming mile.
I made it to 12 miles. Then, I had the climb up to the parking lot by my car. That was around 13 miles, although my watch was still off.
Both directions from the parking lot are downhill. That would be great initially, but suck coming back. I was getting very sore and fading bad. I really slowed down at the end. I ran around a neighborhood at the top a bit. I was so sluggish.
It was close to mile 14 on my watch when I headed back downhill. I wanted to go out and back and then walk up that hill. This was such a slow go. I looked at my watch continuously. Every tenth of a mile seemed to take forever.
I turned and headed back with near a half mile to go. I finished up with my watch reading 15.24 miles. I was a little frustrated that when I got back, Strava showed 14.8 miles.
This was a very productive run. I don't think I have gone over 10 miles in several months. I had some rough patches, but pushed through. My experience in ultras definitely helped that. I was also surprised I went so long without food or water. That's close to the longest I've ever done that for.
Tomorrow, I hope I can knock out 5 miles. We'll see how the back and legs feel. I have a heading pad on my back now. Hopefully it is better in the morning. I might just stick to these neighborhood roads if I do run tomorrow.
15.24 miles - 2:17:48 (9:03 pace) 306 feet of elevation gain STRAVA DATA DIFFERENT
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