Not So Easy Merrill Creek

After yesterday's hard workout, the plan for today was to run nice and easy.  It didn't quite work out that way.  I headed to Merrill Creek in New Jersey with my dad.  There is a loop trail around a reservoir.  That allowed me to run and my dad to kayak.

Originally, I was hoping to have him take some cool pictures of me running across the top of one of the dams there.  That didn't happen though because he wasn't even in his kayak when I crossed over the dam.  I guess I should've waited.

I ran there before for a short out and back segment.  Today, I wanted to run the entire five and a half mile loop.  It starts out with a nice stone path along the reservoir.  It then goes into the woods and comes out again on top of the dam.  There is some elevation change early on, but it isn't too bad.  It is nice and fairly fast.  I was taking it easy.

After the first dam, there is another segment of woods before crossing a second dam.  During this woody section, I came across two deer hanging out at the end of the trail.  They took off as I went by.  When I got to the second dam, I encountered a problem.  There was a gate across it which was closed.  I had to walk down over some sharp rocks and go around the fence to keep going.  That cost me some time.

The second dam was really cool.  It was a couple stories high and the view to the nearby valley and other hills was pretty neat.  As I got toward the end, I noticed some trail next to the dam.  I'm not sure if I was supposed to go on that and come back down rather than crossing the dam.  If I did that, it would've been one hell of a climb.

Again, I had to walk around the fence at the other end of the dam.  After that, came the disappointing part.  I was glad the trail didn't follow the steep paved road ahead, but was disappointed with its path.  The next section was actually cool.  It was a semi challenging wooded trail with plenty of roots and rocks and elevation change.  It just sucked because I was looking to do a comfortable easy run.  I didn't know I'd have to work this hard, especially when it came to some of the climbing.  I will say the area was beautiful.  I just thought it would be mostly gravel trail

The biggest problem with the terrain is that I wasn't prepared for it and thus had on my road shoes and not my trail shoes.  Luckily, I the trail wasn't too technical.  There were definitely a few tough sections with some pointy rocks, but I managed.  Only once did I hurt my toe a little.  During this section, I also came across a random bench in the middle of nowhere with a couple kids smoking there.

After coming out of the woods, it was on to two more dams.  These were nice because I could pick up the pace some more.  The weather was actually perfect for this time of year, even when I was out of the shaded woods.  Of course, I still was sweating like crazy, but that is to be expected.

After the fourth and final dam, the path was stone again for a little bit.  It was fast for a short time.  Then the trail winded along a cove.  Some of the dense pine that it went through was very dark.  I have to say I was impressed with how groomed the trail was.  It looks like they cut brush there regularly.  Eventually the trail crossed over a wooden walking bridge.

I kept looking at my watch and could wait to be done.  The run wasn't bad, but not what I expected.  After the wooden bridge, there was more climbing and rocks.  I then went by some old stone structures.  They looked somewhat interesting.  After that, the trail came to an open field.  I was able to count six deer hanging in there.  I think I saw at least 15 deer either while running or driving around the area.

I was finally back at the boat launch and completed the run.  It was actually about 5.25 miles rather than 5.5 miles, so I ran a short out and back to finish up.  It was a good run.  I just wish it was easier and that I could've rested more.  Now that I know what the terrain is like, I definitely be back there.  Next time though it will be when I'm looking for an easy trail run.

The only other bad thing is that after this run, I ate some unhealthy food.  There is this place in Phillipsburg that has Italian Style hot dogs.  They put hot dogs, potatoes, peppers and onions together in bread.  It is excellent, but certainly not good for me.  I am trying to make healthier choices when it comes to eating, but it is hard.

I did some pilates core work again this afternoon.  I'm still struggling with it.  My flexibility just sucks and my core is quite weak.  I was able to last nearly 20 of the 26 minutes of the DVD this time though.  I am slowly improving.  I just need to stick with it and do the exercises at least twice a week.  I really don't enjoy stuff like that.  I'd rather just run.  I do need to improve my core though.

I went up to the Crossings this morning.  I got a cheap pair of New Balance minimalist shoes.  They only weigh 7.3 ounces.  I am eager to try them out.  I might only use them for speedwork and races.  I need a lightweight shoe for both of those.  So I don't get injured, I'm not going to try them out until after the Quadzilla this weekend.  Then I'll work them in gradually.  I did notice today that I run on my toes most of the time on the trails, so that should help me transition into those shoes.

I'm hoping I can still do some speed stuff tomorrow morning.  I may run a tempo run on the Blue Eagle 5k course or at the Nor-Bath Trail.  I'm hoping to get to Lafayette at 4 PM and run steps at the stadium too.  My busy week continues with some photographing of the LVRR's Summer Series 5k in the evening.  It is action packed, but should also be a fun day tomorrow.

5.5 miles - 54:19 (9:53 pace)

Blue Eagle 5k Speedwork

While next week's Quadzilla is the key race that I'm focusing on, I'm also planning on running well in next month's Blue Eagle 5k.  I haven't been running fast very much and I need to start doing so.  I decided I'd do some speedwork on the actual course.  It is great because the route starts at my old elementary school which is right in my backyard.  The race means so much to me because of not only my elementary school, but it supports my high school track and cross country program.  That is where my running started and I still follow the program closely.

I was hoping to get up fairly early and run, but of course I couldn't do it.  It seems like I'm only able to get up when I have a commitment to run, whether it is with others or a race.  Luckily, by the time I got started (at noon), it was only 80 degrees.  It was still hot, but a far cry from the last week or so which saw temperatures in the upper 90s.

I started off with a mile warmup around my neighborhood.  I never used to warmup for short races, but I'm starting to recognize how important it is to get the legs churning.  It usually takes me a mile or so to get comfortable and off to a nice pace.  By that time, a 5k is almost a third of the way over.

I picked the warmup distance perfectly.  I was almost right at one mile when I hit the course's starting line.  The plan was to run 4 X one half mile segements at a 7 minute pace with quarter mile active recovery segments in between.  That would give me two minutes of hard running and three miles total in the off and on segment.  I want to go under a 7 minute pace next month in the race, so that was my goal pace for today.

The first segment started off good.  I had to sprint across the highway just in front of a car, but I managed.  It didn't slow me down.  I was under pace for awhile.  That's the tough thing with this, I am pretty good at going close to my pace, but if I'm say 10 seconds too fast, it is difficult to slow down just right.  The early downhill certainly helped.  I hit the first repeat almost perfectly at 6:58 pace.

The recovery was much needed.  Luckily, it ended right after a hill, so I didn't have to run uphill.  The heat was definitely getting to me already.  I felt ready as the second repeat started.  That also had an early downhill segment.  I was almost going too fast then.  I tried to back off a little, but I forgot that there was a slight uphill coming.  The change in gradient can make a big difference, even if it is just a small uphill.  I pushed pretty hard in the second segment and was really starting to feel it.  I ran another good split though with a 6:58.  Halfway through and I was right where I wanted to be.

The recovery segments were seeming shorter and shorter though.  The third segment started off well and I felt fairly strong.  Then there was a slight incline and one of the steepest hills on the course.  The first half of this race is definitely easier than the second half.  My pace really started to slip by the end of this segment.  My legs were beginning to go away.  I tried to focus hard on just relaxing and holding form.  It wasn't as fast as the first two half miles, but I still completed this one at a 7:04 pace.

I knew the final segment would be tough.  Rather than a quarter mile recovery between segments three and four, I decided to rest for a third of a mile.  I hoped the longer recovery would allow me a strong final interval.  When I got to the start point of the last interval I knew I needed even more recovery.  I knew I was toast, so rather than kill myself for this last half mile, I backed off.  I just pushed a little and told myself to focus more on form and relaxing.  I was just over a 7 minute pace early on, but continued to slip and slip.  A lot of this segment was uphill and I was really hurting.  My pace fell off to an awful 7:39.  I was 17 seconds slower than my slowest interval to that point.  Clearly I found my limit.

 I would've liked every segment to go as well as the first two, but the run was still fine.  I'm happy I can run that fast.  I wasn't sure how well I could keep up a 7 minute pace or how much effort it would actually take.  Now I know I can do that, it is just a matter of extending that pace longer.  In race conditions, that pace will feel much easier too.  Running with others will be a big help.

Originally, I was planning my next session to do six intervals instead of just four.  I'm going to take a run and see how it goes approach.  I might only do five.  If I still feel good after five, I'll try a sixth.  Six intervals would be three total miles of fast running, nearly the equivalent of a 5k.  That should be good enough for me.  I'll have about 3 or 4 more speedwork sessions before the race itself.

 I definitely still need to work on relaxing when I run hard.  I'm too tense, especially in the shoulders.  I probably need to drop them more.  That would be a big help I'm sure.  I could cut a lot of time off with some smoother form.  I also could benefit by running in less heat.  I'm not quite where I'd like to be, but I still think I can hit my goal for this race.

Looking at the data from this run, I'm actually amazed at my off segments.  I just slowed down during these.  I had no planned pace for them, just to get an active rest.  I only looked at my watch to see the distance, not the time or pace during these segments.  They were almost dead on time wise until I fell apart between segments three and four.  My warmup mile was 9:19.  The next two segments were 9:18 pace and 9:19 pace.  Pretty amazing how consistent that is.  I guess this just shows how in tune with my body I am.  I am almost like a machine until I hit my limit.

One thing I do need to work before the race is the mental part of running.  I need to visualize running the race and my workouts more.  I also need to think about all the pain and tough times I've been through as I push in a hard workout.  I did that last year during this race and it was a big help at the finish.  I probably let myself quit too easily at times now.  Today, there was no point in pushing that last segment, but I don't want to make giving up a habit either.

I decided that I'm likely going to run the D&L Half Marathon in early November.  That is a mostly flat course which should be fast.  I am going to shoot for a PR, at least for now.  I need a 1:33:11 to do that.  It probably isn't realistic as it took me until March the first time around to get that far.  If I don't shoot high though, I'll never get anywhere.  I now have some faster training partners and that will be a big help for me to get there.  I need to hang on with them as long as I can when I go on group runs.  As I get closer to the race, I'll readjust my goals if necessary.  I read a good thing in Brad Hudson's book the other day.  You should hit your goals about half the time.  If you never hit them, they are too ambitious, if you always hit them, they aren't challenging enough.

Tomorrow will be an easy day.  I might go to Merrill Creek in New Jersey with my dad in the evening.  He will kayak and I'll run the loop trail around the lake.  He can also get some good pictures of me running over the dam.  I look forward to it.  Of course, I can't wait until Quadzilla.  It is now only six days away.  It's getting closer to taming the beast.

4.5 miles - 38:31 (8:34 pace)

Quadzilla Tune Up

Next Sunday is the Quadzilla 15k at Trexler Nature Preserve.  Because of it, the T-Rex group run was moved a week earlier.  It was a great chance for people to preview the course.  As I've written many times, I just love that place.  I'm getting stronger and stronger, but it is still always such a challenge.

I'm not used to getting up early and it was tough to do so today.  My state of tireness reminded me of the times when I used to work in an office.  What an awful memory.  On the way there I was half asleep and missed the 309 North exit.  Luckily, I got off onto 309 South and turned around.

It took me awhile to get changed after a bathroom stop and I was lagging behind and almost missed the start.  I'm definitely getting better at the beginning of this run.  The steep early hill wasn't easy, but I was able to run up it again.  I couldn't do that the first two times I was here this year.  Heck, back in March or early April, I got winded just walking up it.

Much like last month's run, I stayed kind of middle of the pack.  I wasn't fast enough to hang with the speedy guys.  Early on, I was surprised to see Kelley wasn't up near the front.  Right as I'm thinking to myself that it would be nice to finish ahead of all the women, she comes speeding by.

The first couple miles felt comfortable, but the pace was pretty fast.  When we went through the rocky section, I decided to run straight through the rocks.  Mel was with us at this point and during the long climb shortly afterward.  That section normally isn't too tough, but I was already starting to sweat a lot with the heat.  It is completely exposed to the sun.

Kelley was strong and ran a bit ahead of us for awhile.  She had to stop to fix her shoes and other items a couple times, but otherwise was up ahead.  A little slower pace this early probably would've helped more in the end, but I was doing fine.

Aaron, who leads the group, usually waits for people at certain sections and then comes back and passes everyone.  When he passed me one time, it was on the downhill.  I commented to him that I consider myself a pretty good downhill runner and he just blew right past me.  I knew he was strong uphill, but I was very impressed with his downhill ability too.  We went around a turn and my momentum took me off the trail and into the grass a little.  He just stayed right on the trail though.

I actually ended up walking a some before the two big climbs on the back side.  I'm still learning to gauge which hills are worth running up and which are better to just walk up.  The only problem is that walking up them is very challenging too with how steep they are.  Plus, it takes longer that way.

For awhile I was on my own.  The good thing was that Kelley wasn't too far ahead and I had her in my sights at times.  That helped to pull me along.  The big hill was so tough that I almost wanted to quit and not even walk it.  The only good thing is that it is shaded there.  Any time we were in the shade, it was a big help for me.

I got to the water crossing and made it through with ease.  I was wondering if Kelley might have any trouble getting through there, but I guess not because she was long gone by the time I made it there.  I was a little worried shortly after that because I came upon a hiker taking a different path.  I didn't see Kelley up ahead in the long straight segment at first and thought she might've taken a different turn.  She didn't though.  I know I often miss turns if I happen to be passing people on the trail.

After getting through those two massive hills, things aren't too bad until the end.  There are a lot of very runnable sections.  The problem was that I was pretty beat at that point.  Even brief uphills were a struggle.  There is an open field section near the zoo.  The incline isn't much, but it is long.  I was just too exhausted and after awhile I had to walk it.  What made this section tough, aside from the earlier hills taking so much out of me, was that it was right in the sun.

After that hill, it flattened out quite a bit.  I started making really good time and surprisingly I caught up to Kelley.  She told me to go by, but I said there was no point as the hills were eating me up.  This stretch was great and nice and shady.  Once we go to another uphill, I ran for a little and began walking.  Of course she was gone again.

I thought maybe Kelley was gone for good at that point, but I guess she had to stop to fix things.  I was wondering how I caught up so quickly as she seemed way ahead.  This was definitely the best section of the run for me.  For half a mile to maybe a mile we ran together and chatted.  It made things go so much faster.

We came to another long hill and Kelley finally dropped me for good.  She was usually within my sights, but stayed a few minutes ahead.  Coming out of the woods was tough.  It was approaching an hour and a half into the run and the sun was baking everything.  It is supposed to approach 100 degrees later in the day.  This section is also a gradual uphill.  The only good thing about it is that the road is stone. 

When we got back onto the main trail, I was doing okay.  I knew I was inside the last mile and that was a big help.  It was still tough because everything was in the sun.  There were some hills, but they were short.  A few times I could see Kelley at the top and that helped pull me along.  I knew the last big hill would kill me.

Crossing Old Packhouse Road was both great and frustrating.  You can sort of see the finish, but it is way uphill.  I actually thought about taking Orchard Road to the finish rather than the trail.  I opted for the trail though.  It wasn't initially as tough as I thought it would be.  I walked some slight uphills here where I probably shouldn't have.  Eventually, I walked up the steep section.

I knew that the trail leveled off after the aqua loop meets up with that.  After that, it is a short, but of course steep climb to the finish.  I kept trying to make it to the aqua loop.  I walked up the hill for what seemed like forever and ever.  It was a great relief when I finally found it.  When the trail leveled off again, I began running to the finish.  I flew uphill, relieved to be done.  Even though I was beat pretty good by the heat, I was able to cut about five minutes off my time from a month ago.  I'm not sure if I walked less or not, because I ran more in the first half this time, but probably walked more in the second half.

I love the challenge of this trail.  I wonder if it will ever get easy or at least semi easy.  I'm so grateful that Kelley was there today.  I never saw any of the guys ahead of us because they were so far ahead.  I kept looking back behind me too and never noticed anyone there either.  During the last climb you can see the downhill part of the trail and I saw no one there.  The others ended up finishing maybe five minutes behind me.  If not for Kelley being there, I would've run most of it completely alone and that would've been tough in the heat.

After the run, the group was talking about how the Quadzilla race course is easier, because the start is more gentle than running from the Environmental Center.  It give your legs and body a chance to really warm up.  I'm still not sure how I want to run the race.  Do I push a bit through this easy section and make decent time or do I hold back?  I'll likely try to hold back, but that is easier said than done in race conditions.

The first three miles were all around a 10 minute pace or under.  After that, only my 8th mile was under 11 minutes.  Looking at everything, I'm actually surprised I even had that kind of speed then.  I guess that was the section was largely on the gravel road.  It is hard not to run faster on a smoother section like that.

Before this run, I was sort of thinking I might try sticking with Kelley for a good chunk of the race.  After the run, I'm not so sure.  She could end up running me into the ground.  She is definitely much stronger than me right now and will do very well in the race.  The fun thing about running this course is trying to find the spots to pick up time.  Which hills are better to run up and which are better to walk up and save your lungs and your legs?  That is quite the challenge. 

The one thing I might've done is walk a little too much today.  Once you start doing some walking, it gets easier to walk again.  It is also tougher to start back up.  Obviously I can't run up the two big hills next week, but picking which ones to run up will be quite the fun challenge.

Some people are considering running there again on Monday morning.  I'm not sure yet if I'll be there or not.  If I do, I definitely won't be doing the whole loop.  I'll cut through the zoo and do five or so miles.  I'd mainly go to learn the course even more.  I also might go there and just run some hill repeats.  Monday was supposed to be a speedwork session anyway.  We'll see.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera today.  I was hoping to get some group pictures as well as pictures of the people behind me finishing up.  I thought it was in my bag, but apparently it wasn't.


8.5 miles - 1:36:34 (11:22 pace)

Cutting It Short

So I finally got up early and completed my run in the AM.  I started at 10 AM.  I had to make sure to do this today because it is supposed to be very hot this afternoon.  Tomorrow is going to be even worse.  I haven't run South Mountain in Emmaus in awhile, so I opted to head there.  The LVRR family hike that I signed up to lead is going to be there soon.  I was actually hoping to explore more of the trail than I have in the past, but it didn't quite work out that way.

I started off on the long and flat section before climbing the mountain.  I like doing this because it gives me close to a mile to warmup.  Early on, my wound bothered me more than it has recently.  Perhaps it wasn't the wound, but just the muscle near it.  Either way, it was a struggle early on and that was a sign of things to come.

I felt better as I hit the main trail.  I was warmed up at that point.  Although it was still hot, the temperature was actually perfect.  I started on the trail.  It is flat for a little while, but then there's a pretty steep section.  It took quite a bit out of me.  Jill wrote about running there and said to just keep going right at every intersection.  I did that, but somehow I ended up at a grassy section.  I was running past some people at that point and I think I missed the main trail.  I then went back down and found the right path.  I was near lost or anything, just made some wrong turns.

There was another section that went nowhere and I had to backtrack.  The most frustrating thing is that I just didn't feel sharp.  I had no energy and the ascending beat me up pretty good.  Rather than try to push through it, I decided it was wiser to just listen to my body and cut the run short.  I just didn't have it today.

I ran back down the mountain.  I ran through some of the water crossings this time and it felt good to get my feet wet.  When I got Apline Street I decided to go on the other part of the orange loop.  I ran there for about a quarter mile before turning around.

I felt very lethargic on the flat stone portion on the way back.  The last three quarters of a mile seemed to take forever.  I wanted to walk a little so I turned around with about a tenth of a mile left and ran back out away from my car briefly.  As I was finishing, I heard a train.  I thought it would be cool to run alongside of it.  Unfortunately it was only the engine and they were just fixing the tracks I guess.

I commented yesterday that I need more short days.  Today wasn't exactly what I hoped for, but it was a short day that I probably needed.  In the end, I only ran three miles.  I'm not sure if it was the fact that I ran last night or just my body not used to being up early.  Either way, it was better to just accept it and recover.  The most frustrating part is that I drove all the way to Emmaus for such a short run. 

Tomorrow is going to be a tough group run at Trexler.  Hopefully I will be stronger.  If not, maybe I'll take some more time off before the Quadzilla.  I'm going to an auto race two hours away tonight and I'll have to get up early tomorrow to run.  That will be difficult, but I'll manage it.

I was talking with my mom about coming to see my upcoming races.  She said she doesn't like to go because I'm not up front.  The problem is whenever she's come I was in comeback mode and not at my best.  The only time she's ever seen me run when I was in great shape was my second marathon.  Obviously with a big group at a marathon, I'm not going to be right up front.  She's missed a lot of my 5ks, like the one where I took 3rd overall when I lived in Philly and ran an 18:40.

She commented that I'm just not as talented as the people it front of me.  I had to explain that it isn't that at all, it's more that they've been able to train more and more consistently then me.  Sure, some of them are more talented, but not many.  It takes 5-7 years to peak and I've only been able to put a good year together at a time.  My mom's comments are definitely motivation to show her how good I actually am and will be.  Not that I really need any more motivation, but it certainly provides some.

3 miles - 34:02 (11:21 pace)

Hot Group Run

I gave myself a fairly long recovery time from yesterday's lunchtime run, so I was prepared to run whatever pace was needed today for the LVRR Group Run.  It was a few minutes after 6 PM and no one had shown up yet to run.  I was beginning to think I'd be running alone (in which case I'd do a fartlek).

Just before I was about to start one of the regulars, Jeff, appeared.  Another woman Karen showed up as well.  It wasn't a big group, but I was happy to see a few people devoted anyway.  Heck, we aren't getting that many more people when it is cool out.

It was very hot, but luckily I got to run a nice and easy pace.  Karen and I ran just ahead of Jeff at a little under a 10 minute pace.  I felt better this week, so I was much more talkative than last week.  We chatted about a lot of things.  Karen is actually going to be working one of the Quadzilla water stops.  That's good to know.  It's early on, so I'll be sure to say hello if I see her.

We started out heading east from the clubhouse and looped around.  Jeff still struggles some with hills, so we didn't go all the way to the Fish Hatchery.  We crossed over the creek right before that.  The hills coming back are actually pretty easy for me now.  Karen and I continued to cruise and Jeff fell back a little more.  He's definitely getting a lot stronger than when he first ran with us over a month ago.  I love to see that.

Karen and I finished up at the Clubhouse.  Jeff still wanted to do more, I so I fell back and continued on with him.  We did an out and back to the Robin Hood Bridge.  The heat was certainly getting the better of him.  We finished up with a solid five miles.

It is great running with Jeff.  The first time he came out, he dropped off quite a bit and even had to walk some.  I stayed with him as much as I could then.  I figured he would be discouraged and wouldn't come back.  I'm glad to see him becoming more a regular.  We still don't have the same people coming out every week, but there have been a couple people that have shown up multiple times in the last five weeks or so.  At least we are building a little bit of something.  Hopefully the run will grow.

This was good recovery run for me.  Even though it was an easy pace, I still sweated a lot.  Thankfully, I didn't really have a problem with chafing.  Only some minor irritation.  I love that they gave us LVRR group leader T-shirts, but they are 35% cotton and quite hot to wear on days like today.  I still feel like I should wear it as the group run leader, even though it probably isn't necessary with only two other people.

I would've liked to have done some hill sprints afterward, but I was just too sticky and there weren't any big hills around.  I definitely need to start working those into my training as well as drills.  I did do about 15 minutes of core work this afternoon with my Pilates tape.  It was tough and I didn't want to overdo it.  Eventually I will get to the point where I can finish the whole tape and I'm flexible enough to do the difficult stretching exercises.

Tomorrow I plan on going to South Mountain in Emmaus in the morning.  It will be hot again, so I want to get there fairly early.  I haven't been out there in awhile and I want to get to know that trail a little better.  I also want to do more climbing.  I might try to push the pace a little too.  I've been doing too many five or six mile runs lately.  Eventually, I need to get out of that rut and scatter my mileage more.

5 miles - 50:39 (10:08 pace)

Hard Day in the Heat

I wanted to get up early and run to beat the heat.  I also wanted to watch friends run the 4 mile 4th of July race.  I failed at both.  Instead, I was forced to run in the heat around noon.  I don't know the exact temperature, but it was probably around 90 degrees.

I've been doing too many slow paced runs lately.  I've been running challenging course, but have just been pushing myself to finish, not pushing the pace.  Today, I opted to pick up the intensity a little (even with the heat).  I decided to go to Sand Island and run the D&L Canal Towpath.  I figured there would be shade there to provide some relief.

I haven't run there in a long time, so I forgot that the beginning wasn't shaded.  I started off by walking right by the fireworks that they were preparing for tonight.  I wish I would've got a picture.  I did a solid warmup first mile.  Thankfully my wound doesn't bother me too much early on, so I can start at a decent pace now.  The first mile was almost all in the sun.  It was pretty hot, but running with a shirt on definitely helped.

After warming up, my plan was to run the middle three miles of this five mile run fairly hard.  The path was nice and flat.  I had no time goal, just effort.  Early on in the fast segment, it seemed like it would be tough to keep up a good pace.  I just kept pushing though.  There was a little bit of a breeze and as I went further along, I encountered some shade as well.  Because of the shade, I elected to run out farther before turning back around.

I kept pushing hard until I hit the three mile point.  Both of those first two fast miles were just over an 8 minute pace.  That's definitely faster than any of my training runs have been up to this point.  The only thing that was faster was my 4 mile race in early June.  I ended up running to the end of Freemansburg before turning around.

The beginning of the last mile was frustrating.  There were some geese in the canal.  For whatever reason, they couldn't wait to get on the towpath.  Rather than doing so after me, they went right in the path with nowhere to go.  I kept running behind them, but I had to slow my pace.  They sped up and ran fairly fast themselves and eventually turned off the path.

That cost me some time and it was getting very hot, but I just kept pushing.  The last hard mile seemed pretty long.  I kept checking my watch.  I knew I had to continue running hard though.  Early on, I had tried to focus on form some.  During the last fast mile, I kept reminding myself to keep strong form.  My dad was telling me that I run to stiff.  I know that is something that I need to work on.  Even with the issue with the geese, I still ended up running a pretty fast 8:09 mile.

The cool down mile seemed to take forever.  I was starting to hit a lot more sunny stretches.  It felt like I might be chafing a little.  Bodyglide has definitely helped with that the last two days.  The other problem is that because I ran farther out, I had to walk about a mile back.  That was brutal too.

I keep forgetting that I shouldn't wear gray shorts in the heat.  The sweat shows through and I had major swamp ass as well as being soaked on the front side.  I'm sure that didn't look good to all the people biking or walking on the path.  Even with all the sweat, there was only minor chafing.  I was concerned a little because the shorts I wore didn't seem to fit very well.  I didn't have any problem though.

Today was great workout.  Now that the Blue Eagle 5k is only a month away, it is time to start working on my speed.  I ran the middle section at a little over 24 minutes.  Maybe it is too ambitious, but I'd like to break 22 minutes for the 5k.  I'll definitely need some more speedwork to do it though.

Tomorrow will be the usual group run at night with the LVRR.  I'm not sure what the pace will be.  I do hope fairly fast though.  Since I ran at lunch today and it is at 6 PM tomorrow, I should be well recovered for the next run.  On Friday, I might run at South Mountain in Emmaus.  I haven't done that in awhile.  I do like running there, but it is just a little far.  I offered to help with the LVRR family hikes and one of them is at Walking Purchase Park near Fountain Hill.  I only ran there once, so I might have to run there next week.  I need to keep a good mix of challenging trails and fast, flat running.  Saturday is the run I'm really looking forward to.  It is the group run at Trexler.  Only one week until the Quadzilla.

 5 miles - 42:43 (8:33 pace)

Chafe Free Jacobsburg

It has been a frustrating few days for me.  I went to an auto race in upstate New York and was camping.  The plan was to run some of the cool trails near the lake up there.  Unfortunately, everything got derailed while I was up there.  On Friday, it was hot and I walked around for about an hour at the track.  I came back extremely chafed.  I was surprised because I wasn't out that long.  I guess I wasn't dry in that area and wearing cotton sure didn't help.

I found some cream that definitely helped.  It didn't work fast enough though and I had to skip the rest of my runs until today.  I thought about running after dark last night, but decided to give it another day.  I felt a lot better, but still didn't think I was 100% today.  Five days off was enough though, so I had to give it a try.

I had hoped to get out early and run before it got too hot.  That didn't happen though and when out in the peak of the heat at lunch time.  To keep relatively cool, I decided to run in the wooden sections of Jacobsburg.  I would've liked to actually run uphill, but that section goes into an open field.  It was too hot for that.

I made sure to keep my skin dry and I put on some Bodyglide.  The frustrating thing was my GPS watch.  I must've walked almost a mile before I finally got a signal.  I've never had that issue at Jacobsburg and it wasn't cloudy or anything.  I was actually heading back to the main parking lot when it finally started working.  I may be pathetic, but I can't start a run without tracking it.  Otherwise, it seems like it doesn't count. 

I started off and ironically the Garmin screwed up again anyway.  I had barely run anywhere and it already said I had run a third of a mile and at a 6 min and change pace.  So much for an accurate run.  I was just happy it was working though and it seemed to be fine the rest of the way.

I climbed some of the small hills and wound through the narrow section too.  I ran without a shirt and was a little concerned about brushing up against bushes.  I don't want to get any ticks.  In my effort avoid bushes, I nearly tripped a couple times.

I was surprised at how much mud there was in the muddy section.  One part was awful because there was fresh horse crap and flies everywhere.  It was actually nice and cool in the woods, but 90 degrees is still 90 degrees and I was sweating quite bit.

As I crossed over a few roads and came to the back section, I came up on people riding horses.  I always hate this as I never know the proper etiquette to use.  I told them I was coming and they moved out of the way.  It was a pain though because this section was narrow and there were three horses.  One of them actually backed his horse off the trail and partway into the woods.  I thanked them for letting me go.  I think the one horse then trotted fairly fast behind me.  I assumed it was under control, but it did have me checking behind me a little.

Shortly after passing the horses I came up on a lady running with her dog.  I passed them and noticed a guy up ahead.  I rarely see anyone running on these trails and to pass two people within a matter of minutes seemed odd.  It made more sense though when I came up on the guy.  He said I surprised him because at first he thought it was his wife running, but he knew she wasn't that fast.  I was wondering why he was running relatively slow when he looked to be in great shape.

I didn't actually want to run this far.  When I was worried about passing the horses, I missed the left turn to run a shorter route.  Coming back is nice and flat.  It is easy running.  This is actually a good place to practice some fast trailing running.  When I had the chance, I decided to cut down towards the creek and run along there.  After a couple minutes, I came up on another horse.  It looked like the same guy that was in the back the last time.  Rather than be a pain again, I turned around and looked for a creek crossing.  I found the creek and crossed over.

It was refreshing running through the cold water.  I then ran along the creek trail for awhile, until I came back out to the main path.  I run this part of the trail quite often.  It comes out on the road and I have to run there for a short distance.

I was starting to sweat quite a bit and was glad the run was nearly over.  There was some small uphills, but I was cruising.  I decided I run to about the five mile mark.  I did a short out and back near the main parking lot.  There is a very hilly section there which I haven't run in awhile.  I need to try that out next time.  I actually ended up running for a little over 50 minutes.  It was a good run and I was relieved to be done.

To prevent chafing, I change my pants and dried off a bit too before heading home and taking an immediate shower.  I think wearing moisture wicking clothes was a bit help.  Obviously the Bodyglide was good too.  I made sure to cool off with the nice breeze under a tree before I left too.  I'll have to continue to take these types of measures I guess.

I'm going to a dirt track race tonight.  I might run some short hill sprints, maybe four, when I get home late tonight.  Tomorrow, there is a four mile race nearby.  I don't think I'm going to run it, but I'll probably go and take pictures.  If I do that, I'll try to get up very early and run five or more miles.  We'll see how that goes.  It is great to just be able to run again.  Not only did I not have chafing problems, but my wound isn't bothering me too much anymore either.

Slightly inaccurate run information.

5.06 miles - 50:31 (9:58 pace)