12/15/2014 to 12/21/2014

December 15, 2014

I snuck in a quick two mile run at Upper Campus before dark. From the parking lot above the soccer fields, I headed through the soccer fields, around the Hospital Hill loop and over towards the Mankiller trails. I didn't actually do the Mankiller loop (too dark), but I did a little flat loop at the top of the hill. Then I began heading back to the soccer fields. On the uppermost soccer field, I wandered around for a while before finishing by running down the steep hill with the remains of a snowdrift on it (see last week's post). After finishing, I threw a few snowballs, not aiming at anything in particular. Then I walked back to the car.

My time was a somewhat slow 15:58. My pace was 7:57/mile.

December 16, 2014

A rather unusual distance in a very mundane place. 2.74 miles at Upper Campus in the dark and in the rain. I did the loop that I always do and then, on a whim, headed to the track. I did a few sprints on the track. It was dark and wet and I was in charge of the stopwatch (actually, my Garmin). First I did a 100-meter sprint
in ~17 seconds (the Garmin only measures seconds, not tenths or hundredths of a second). Then I jogged halfway around the track before doing a 200-meter sprint in ~33 seconds. I did another 100-meter sprint in ~100 seconds and then headed back to the soccer fields. I finished with a loop around those fields, as I often do. My time was 21:20 and my pace was something like 7:39/mile. The first mile was 8:06 and the second one (the one where I did the sprints) was 7:13.

December 18, 2014

3.6 miles on Upper Campus. Somehow, I managed to find a bit of trail that I haven't yet explored. The run started out normally enough. Then I headed over to the XC trail on the east side of Upper Campus. On the way back towards civilization, I saw the remains of a trail going through the woods to my left. I didn't check it out. Maybe some other time. I did take on offshoot that goes through a field down towards a farm near Pennsylvania Route 487. I have been on that route before once or twice, but have turned around both times. This time, I continued onward instead. Right before the trail got to the farm, it turned and skirted the farm. Then it turned again and headed along near the bottom of Turkey Hill with woods on one side and a field on the other. I was here once before, on November 19. The climb back to Upper Campus was as steep, uneven, and full of tall grasses as I remembered it to be. When I made it up that, I looped around to the trailhead and from there headed back to the soccer fields to finish the run.

Total time: 27:39. Total pace: 7:41/mile. My splits were 7:44, 7:32, and 7:50 (the third mile was the one with the hill full of tall grasses).

Even though this one was on Upper Campus, I'll still post a map this time since it's a new course.

December 19, 2014

4 miles at Upper Campus at dusk. Starting from the soccer fields, I headed around the Hospital Hill loop and from there to the Westernmost Trails. I did the full loop around those trails, which are nice in their own way. The fallen tree that I encountered a few weeks ago wasn't there anymore. I also tacked on a little steep and
somewhat rocky and muddy side trail that goes down to someone's driveway. Once I left that area, I did the smaller Mankiller loop. A tough climb. From there, I headed back to Hospital Hill, where I did a couple of loops. I stopped once to let some deer pass by. I have no desire to have a hoof-shaped hole in my head, so I try not to disturb the deer that I run into. On the second loop, I left the trail just before coming up the hill and followed a trail that goes along the edge of the woods, a short distance south of and below the soccer fields. I reached 4 miles soon after reaching the end of the trail.

I don't recall what my time or pace was. This was one of the occasional runs where my arch gives me trouble, so that slowed me down some.

December 20, 2014

One of my long(ish) runs. 5.8 miles at the Susquehanna Riverlands, though I had only planned on 5. I started with my dad, but I didn't see him after the first three quarters of a mile or so. I started along the Riverside Trail, which, despite its name, only goes along the side of the Susquehanna River for a third or so of its length. The rest of the time, it goes through woods and fields, with occasional patches of mud and tree roots. About three quarters of a mile in, the trail switched to gravel and went right alongside the Susquehanna River, just a few yards away from the waterline. I was hoping it would take me to some place I hadn't been before, but instead it turned and headed through some fields, just like the time I ran at the Susquehanna Riverlands a couple of weeks ago. I followed the trail through the fields to the main Towpath Trail and from there headed south and into the forested wetlands. My course was mostly the same as it was a couple weeks ago. I followed the Wetlands Trail to a trail that paralleled the old North Branch Canal. Eventually I came to the end of the trail and decided to explore the road a little bit. I saw no less than three trails, but all of them has posted signs. I continued along and eventually found a road called Wetlands Drive, which went north. I followed it for a bit, but before I saw anything, it occurred to me that it was getting a bit late. I began heading back to where I came from. Like the last time, I took a detour through the Wood Duck Trail and the Great Warrior Path before returning to the Wetlands Trail. I began really ramping up the pace around here and I reached the Towpath Trail shortly before 5 miles. I did the 5th mile in 6:54. I then headed north along the Towpath Trail to the parking lot where I started, passing the plaques of the Planet Walk along the way. I finished fast.

My time was 42:20 and my pace was 7:15/mile. Funnily enough, that's the slowest run I've done at the Susquehanna Riverlands in recent times (the other two were 7:01/mile and 6:45/mile), but faster than almost any other training run I've done in the past few months.

December 21, 2014

A double run today; 4.2 and 2.7 for a total of 6.9 miles. I had wanted to check out a trail near Catawissa. The River Town Marathon goes along that trail for a few miles, so I thought it would be worth checking out. It wasn't. When I got to the trailhead, there were No Trespassing signs plastered on every surface that it was possible to stick a sign on. One would've been sufficient to get the message across, too. I suppose the only open the trail for the marathon itself. A pity, because it looked pretty nice.

I decided to run at the Geisinger Stewardship Trails in Danville instead. Technically they are hiking trails, but since I am a trail runner, I go there now and again. I haven't been there in a while. On a whim, I decided to head up a power line access road near the trailhead instead of going up the Black Bear Trail like I usually do. It was a good decision. The rock and dirt trail climbed very steeply, rising 300 feet in less than half a mile. The climb was grueling, but the views of Danville from the top were worth it. After that, there was a brief downhill which I barreled down and then a steep little uphill. After that, I reached the Black Bear Trail. It dropped steeply down into a valley and continued to follow the power line right of way for a little while before veering off into the woods. I decided to continue following the power line right of way and see if I could follow it up out of the valley. No such luck. The trail rapidly deteriorated to the point where bushwhacking would have been needed to go any further. I turned around and followed the Black Bear Trail into the woods. Not long after, I took an offshoot called the Squirrel Trail. It proved to be another good move on my part. The trail is a shortcut up to the top of the ridge. It was very steep and at times I was moving at a pace that would have been a brisk walk on flat terrain. I saw a few ice formations along the way. The trail was less than a quarter of a mile long and once I was at the other end of it, I looked at the view for a while. Then I headed off through the woods along the top of the ridge. This was the easiest part of the run and my pace picked up. Once I passed the radio tower and the trail widened as it descended towards the trailhead. I picked up the pace another notch and actually managed to crack eight minutes on this mile (the third one). Once I got to the trailhead, I had a look at the map to figure out a good place to do the last mile. I
settled for the Turkey Path, which would allow me to have an epic downhill finish on the power line access road. But you have to go up to come down.... The climb up the Turkey Path was slow. It steep and slippery from falling leaves and uneven rocks lay under the leaves. I tripped and fell badly a couple of months ago under similar terrain, but this time I made it up without incident. Then came the epic descent. I charged down the power line access road, then up a little rise, then back down again. The descent lasted for almost half a mile, ending when I reached a real road, where I did the last hundred yards or so. My time was 38:20 and my pace 9:07/mile. Respectable for that kind of terrain. My splits were something like 9:19, 9:44, 7:58, and 9:44.

The second run was much less interesting. 2.7 at Upper Campus in the dark. I did one loop around the soccer fields plus Hospital Hill, then one loop around the fields, then a brief run across one of the soccer fields. I had to battle a side stitch for the first mile and a half, but it let up after that. Time: 22:07. Pace: 8:12/mile (would've been faster if not for the side stitch).

The maps below are of the first run.