Shocking 10 Miler

Sometimes things just go your way and are totally unexpected.  That was the case on the 10 mile run this afternoon.  I'm coming off a nice race weekend and a lot of miles last week.  I'm trying to back off on Mondays, so I wasn't planning on going too hard today.  I thought if I felt strong, I might make this a progression run and run the final two miles hard.  If I didn't feel great, I would just cruise through the run.

When I saw the weather forecast, I was excited for today.  I usually can't get up early anyway, but if I wanted to, there was no way I could have run this morning.  The temperature was in the 30s!  I don't know what it was when I did my run, but the high was only supposed to be in the mid 50s.  It was also cloudy.  Perfect running weather.

Even though the weather was ideal, I wasn't overly enthusiastic about starting the run.  No matter what kind of shape you are in, an 8 mile run or a 10 mile run is still long.  It still takes awhile to complete. 

I decided that I would go to a new trail.  That always works well when I feel like I could be a little stale.  Over the summer, the BCR ran at the Columbia Trail in High Bridge, NJ.  I couldn't make it that day.  It is a little over half an hour to the trail from my house, so I decided to head there for the afternoon run.

I was debating a bit on what to wear for the run, but I made the right choice in the end.  I didn't know whether to wear arm warmers or not.  It was only just slightly chilly when I was walking though, so I elected not to wear them. I went with short sleeves, shorts and calf sleeves.  It was perfect attire to go along with my minimalist shoes.

I started off on the trail and it was still quite chilly.  My hands were cold and I had to blow on them.  That didn't last too long though.  The trail is a beautiful stone path.  It follows an old railroad bed.  It starts off high in a gorge and overlooks a river below.  With the trees, you can only see the river at spots.  Now that fall is here, it looks beautiful with the leaves beginning to change color too.

I refrained from looking at my watch in the beginning.  I didn't even check it until it beeped at the first mile.  That was a good, easy 9:02.  I was on my way to a nice and relaxing day.  The one thing that did suck is that they had mileage markers at every quarter of a mile.  That is just too often.

This first mile was tough as it was uphill.  The second mile wasn't any easier.  I was plugging along.  I wondered if I would ever get to a downhill part.  I completely missed the beep of my watch at the 2nd mile.  I looked down shortly after that and to my surprise, my overall pace was around 8:30.  I didn't feel like I ran that 2nd mile much harder than the 1st, but I must've really warmed up because I knew that that mile had to be around 8 minutes.  I don't run too many 8 minute miles in training unless I am getting pushed by a training partner or doing speedwork.  That was a big surprise.

I continued along on the trail and it seemed like the climbing would never end.  I knew that if I climbed this much in the beginning, it had to be downhill when I turned around.  My legs were a little sore, but I kept plugging away.  Somewhere around the 5k mark, I crossed over the river on a nice pedestrian bridge.  It was pretty to see the river far below.  After that, the river was now on my left side.  I was running on the other side of the gorge.

I wasn't working any harder, but again my times when down.  The 3rd mile was around a 7:45.  With the exception of speedwork, only one time this year did I run under an 8 minute pace for a training run.  That was a couple weeks ago when Aaron pushed me at a group run.

The trail began to flattened out at this point and my pace when down even more.  This 4th mile was the one that really stunned me.  I came through it at a 7:02.  It didn't feel like a 7:02 mile at all.  It didn't even feel like a 7:30 mile.  It was fast, but relatively easy.  I'm sure there must have been some downhill at this point.

One of the great things about this trail was the lack of road crossings.  There were a bunch right in the beginning in High Bridge.  After that, there was over 5k until the next road crossing.  Even that one was a lightly traveled road.

Aside from the river, there was plenty going on along the path.  A lot of the houses along the path put up little things along the trail, like ceramic mushrooms or gnomes.  Weird little things like that.  There were quite a few people out walking and a lot of bikers.  I was surprised that I saw that much activity.  It seemed like the area was somewhat remote and the temperatures aren't great for normal people.  Just good for runners.  A dog also barked at me along the trail.  I was glad it didn't chase me.  I assume people that live next to a busy trail wouldn't let a dog out that was going to chase people, but you just never know.

Earlier in the run, I was counting miles until the turnaround.  Going uphill was tough and I was just hoping to get to mile 4 and at least get 8 total miles in.  Now as I hit mile 4 and beyond, I felt awesome.  I almost didn't want to turn around.  Right before mile 5 and the turn around, I came to a populated area and a road crossing.  The path when along a paved road for a bit, but I turned around before getting very far on it.  This 5th mile was still run at a 7:13.

It was a little tough going at the beginning of the way back.  I think it was probably uphill just a bit.  I focused on getting to mile 6 and just thought to myself that I had less than a 5k to go until mile 8.  Watching my overall pace continue to drop was a big boost.  It was at 7:50.  Then before I knew it, I was down into the low 7:40s.

Mile 6 was the slowest mile of the second half of the run and even that was a speedy 7:25.  I haven't put down too many 7:25 miles in training, other than speedwork.  Things got a little easier at mile 7.  I came through that one at 7:12.  I think the course flattened out.

I was excited that not only was my pace still dropping like crazy, but I knew this final 5k had a lot of downhill and would be even faster.  Knowing that I had less than a 5k to go was a big help.  I was getting such a runner's high.

By this point, I couldn't help but start pushing it some more.  I was probably into what you would call a comfortably hard pace.  Somewhere around the 5k point, I saw my overall pace was 7:39.  I thought that it would be great to get under 7:30, but I really didn't think it was possible.  The 8th mile changed that though as the pace kept dropping and dropping and dropping.  Before I knew it, I was flirting with a 7:30 overall pace.  The 8th mile was a blistering 6:48.  There was a lot of downhill, but that was still impressive considering that is what I run during speedwork repeats.

The final two miles were where I really pushed it.  Even with saying that, they still weren't as hard as last week's final mile and a half during that progression run.  I was now into the biggest downhill part of the run.  At times, I felt great as I was descending, but it didn't feel as good as I thought it would.  My legs were beat from the previous 8 miles, regardless of how much downhill I was running now.

I put in back to back 6:44 miles for each of the last two miles of the run.  With half a mile to go, I checked my pace for that mile and it was at 6:38.  I could have kept that up or gone even faster, but I figured that I had done enough already.  I even sort of cruised in the final tenth of a mile.  I was still breathing hard though.  It was great to be done.

I was happy with Saturday's race and felt like I could've done more.  With that said, I began to question whether or not I can run a 7 minute pace for an entire half marathon.  Granted, it will still be tough, but a great run like this is a big boost.  I don't know if it was all the weather or the way the course was setup or what, but I exceeded my expectations by far today.  If I get conditions like this on race day and feel good then, I'll crush my goal.  If I really pushed it, I might've been able to run this whole 10 miler around a 6:50 pace, and that would be on my own, not in race conditions.  I am truly amazed that I could run it at a 7:24 pace and still have something left today.  That is after a slow 9 minute first mile and second mile around 8 minutes.

 I don't know about the extra tenth of a mile, but my final three miles were run at 20:16.  That is a 6:45 pace.  My best 5k race time of this year was 21:29 (6:55 pace).  That means I likely ran that final 5k faster than my 2012 5k PR.  With 7 miles already on my legs, I am stunned I can do that, even with the aid of downhill running.  What a great day.

When I was planning to run 17 miles with Flo on Saturday, she asked me if I could run a 7:30 pace.  I told her that I could do it for at least 10 miles, but I really I wasn't completely sure.  Now I know I can.

This was such a big confidence booster for me.  I hope I can continue to run this well in the cooler fall weather.  If I can have these conditions on race day, I will be thrilled. It is supposed to warm up some more for the rest of the week.  I'll likely run 7 or 8 miles tomorrow.  I have to make those easy and make sure my body is recovered for the speedwork session on Wednesday.  I might need to get up earlier on Wednesday to see if I can run in similar conditions to this afternoon.  That would help my mile repeats.  

10 miles - 1:13:52 (7:24 pace)

Racing in Between More Running

All week, I was undecided on whether I wanted to race a 10k this weekend plus some extra mileage, or just run a 17 mile long run.  Yesterday, I decided on the 17 miler and told Flo and the BCR Group that I'd be there.  I was going to meet Flo and try to keep up with her brisk 7:30 pace.  She was running 23 miles.

Unfortunately, the same thing happened that seems to occur every week.  I couldn't fall asleep.  I was wide awake and it was 2 AM.  I planned on meeting Flo at 6 AM.  I couldn't see doing a hard 17 miles with no energy.  I decided to message Flo and opted instead for the 10k race.

This allowed me a much needed extra hour and a half of sleep.  The 10k is in support of childhood cancer and it took place at my high school's rival, Northampton.  One of the reasons I wanted to do this race is because it is somewhat comparable to the D&L Half Marathon that I'll be running in a month.  A lot of the run took place on the flat, stone Nor-Bath Trail.  The D&L race is on similar terrain and I think the elevation is similar too.

I wasn't quite sure how the course got to or came from the Nor-Bath Trail, so I took a warmup run toward it.  I got a nice mile warmup in.  The legs felt great and it was a brisk 7:40 mile.  I figured that I needed some extra mileage anyway, so I might as well get a good warmup in.  I never used to warmup, but it really does get the legs moving quickly.  One thing I found out was that there was a nice hill into the high school at the finish.

The sky was cloudy and it was cool before the race.  I pinned my number to the LV Running Scene shirt.  Of course the sun came up after a did that and it warmed up.  The shirt worked, but I was sweating throughout the run and could've used a singlet.

I thought the race started at the big hill, but it actually went around the other side of the school.  That meant that I had to cut through a lot of the people to get near the front of the race.  I was in no rush, so I just started in the 2nd row.  I wanted to be out of the way of most of the people.

There was a group of Northampton wrestlers running together in front of me.  I had to navigate around them at the start.  That wasn't too bad.  I needed to be patient in the beginning anyway.  I could here them chanting as they were running together behind me at one point.

Things were nice and comfortable at the beginning.  I settled in to what felt sort of easy.  Of course the early pace is almost always faster than what you think it is.  I decided to count the runners in front of me and I was able to count 12.  The one problem was that the 5k and 10k go the same way, so I didn't actually know who was in what race.  That was fine though, since I had plenty of time to go.

I passed a couple young people early on.  Then I went by two more young folks.  The female one was the eventual 10k winner.  I was enjoying the early downhill.  I stayed not too far behind an older gentleman.  I passed another girl, who was probably about 13, and she ended up being the winner of the women's 5k.

After that stretch, things calmed down.  I hit the first mile at 6:40.  A little fast, but really not too bad for an opening mile.  The guy in front of me was running with a younger kid and that kid kept going straight at one point, instead of turning.  As we got on the Nor-Bath Trail, the kid passed me back and then started walking when he realized that he wouldn't catch the guy.

For awhile, things were uneventful.  I tucked in not too far behind the guy and clicked off miles.  I knew there were some small hills coming up and I didn't want to expend too much energy.  He set a nice pace, so I followed.  I knew there were still a few guys ahead of me, but I had no idea what place I was actually in.  Since the course was out and back and the 5k course turned around first, I figured that I would be able to sort things out in a bit.

I was a little worried that the first mile was too hard, so I did back off some in the second mile.  I still can't believe how much I slowed though.  The second mile was a 7:24 and my overall pace slipped to over 7 minutes.  After those two miles, I got into a groove.

As I started going up the hill through a neighborhood, I could see the 5k leaders coming back.  There were 3 or 4 of them.  I saw that the guy who was leading everyone wasn't with them, so I knew he was the 10k leader.  I wasn't 100% sure at the time, but I figured that I was currently 3rd in the 10k, with 2nd place right in front of me.

 It felt good when we finally got onto the stone part of the trail.  I run the trail often, so it was also great that I was familiar with it.  I continued along behind the guy.

The one thing that threw me a curveball was that we left the trail and went through a park.  I assumed the course was just all out and back on the Nor-Bath Trail at that point.  I had no clue where I was running.  We transitioned from stone to pavement and my legs felt even better.  I went through the 5k point at somewhere around a 21:45.  That's only about 15 seconds slower than my last 5k race.  I know I'm getting much faster.

We went through a water stop and I refused the water.  I figured I could get some on the way back.  I was hoping we were coming back that way anyway.  As we were going downhill, the leader came back uphill.  I said to the guy in front of me, "I guess we aren't catching that guy."

We hit the turnaround point and Scott, who does a lot with the Nazareth programs, was stationed there.  It was good to see a familiar face.  It was also good to know we were going the right direction.

We came back up the hill and pulled alongside the other guy.  A guy walking his dog had to hold it back.  I told the guy that was I was running about someone letting their dog loose on a Midnight 5k one time because they didn't think anyone would be running at that time.  He started to tell me about this race and how he had to beat his student, which I guess was the kid that was walking earlier.

As I passed the guy up the hill, I could tell he was laboring.  I was feeling good and still able to have a conversation.  I was worried that it was too early to make my move and that he might pass me back.  There was another runner on my heels for awhile too and I thought he might go around me as well.  I knew we were quite spread out at this point, but there still could be a guy moving up.

Coming back, it was good to pass a lot of the runners that were still going out.  A lot of them said, "good job" and I did likewise.  I knew I just had to keep a steady pace.  I felt like I had something left for the final two miles.  I would be able to push if I needed to.

This time, I stopped at the water stop and took a quick drink.  I really didn't need it, but I figured I might as well take some fluids.  I got back onto the Nor-Bath Trail and just kept plugging away.

I had no idea how far ahead of 3rd place I was.  At one of the road crossings, they stopped a car for me and then let it go after I went through.  That's when I first knew that I must have a good gap.  After I went a little farther, I couldn't see anyone behind me.  I still didn't want to relax.

While I wasn't relaxing, there was also no need to push at this point.  I just wanted to click off steady miles.  I did just that.  When I got to the 5k turnaround point they told me to go right on the road.  I didn't realize until later that I was actually supposed to run on the road next to the trail.  I guess technically I might've cut the course by a hundredth of a mile or so.  It was so minimal that it really didn't matter.

Whenever I could see far behind me, I turned around just to make sure that no one was sneaking up behind me.  I was truly amazed at how big of a gap I had.  I couldn't believe I was that far ahead of those two guys.  I guess I just paced myself well and ran a smart race.

I encountered two women on the path.  I think they might've been in the 5k, I'm not sure.  Either way, I had to yell to get around them, but they weren't sure which way to move.  I said to one of them, "that's okay I'm pretty far ahead anyway."

I was glad I did have something in reserve because the last hill was no fun.  It's not hard, but at the end of a race, it was tough.  I pushed pretty hard up it.  For once, I actually didn't bother with my sprint finish.  I cruised around the track, even enjoying the music.  The inside of the track was slippery and had no grip, but I just used the outside. 

I came in just under 44 minutes with a time of 43:49.  I was second overall.  That is my best placement ever.  Third was my best to that point.  That was in a 5k.  Since I have hardly ever run any 10ks, I think that was a 10k PR too.  Maybe more importantly, I finished ahead of every woman.  I've never actually done that before.  I was glad I didn't win because whenever I do pick up my first victory, I want it to be while I'm really fast.  Now, I'm just in decent shape.

One thing I keep forgetting about is extra tenths of a mile that happen during a race.  My watch said that I ran 6.3 miles and it was a 6:58 pace.  If you go by the clock time and the 6.2 mile measurement, it was actually 7:03.  I have to keep that in mind as I try to break 7 minutes in the half marathon.  That might be tough to do, as I can't imagine keeping this pace up for 6 more miles.  This pace was probably more appropriate for a 9 mile race.  I still had a lot in the tank though.  I definitely think I can PR at that race.  I don't have a lot of speed yet, but I have good endurance and can click off consistent miles.  Much like today, I'll probably be near the front of the half marathon and running alone.  That is certainly a challenge.

In two weeks, I'll be in the Runner's World 10k.  I plan on racing in that one.  It will be interesting to see how my times compare.  That course should be harder with hills, but there will be far more competitors.  I'd love to PR again, but if I don't I'm not worried about it.

Since I needed more mileage, I ran 1.5 miles before the awards ceremony.  It took awhile for the awards to happen, so I could've got more in.  I ran along the side and front of the school again.

After the awards were finally over, I put on my dry singlet and headed out to run more.  It is funny because I just told Flo and some others that I don't worry about extra mileage on days when I race.  Here I was making sure to run extra miles.  I was over 48 miles for the week after counting the warmup and cooldown.

I wanted to at least make sure that I got to the same total mileage as last week, 52 miles.  I started at my car and continued to the Nor-Bath Trail.  These miles were nice and easy and quite uneventful.  I just took it a mile or even half mile at a time.  I ran out what turned out to be 2.5 more miles from the high school.  I stayed on the Nor-Bath Trail because I didn't want any more hills.

As I was coming back, I blew by a guy.  He wasn't running much faster than me, but I just wanted to get by and stay ahead of him.

I had some minor issues with my shorts chafing my thighs.  I felt it after the race.  As I ran now, it got worse.  I had to keep adjusting my liner so that it wouldn't keep rubbing.  I kept going though, figuring that it couldn't get worse.  I even put BodyGlide on earlier, but that was no help.

I came back and ran around the streets of Northampton for the final mile and a half.  That was slow and seemed to take forever.  I couldn't wait for it to be over.  I finally finished up near the stadium and walked back up the hill to my car.  I wanted at least 52 miles this week, but I was hoping to hit 55 miles.  I was able to do that in the end.  For the day, I ended up running over 15 total miles.  Not the 17 that I would've done earlier, but close enough.

All in all it was great day.  I did about what I expected and I'm very happy with myself.  Even though McMillan's running calculator projects my time to 1:37 for the half marathon, I feel like I can run well under that.  I can put in good, consistent miles and hopefully my pace won't drop.  Running under 7 minute pace will be a stretch, but I should be fairly close.

I have off tomorrow and I'll definitely need it.  I'm hoping to get to the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton.  A bunch of friends are running it.  I need to look at the map again and make sure I find some points of easy access.  I also want to make it back home for the Eagles' game versus the Steelers.

1 mile - 7:40 (7:40 pace)
RACE 6.3 miles - 43:52 (6:58 pace) - Official chip time - 43:49
 8 miles - 1:09:53 (8:44 pace)

The Sun is Back

It has been a dreary week to say the least.  It rained on Tuesday, Wednesday and even Thursday.  The sun came out just long enough to tease us yesterday afternoon before setting.  Today, the sun was finally back.  That actually made me look forward to my Friday run for a change.

I am so beat right now.  Three runs over the last two days have taken a toll.  As I left the house, my mom said, "You walk like an old man."  I thought to myself, does this make sense?  I'm so sore that I'm walking funny, but yet I'm going out for a run.  Sometimes this sport doesn't make sense.

I thought it would be good to enjoy the run on a scenic route nearby.  I decided to head to Mill Race Park and run along the creek.  I started around 11 AM.  It was already pretty warm out.  It was actually a perfect day for just sitting around, but that just means it was still on the hot side for a run.  The air was humid too. 

I started off running south.  I wanted to go to Penn Pump Park and back in the beginning.  The first mile was awkward as my sore legs came around.  There was a slight downhill there, which was nice.  I ran that mile at an easy 8:58.  I need more slow miles like that.

The beginning is in the shade and along the creek.  It is cool.  I didn't take too long before I was out in the sun and staring into the sun.  I was glad that I chose to wear a singlet.  I didn't look at my watch until .87 miles into my run.  I looked at it a little more frequently at this part, but I still did a better job of avoiding it than usual.

I was disappointed when I could see the road crossing by Penn Pump Park up ahead.  It wasn't as far out as I had hope.  I was hoping I'd be able to get to two miles before turning around.  Instead, I had to change directions at mile 1.6.  The bridge that they put up at the end of the trail is complete, but closed.  I didn't go into Penn Pump Park, so I'm not sure how complete that part of the trail is.  Eventually, it will connect the trails for miles.  I look forward to that.

On the way back, I saw a guy riding his bike again.  This loop is only 5 miles total.  I must've seen him 3 or 4 times.  I guess he was doing multiple loops.  This paved path is a great place to ride, it is just so short.  I passed a lot of walkers, a few runners and plenty of bikers throughout my run.

Coming back seemed slow.  I felt like I was always going uphill a little.  Perhaps I was or perhaps it was just my dead legs.  I got back to the starting point and was only at mile 3.2.

I was planning on running the other way, but I did pass an attractive woman earlier, so I decided to run back in her direction and then loop through the parking lot.  As I was in the parking lot, a bird took a crap on my arm.  I felt it come out of the sky.  Thankfully it was a small piece and solid, so it wasn't that big of a deal.  I could've stopped at my car or the bathroom, but I figured I would wait until the run was over.  I guess that's what I get for changing my path for an attractive woman.

I went out towards Tatamy to finish up the run.  I almost got to the end of the path, but not quite.  I turned around at mile 3.7 and headed back.  I cruised in and finished up just past the road crossing out of the Tatamy part of the trail.  It was good to be done.

My right hip was a bit sore afterward.  I was on the foam roller a lot last night and will continue using it.  I need to minimize my soreness.  I know that getting new shoes can really help when your muscles are hurting.  I ordered a new pair of the same shoes that I currently wear and they should be here by Tuesday.  I can't wait.  I have had these since last July and I'm right around 500 miles on them.  I am due for a new pair.

Originally, I wasn't planning to really taper before my half marathon.  I have a 9 mile race a couple weeks later, so I don't want to drop my mileage too much.  With how beat up I am, I will drop more than I was planning.  There will definitely be some taper.  It won't be drastic, but I will back off.

I'm still undecided on what to do tomorrow.  I think I want to do whatever is easier, but really I have no idea what that is.  I could either run 17 miles, hopefully a good chunk of that with Flo or I could run a 10k race and then add another 6 miles or more afterward.  I want to at least get to 52 miles again this week, just like I did last week.  The toughest thing with the 17 miler is that I struggle to get to bed and get up early on Saturdays.  I'd have to start running at 6 AM.  I would be running with the BCR at the Saucon Rail Trail when the main group gets there.  I don't know when I'll decide.

5 miles - 42:56 (8:35 pace)

Quite Hilly Double

I decided that I would run another double session today.  I wanted a bit of a challenge, so I opted to run the 4 mile Schoeneck route and the hill from my high school days.  That was my AM run.

Since school is in session, I had to park at one of the neighborhoods around the school rather than at the school itself.  As usual, I started off nice and easy and was stiff.  It was nice because I began with a short downhill.  After that, it is a slight uphill until you get to the road crossing.  Crossing the road twice in this course can often be tough and it took some time today.

Because of all the rain we had, I had to wear my minimalist shoes for a second straight day.  Even with the insoles removed, my regular shoes haven't dried out from Tuesday's wet run.  Today's weather wasn't all that great either.  It was wet and humid.  The rain was always light and off and on.  The humidity was tricky and it caused me to sweat a lot.

I was just running at an easy pace and it was amazing at how easy this hill felt.  It is about 3/4 of a mile long, but I guess I'm in such good shape that that doesn't matter much.  I remember in high school when it used to kill me.  Of course we did run up it faster than I was doing today.  Sometime I should try to hammer up it.  The one thing that is tricky is that the steepest grade does occur about 2/3 of the way up the hill.  It still didn't bother me too much though.  I wasn't breathing comfortably because after all it is still a hill, but it wasn't killing me either.

I wore my Quadzilla tech shirt.  I says, "I eat hills for breakfast" on the back.  That was quite appropriate.  I didn't actually plan it that way, but things worked out I guess.  At the top, a guy asked me if I saw his dog.  He was out of luck.  I hope he found it.  At least I wasn't chased.

There is a short segment between the uphill and downhill roads on this course.  That road goes uphill a little too.  I was reminded as I came downhill why I love this run so much.  I was just cruising along.  I put in one easy mile at 7:58.  I was actually somewhat surprised it wasn't even faster.

This course is a little short of 4 miles.  The last mile seemed like it took forever.  It was certainly slow by my standards.  At the football stadium, I was only at 3.37 miles.  I still had a short uphill alongside the school.  When I got back to my car, I was at 3.83 miles.  I did a short segment through the neighborhood by my car to get to the 4 miles.

In between runs, I went to the Nazareth Cross Country meet.  I had to do a lot of running back and forth.  Some of it was quite fast and with a camera in my hand.  That took its toll before the group run.

The weather cleared out for the LVRR Group Run, but still no one showed up.  It was just Akshay, Rob and I.  I told Akshay to just take off and I would hang back with Rob.

As we started, a big group of women were beginning in the main road of the Parkway.  I ran into the Women's 5k Classic group last year, so I assume it was them.  They had over 30 women.  I pushed the pace a little just to make sure we stayed ahead of them. 

Akshay took off early and Rob stopped to tie both shoes at one point.  I don't like to stop completely, so I stayed just ahead of Rob.  More importantly, we just managed to beat the women to the Robin Hood Bridge.  That was great because I didn't want to pass a huge pack.  As I was going up the hill past the bridge, another runner asked me about the group run.  I explained that I wasn't with the women, but told him about our group run.  Maybe he will join us in the future.

At the first mile, I started to have some soreness.  My right IT band bothered me a little.  I realized that at my slow pace, I was running all of the time up on my toes.  I tried to hit more of a midfoot strike after that.  It seemed to help.

I dropped back and joined Rob again.  We cruised along.  For me, it was cruising anyway.  For Rob, it was fast.  So fast in fact that he had to start walking.  I sputtered along ahead of him.  I ran over a mile alone, hoping he would catch me.  Instead, he actually lost ground.  My IT band bothered me again, so I didn't want to slow too much.  It seems better when I run a little faster.

I got to the big hill by the Fish Hatchery.  It was a bit tough, especially when you factor in this morning's hill, but I managed it without too much trouble.  What actually made it hard was that the rain had washed a lot of the stone away.

Aaron told me a couple weeks ago that the trail after the Fish Hatchery goes out a little.  I have seen it before and it is another hill.  I figured I would go up it as long as I could stand it and then I'd turn around and come back.  That way, Rob would be coming down the big hill by then.

This other hill wasn't as steep as the big hill.  It seemed longer and more gradual.  I'm not sure that it is really longer.  I felt okay climbing and as I was thinking about turning around, I thought I saw the top.  I was correct.  It was really only about .15 miles long.  It made a nice extension to the run.

I timed everything pretty well.  I could see Rob coming down the big hill as I came down this other hill.  He was still a little behind me.  I didn't want to wait too much, so I decided that I would turn around and go back to him.  That would add some distance to the run.

We ran most of the end of the route together.  Rob struggled some on the hills and even walked a little.  I would have to slow down and wait for him.  It was good to have someone to run with and it was also good practice for the slow pace that I'll be running as a pacer in the Runner's World Half Marathon.

It is getting dark earlier and earlier now.  When we went through the wooded section at the end, you could barely see a thing.  Some guy coming the other way almost missed me completely.

When I came down the last hill near the Clubhouse, I decided to take off my shirt.  As I got next to the creek, I was amazed at how cool the air off of the water was.  It was quite refreshing.

I got back to my car and still had over .6 miles to go to get in the extra mile.  I threw my shirt on my car and continued on.  Not only was it dark, but it was now foggy.  I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me as I was near the water.

This part of the run was awesome.  For whatever reason, I felt so fast and free.  I wasn't going hard, but I felt so good.  That last mile was quite fast at just over 7:30.  I turned around right before bumping into that guy that I ran with briefly earlier on.  It was great when I finally finished up.  Another solid 10 mile day in the books.

I felt pretty beat up afterward.  I went easy, but I guess three runs within a 24 hour span is tough.  I'm sure the fact that the first one is hard makes that more difficult too.  In addition to my quads, my left calf is stiff.

All in all, it was a great day.  I love doing double sessions.  It is a good way to split up mileage.  I will be running them more often in the future, especially as I increase mileage.  For now, once a week will do.

Tomorrow will be an easy run again.  I'm leaning toward running along the Bushkill Creek on the path.  I haven't done that it awhile.  I can also check out the construction of the trail at Penn Pump Park.  I'm not sure yet whether it will be a 4 mile or 5 mile run.  I am undecided on whether Saturday will consist of a race or just a long run.  I guess I'll be figuring everything out tomorrow.

AM 4 miles - 33:27 (8:22 pace)
PM 6 miles - 57:05 (9:31 pace)

Having Some Success

Today was my weekly mile repeats session.  It didn't go quite as planned, but it wasn't a complete disaster like last week either.  I was hoping to be able to do 6 mile repeats under a 7 minute pace this time.

I have run both the North and South ends of the D&L Half Marathon course.  I haven't been in the middle yet though.  Therefore, I decided to drive up the road about 4 miles from the Cementon Trail head.  I had run to just a little past the Cove Road trailhead and knew there was parking there.  I didn't quite no how to find it, other than it was under the Route 145 Bridge.  It was on a back road off of 145, but easy to find thanks to a sign on 145.

I started off going north.  I have run about a mile out from this part before.  This is a tough mile because it is an uphill climb.  I did it right before turning around a couple weeks ago.  I was successful at that time, but it wasn't easy.

I cruised along in the opening warmup mile.  Usually I can tell how good my run will be from this warmup.  Today, I wasn't so sure just because I was going uphill.  Of course my legs wouldn't feel great.

It rained all day yesterday and still was drizzling and foggy today.  I wore my hat again and was glad I did with all the constant mist.  It was also a little humid.  Not the best conditions, but I have dealt with much worse.

I picked it up on the first fast mile.  I got into a nice rhythm, but still had to work a bit to achieve my goal.  The last half mile of each repeat is just always so difficult.  Since I was under pace for this one, I was able to slow up slightly at the end.  I finished the mile in 6:48.

I needed all of the recovery I could get.  My legs continued to feel like they were running uphill.  The trail sure looked like it kept climbing.  I was certainly much higher above the river than in the Cementon section. 

The second hard mile was tough too.  Both of these still weren't as bad as some days, including last week.  They took some work though, especially with me climbing or at least thinking I was still climbing.  The worst elevation change was clearly at the start of this run, but things weren't getting easier.  Again, I was able to back off a little after this one.

I knew the third repeat would be difficult.  I was banking on there being a lot of downhill on the way back after that.  This mile continued to force me to work.  I thought about turning around a few times, but decided to stick with it.  I had to push more on this than I would've liked, but I figured this would be the last hard mile.  I could relax a little more on the last 3 repeats, like I did a few weeks ago.  My legs were definitely tiring and feeling it, but I kept battling.  After back to back 6:48 miles, I ran this one in a slightly slower 6:52.  I was still under goal.

I turned around right after the 3rd hard mile.  I then got some recovery.  My legs were screaming and I felt like I didn't really get enough recovery by the time I started back up.  Only having a quarter mile to recover is a challenge.  It just seems to fly by.

I was puzzled as I started the 4th hard mile.  I thought for sure I'd be going downhill now.  Up to this point, it looked and felt like I was going uphill.  I guess maybe that wasn't the case.  Regardless of whether I was ascending or descending, it still felt extremely hard.  At times, I was around a 7 minute pace.  I kept battling on.  By now, every tenth of a mile seemed like an eternity.  Every time I would look down at my watch again, it seemed like almost no distance had elapsed.

I was hoping that the last two repeats would be downhill and I could coast.  I just focused on getting through this one.  Late in the mile, my pace was hovering around 6:55.  When I'm been well under goal pace, I'm able to coast in the end of each mile.  This time, there was no time to let up.  I had to keep battling all the way to the end of the mile.  I finished this one in 6:55.

I never needed the recovery period more than after that segment.  My legs were beat and it didn't seem to be getting any easier.  I knew I didn't have enough left to complete another hard mile under goal pace, unless I really killed myself.  My only option was to back off a little and hope that I would be cruising downhill and still hit goal pace.

Early on in the 5th repeat, I could see that that wasn't going to happen.  My pace already slid to 7:17 and I was only about .15 miles into this one when I shut it down.  If this was my last planned repeat, I probably would've somehow pounded it out.  Instead, I felt it was just better to save my legs and go on cruise control.  I've been close to overdoing it lately, so there was no point in going too far at this point.  I had a solid 4 repeat miles in.

The only problem with quitting at this point was that I was so far out from my car.  I wasn't quite sure how far I had to go, but I knew it was 3 or 4 mile miles.  When I finally starting doing all the math in my head, I realized that it was 3 miles left.

These slow miles are so dreadful after running fast.  Running fast is uncomfortable, but it does keep me focused and makes the run fly by.  These slower miles make it drag on forever.  I never was able to get my legs to recover much.  Almost all of the rest of the run felt downhill.

I was so focused coming up that I didn't even notice too much of the trail.  There was a weird house along there and I never saw the old kid's bike next to the trail on the way out.  I noticed everything on the way back.  With a mile and a half left to go, I wasn't sure how I would finish, but I just plugged away and eventually did.

It was nice having the trail almost all to myself on this dreary day.  I was startled when I biker yelled and passed me a couple miles into the run.  That was the first person I encountered.  The only other person I saw was a guy walking his bike right before I turned around.  When I did turn around, I was past the point where I ran when I came from Lehigh Gap and ran South a few weeks back.  I was about a mile from the Slatington trailhead.  I know have run the entire Half Marathon course, except for the beginning section through Northampton.

It was only drizzling and I was amongst the trees, but when I slowed down, I was surprised at how wet I was.  I was soaked from head to toe.  It was like I had jumped in the river.  The rain was only mist, but I guess over an hour of running in it eventually gets you wet.  I'm sure there was a lot of moisture in the air with the fog and humidity too.  When I had a great run two weeks ago, conditions were perfect.  I guess that is what I need.  Hopefully they will be ideal on raceday.

Overall, I'm happy that I didn't quit early.  I am pleased that I put in 4 good hard miles and still ran 9 total miles.  I'm am just disappointed that I couldn't get the last two in.  These mile repeats are tough and don't seem to be getting any easier.  I was always nailing my goal as I increased half mile repeats in the summer, but I'm missing out on it now with mile repeats.  I am so sensitive to any change in conditions.  I haven't run with a partner since Kelley and I ran the half mile repeats and that is probably a huge issue.  That would certainly be helpful.  I've trained on my own before though.

This was definitely the most difficult section of the race course.  I'm glad that I now found that out.  I just need to get through the whole thing.  It probably would've been better if I just ran this on an easy day to get familiar with it.  It is what it is though.

After running this section, I'm not changing my race goals.  I now realize that I have to run a bit more cautious through this section.  This race course might not be as easy as I originally thought it would be.  I would like to get more mile repeats in, so perhaps I'll back off the pace to 7:10 or 7:15 next time and see if I can't get 7 or 8 mile repeats in that way.  Maybe that will help me improve better than this has.  Perhaps my body just needs to recover from all the hard weeks that I put in lately.

I already have 25 miles in this week with 3 days to go.  I'd like to get to 55 miles or so.  I want to at least make it to 50 miles.  I'm not sure yet whether I'll run a 17 mile long run or a 10k race on Saturday.  Tomorrow, I plan on doing a double session though.  The morning will be 4 easy miles.  Then I don't know what the pace will be for the 6 miles of the group run with the LVRR.

9 miles - 1:09:02 (7:40 pace)

Running in the Rain with Tom

Well today has been a miserable day outside to say the least.  It has rained the entire day and didn't let up much.  Since I saw rain in the forecast, I decided that I would just get up whenever and run if there was a window.  I thought about trying to get out before lunch, but as 11 AM rolled around, it was pouring.  I headed to Panera for a light lunch before running.

I got home and was planning on doing my run around 1:30.  There was supposed to be a cross country meet and I wanted to get it in before then.  At this point, the weather didn't matter.  Then Tom, who was race director for the race I volunteered at over the weekend, asked on facebook if anyone wanted to run at 3:30.  Right around that time, I saw that the cross country meet was cancelled.  I figured I'd rather run in the rain with someone than alone, so I decided to wait until 3:30.

Looking at the weather throughout the day, it looked like we would have a clear window at 3:30.  I was sort of disappointed because I wanted to try out my new jacket in the rain.  Then things changed as it got near 3:30.  Something must have shifted because suddenly it was pouring when I left the house.

We agreed to meet up at the Plainfield Recreation Trail.  I didn't see Tom's message saying he would be late.  I decided to wait until 3:45 and then take off on my own if he didn't show up.  I wasn't sure if he would skip the run because of the rain, but I didn't think so.  He got there just after 3:40 and we took off.

Surprisingly I got a GPS signal right away.  I usually don't in awful conditions like this.  Tom had some trouble getting his.  We then took off.  The plan was to run 4 miles out and back.  I was only planning on 8 miles and he wanted to do 10 miles.  By the time we started, the rain had calmed down some.  It was still steady though.

I had trouble locking my bezel early on.  After a couple miles into the run, I noticed that my time was no longer showing.  Then I saw it showed when I hit mile 2.  At least I knew the watch was still working.  Finally, I got it back into the right mode and locked the bezel.  The only problem was that with the setting it was in, I didn't know which mile we were actually in.  It was just giving me the details of that current mile.

Going out, the miles just flew by, even with the crappy conditions.  We talked about training and racing and so forth.  Just the usual stuff.  It is amazing how much that helps during a run.  I really don't remember much of the trail.  When I'm running alone, I focus on so many other things.

The other good thing about the rain is that I kept my watch covered by my jacket and didn't look at it as frequently as usual.  That made things go quicker too.  I guess one of the things that was quicker as well was the pace.  Tom wanted to run an 8:45 pace.  I was fine with that, but I just seemed to pull us along a little faster than that.  Tom had to slow me down a few times.

My watch was a tenth of a mile behind his, so we went out a little farther.  We turned around when I hit mile 4.  My GPS might have been off.  Who knows.

Coming back was interesting.  At one point, we were in the clear and it was barely raining at all.  At another point, it was pouring pretty good.  With a lot of trees around, it typically wasn't too bad.

As we got to the final two miles, we were both pretty soaked.  In addition to the new jacket, I was sure glad that I bought a hat a few weeks back.  That helped keep the rain out of my face.  Although I was a little hot early on and kept the jacket opened a some throughout the run, it worked well.  I needed a lightweight jacket to run in for days like this and this one will certainly do.  I wasn't completely dry, but it kept away enough water.

After sloshing through the last couple miles, we were done.  The final mile was quite quick.  It didn't seem hard either.  None of the run did.  Not surprisingly, Tom just opted to call it quits after 8 miles.  If it wasn't raining, I might have run the 10 miles with him.

It was actually a fun run.  I love running in the rain.  It beats the heat any day of the week.  Running with someone was a huge help.  I probably would've been miserable by the end if not for Tom.  He's asked people to run before, but I usually already had my run done for the day.  It was good to get out there and run with him.

With two relatively easy days this week, I feel quite rested.  Tomorrow is my key workout session.  I am going to try the 6 mile repeats under a 7 minute pace each.  I failed at that last week.  Hopefully easing off earlier in the week will be a big help.  I'm planning on running that on the D&L again.  I might start farther up the trail though.  I still haven't run the middle section of the race course and want to get on that sometime.  It looks like more rain tomorrow, but I'm still hoping for a good day.

8 miles - 1:06:52 (8:22 pace)

Making Some Changes

My body has been so beat up lately.  My quads have been the biggest culprit.  My ankles are also sore, my foot has bothered me and my IT band is acting up.  I realize that I needed to back off.  Two speedwork sessions a week are just too much.  At least two sessions on Monday and Wednesday are too much.  I decided it was time to change things around and do less.

I still wanted to get some speed in, so I opted for an 8 mile progression run.  The first 6.5 miles would be easy and that final 1.5 miles would be hard.  That would be good practice for finishing strong too.

Running a new route is usually a joy.  I'm to  the point now that I don't have many new options though.  It dawned on me that I haven't run the spur on the Ironton Rail Trail.  The main loop is a 5.5 mile paved loop through a residential area.  The spur is a straight 2.5 mile desolate stone section.

I had to go to the bathroom before the run, so I parked at the trailhead on Chestnut Street.  This closer to the spur loop than where I usually park.  It has some cool little features like a small train for kids to play on.

I used my foam roller a lot since my last run on Saturday.  I also applied quite a bit of Biofreeze to my quads.  I was surprised they felt so good.  There was little soreness.  Starting off the run, they were still a bit stiff.  Because of that, I started off running awkwardly.  That didn't last long.  It was about a third of a mile when I came to the spur.  The running was downhill at that point, so that was a big help.  The spur goes under McArthur Road.  I was able to notice the Sheetz on that road, so I stopped there for lunch later on.

This next section was interesting.  I guess I was in the Whitehall Parkway.  There were a lot of old structures along the trail.  One of them said 1891 on it.  I guess they were part of the cement industry.  There is a historic walking tour there on Saturday.  I wish I could go.  Hopefully in the future they will find some cool uses for some of these structures.

This section also had a few trails coming into it.  I saw a map, but didn't have time to check it.  I came across the trail a couple weeks ago in this area and saw a sign for the Whitehall Parkway, so I guess that's where I was at.

After crossing that road, I saw a squirrel eating some corn that was left on the trail.  The trail then goes along a creek.  That was peaceful.  It went right by a quarry as well.  I didn't realize that it was a quarry until I came by there on the way back.

The trail then crossed a busy road.  There were quite a few dump trucks in this area.  It made the road dusty.  The trail then followed a quiet road to a park.  I was passed by a few bikers. I was glad they let me know they were coming because the trail was narrow.

The arch in my right foot started bothering me at this point.  I guess it is something that I should keep an eye on.  It has happened a few times lately.  I might need to start rolling a golf ball under my foot.  Thankfully, it went away rather quickly during this run.  I didn't fell great through this section, but I was doing okay.

The next part was probably the most interesting section of the trail. It was a cement plant that looked abandoned.  That's too bad, but I guess that's the reason that the railroad is no longer needed here and we have a trail instead.

I was so busy looking at the cement plant that I almost missed the dead snake on the trail.  It was bigger than the living one that I saw on Saturday.  I have never seen a snake, alive or dead, while running before.  Now, I saw one of each on back to back runs.  How weird is that?

The trail is marked every half mile.  That was good because I wanted to make sure that I knew how far I had to go before turning around.  I crossed another fairly busy road.  That is one issue with this trail.  The road crossings aren't easy.

I came to the 2.5 mile marker on the trail, but saw the guy that just biked past me had kept going.  There was also a guy either running slow or walking fast in the other direction.  I figured he must be coming from somewhere.  I have to give him credit as he was still moving when I finished up.  He had to be going at least 6 miles total.  It turned out that the path just went a bit over a tenth of a mile farther before ending at an old and deteriorated bridge.

The extra segment was good because it got me to right around the 3 mile point.  I knew that I wanted to at least get 5 miles out of this run before arriving back at the main trail.  There was another nice relic from the railroad era along the trail at this point.  They really do a great job of incorporating the rail's history into the trail.

Going back was mostly uneventful.  I was just seeing the same things again.  It was quite windy on the way out, so I was hoping that coming back would be calm.  I never got away from the wind for more that a short period of time.  The weather cooperated and was great though.  I didn't get back from the Eagles game until after 2 AM.  Therefore, I needed this cool weather when I started at 11 AM.

When I got back to the main loop, I was at about 5.3 miles.  I didn't want to run back toward the car because it was uphill, so I continued in the other direction.  This section was busy with walkers.

I planned on going out and back from here, so that I didn't have to climb the hill at all.  The final mile and a half would be at a hard pace.  This progression run was working out perfectly.  I had picked my pace up.  Miles 4 and 5 were both done at an 8 minute pace and mile 6 was a 7:34 pace.  I didn't feel as though I was going any harder either.  I just started to feel a lot better.

I had to stop at the two road crossings in this section too.  That slowed me some.  Luckily, I wasn't worried about my pace too much at this point.  Traffic is just annoying.

I turned around at mile 6.4.  That meant that I would have a a tenth of a mile to get used to that direction before I picked up the pace.  When I hit mile 6.5, I started flying.  I kept pushing and pushing.

When I had 1 mile to go, I knew it would be tough.  I was hurting and my legs didn't like the sudden burst of speed after miles of casual running.  I kept at it though.  I got to the second road crossing again and it was jammed.  I thought this would throw off my time.  Luckily, an old man let me cross the road.  I barely broke stride.  I continued to hammer it home.  Even though the final mile was tough, I thought about all the mile repeats that I had done.  This was only one mile repeat, so it couldn't be that difficult.

With about .4 of a mile left, I suddenly found myself at the spur route.  Looking back, I now see that I miscalculated and didn't go out far enough.  I didn't realize it at the time.  I didn't want to go back uphill, so I headed on the spur route again.

I decided that I didn't want to run fast on the stone spur route, so I quickly turned around and went back to the main trail.  I continued going on.  My pace was right around a 7 minute mile. 

I just continued to push and push.  I watched my pace drop.  I only had a tenth of a mile remaining when I hit the final road crossings.  Since there were no cars, I flew across the road.  It was great to be done.  I put in a nice 6:52 final mile.  That last mile and a half were right around my 5k race pace.  I was moving.

This workout was a great way to give my legs a much needed break, but also incorporate a little speed.  I felt quite strong afterward.  I think one speed session a week is the way to go.  I'm already where I want to be at with total mileage and long run mileage anyway.

Tomorrow will be a 7 miler or 8 miler.  I'm not sure where I'm going to run.  I haven't been to Jacobsburg for a long run in awhile.  If I feel like traveling, I may head some place new like Jim Thorpe. 

8 miles - 1:03:21 (7:55 pace)