I knew some personal issues affected my running. I thought the weather was the biggest factor in my lack of desire to run. However, the weather turned favorable some time ago, including the recent awesome fall colors. Still, I had not run since the end of July.
Work is partially getting in the way. I certainly have time to run if I really wanted to, but I have nowhere near as much as I used to. Today, I don't work until 4 PM, so I dragged myself out for my first run in a long time. Even getting out there today took some effort.
Part of that was knowing how out of shape I am and will be. I knew it would be a struggle. Still, I headed to Jacobsburg before lunch. I needed somewhere easy. I decided to park in the main lot, run to Sober's Run and complete that loop clockwise this time.
It was a nice and comfortable day. I brought a sweat by the end, but I did enjoy the weather. I headed out and was winded pretty early. The air was just slightly cold and I'm not used to it.
I chose this route because it was kind of short and has a lot of singletrack. I suspected some of the leaves would still be popping as well. I was a bit happy to get on the singletrack, but was kind of bored before that. I certainly wasn't enjoying running. I was still struggling to breathe.
Some of the parts along the creek were pretty, but it was kind of hard to enjoy. I came out on the main path after a bit. I was right in front of two horses. I was glad they went the other way. I would've pushed way too hard if they followed me up the hill.
I decided to run in the reverse direction from usual. This was because I knew I couldn't make it up the steeper hill. I also knew this long gradual hill would be a struggle. I battled up it. The scenery was pretty, but my running was not. I just continued to move forward though.
One problem is I don't go this direction much, so I wasn't quite sure how much farther I had to go. At one point, my burning lungs had just had too much. I walked uphill for a minute or so. I recovered quickly though and then ran again.
I actually wasn't far from the top and kind of kicked myself for not pushing through earlier. I was thrilled to be at the top and running down the powerline. There was a nice blend of orange, yellow and red on the trees here. It was pretty sweet. I wasn't anticipating so much color.
Heading toward the small lot was a tunnel of yellow. It was even more beautiful on the singletrack across the creek. My watch had froze and I wanted to fix it, but I was worried I'd encounter the horses again. My shoelace had been untied since the hill too.
My breathing had been good though ever since coming downhill. I cruised along on the beautifully colored singletrack. Eventually, I came to the horses and stopped to let them pass. It was a good spot.
Running over rocks covered with leaves was tricky. I managed to do it though. I was back to the road crossing in no time. An 18 wheeler came by. That was bad timing. I was relieved to get back on the trail and be heading home.
I passed a dog walker after alerting him of my presence. The dog barked like crazy. I then had fixed my watch and saw I was over 4 miles. I came on in and finished up right back at my car.
It was good to sweat and see some scenery. However, it wasn't much fun actually running. I just have lost so much interest in running. Other than running with people, I don't see how I'd get out there much any more. I do need to try at least a 2 or 3 times a week though.
I'm backpacking on my day off later in the week. That, I'm enjoying much more. It is probably the route I'll be going down the road. I don't see how I could ever do an ultra again. It is just too much training.
I would like to run again on Friday and maybe travel somewhere knew. Different trails are about the only running thing that interests me at the moment. Maybe living in a new location would help with that, but I'd probably just backpack more.
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