November 10, 2014
I ran 3 miles at Upper Campus on November 10, two days before I started working on this blog. You can read about that on the November 10 entry here.
November 11, 2014
Did 5.5 miles at the J. Manley Robbins Trail today, though I had initially planned on just 5. I started at Hess Field trailhead and headed northwards, then crossed the bridge over Mahoning Creek and turned south, still following the trail. Around mile 1.7, it dumped me onto a road. I crossed another bridge over Mahoning Creek and soon after reached the access road to Hess Field. I was a bit worried about how my shins would hold up--I can't go too far on pavement before they start to hurt (thanks to the shin splits last May). Luckily, I pretty quickly got to a little side trail that I had discovered on Sunday and planned to explore. The trail went down the Mahoning Creek floodplain. I happened upon some kind of hut-like structure (perhaps it was for observing wildlife?). Two deer were lurking under the hut and jumped out, startling me. I continued on my way, heading northwards through a flat, lightly forested, slightly swampy area. The trail was mostly dirt/grass, but there were several short boardwalks too. After a few minutes, I ended up in a clearing where some power lines went through. There was a path (as there sometimes are in power line clearings), so I followed it briefly before ending up on the bank of Mahoning Creek. I stopped to gaze at the scenery for a few moments. The Robbins Trail was visible on the ridge across the creek. My mom was walking the dog up on that trail and apparently she noticed me, though I didn't see her. I continued following the forested/swampy trail. As I was running along, I was struck by the prehistoric feel of the area. Except for the trail, a few clearings, and the ever-present drone of Pennsylvania Route 54 a couple hundred yards away, there was no sign of civilization. The blend of forest and swamp was beautiful too. I soon came to a part of the trail
that closely parallels the creek (I had run in this segment of the trail recently and the Robbins 5K and 10K traverses it too). It took me back to the Robbins Trail a little bit before mile 4. I followed the Robbins trail just as I had done on the first loop. As I approached the 5 mile mark, I knew it was going to be a bit more than 5, so I just decided to do 5.5. It was 5.3 when I reached the Hess Field trailhead, so I turned around and ran for a minute on the access road before switching over to a trail, where the run ended.
It was a fairly fast run (sub-8s, which seems to be a norm these days). Total time was 43:00 and the pace was 7:49s. My mile splits were 7:55, 7:40, 7:50, 8:17, and 7:27, respectively. The last half mile was somewhere in the neighborhood of a 7:30 pace, but I don't remember the exact time. For some reason, it was a bit harder than usual to keep that pace, but it wasn't
too bad.
I later learned that the trail I was running an was the Mahoning Flats Natural Trail. I added it to Google Maps.
that closely parallels the creek (I had run in this segment of the trail recently and the Robbins 5K and 10K traverses it too). It took me back to the Robbins Trail a little bit before mile 4. I followed the Robbins trail just as I had done on the first loop. As I approached the 5 mile mark, I knew it was going to be a bit more than 5, so I just decided to do 5.5. It was 5.3 when I reached the Hess Field trailhead, so I turned around and ran for a minute on the access road before switching over to a trail, where the run ended.
It was a fairly fast run (sub-8s, which seems to be a norm these days). Total time was 43:00 and the pace was 7:49s. My mile splits were 7:55, 7:40, 7:50, 8:17, and 7:27, respectively. The last half mile was somewhere in the neighborhood of a 7:30 pace, but I don't remember the exact time. For some reason, it was a bit harder than usual to keep that pace, but it wasn't
too bad.
I later learned that the trail I was running an was the Mahoning Flats Natural Trail. I added it to Google Maps.
November 13, 2014
I did a fairly typical run: 4.5 miles at Upper Campus as darkness fell. It was bitterly cold, but not as bad as Friday will be, so I decided to run. A light snow was falling and I had to squint at times, but none of it accumulated. I did the Hospital Hill loop and then headed off towards the XC trails on the eastern side of Upper Campus. The trail first goes along some power lines and then cuts through the woods before depositing one in a field. However, this time I decided to keep following the power line path and see where it led. I remember that I did something like this some time in 2013 and wasn't impressed, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try again. I didn't go far, but the trail did continue and I resolved to return in broad daylight.
It wasn't that bad, although it was a bit tricky since it was slippery from the snow, uneven, and dark had almost fallen. After that little detour, I returned to the main XC trail and followed it on a rolling loop around some sort of grassy field. I startled a couple of deer on the way--that always seems to happen on nightly runs. At times, the only sign of civilization was a single light in the distance. When I got out of the XC trail, I decided to head over to the track. The football team was practicing on the field inside the track and the floodlights were on. The falling snow became illuminated as it fell in front of them. The result was illuminated clouds of millions of snowflakes. It had a surreal look to it, but it didn't hold a candle to the time I ran through fog a week ago. The track turned out not to be good for my shins, so I only did two laps there before running under the stadium and returning to the field where I started. There wasn't much distance left by that
point, so I just ran back and forth in the field.
The total time was 34:48 and the total pace was 7:44 per mile. The first two mile splits were 7:52 and 7:59. I don't remember the third mile split, but I did the fourth mile in 7:16. I don't know what I did on the last half mile, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was slightly slower than the fourth mile.
It wasn't that bad, although it was a bit tricky since it was slippery from the snow, uneven, and dark had almost fallen. After that little detour, I returned to the main XC trail and followed it on a rolling loop around some sort of grassy field. I startled a couple of deer on the way--that always seems to happen on nightly runs. At times, the only sign of civilization was a single light in the distance. When I got out of the XC trail, I decided to head over to the track. The football team was practicing on the field inside the track and the floodlights were on. The falling snow became illuminated as it fell in front of them. The result was illuminated clouds of millions of snowflakes. It had a surreal look to it, but it didn't hold a candle to the time I ran through fog a week ago. The track turned out not to be good for my shins, so I only did two laps there before running under the stadium and returning to the field where I started. There wasn't much distance left by that
point, so I just ran back and forth in the field.
The total time was 34:48 and the total pace was 7:44 per mile. The first two mile splits were 7:52 and 7:59. I don't remember the third mile split, but I did the fourth mile in 7:16. I don't know what I did on the last half mile, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was slightly slower than the fourth mile.
November 15, 2014
5 miles at Upper Campus. This time I went in broad daylight, shortly before noon. Due to this, I was able to check out a couple of the trails that I had planned to check out last time. There was snow in patches here and there, but I doubt there was enough for even a few snowballs. It was one of those runs where I felt slow and clunky, but my Garmin told me that I was going like greased lightning. I started out doing the typical stuff, Out on the soccer fields with a detour to do Hospital Hill. Then I went onto the grassy XC trail and followed the power lines. The power lines veered away from the trail at this point and the trail continued on, with a small field to the left and a little stretch of forest to the right. The trail wasn't very well-maintained, but it wasn't too bad. Just a bit uneven with some tall grasses here and there. I soon left the woods behind and began running in an open field. The trail became grassier still, but it remained runnable. It followed the outer edge of the field about 20 feet from Arbutus Park Road for a few minutes. Eventually, the trail seemed to end near Arbutus Park Road, but after stopping and looking around for a moment, I spotted it heading back towards Upper Campus. I followed the trail and the terrain quickly became better as I approached the main XC trail. A while later, I got to a parking lot at the edge of the XC trail. Rather than go through the parking lot and directly over to the soccer fields, I continued on the XC trail, which looped back to the power
line shaft. I eventually got back to the soccer fields and did one loop around them plus Hospital Hill. The last couple of miles were fast and there are still a few more trails I plan to explore at some point, including one that goes all the way down to Pennsylvania Route 487.
My time on this one was 37:26, which equates to a 7:28 mile. The splits were 7:27, 7:38, 7:40, 7:18, and 7:18. One of my three or four fastest runs since I returned to running a month ago. And I felt slow....
line shaft. I eventually got back to the soccer fields and did one loop around them plus Hospital Hill. The last couple of miles were fast and there are still a few more trails I plan to explore at some point, including one that goes all the way down to Pennsylvania Route 487.
My time on this one was 37:26, which equates to a 7:28 mile. The splits were 7:27, 7:38, 7:40, 7:18, and 7:18. One of my three or four fastest runs since I returned to running a month ago. And I felt slow....
November 16, 2014
Today was a long run day: 7.3 miles at the Montour Preserve. It was a run that I had been looking forward to for days. I visited the preserve almost nine years ago and have been back several times since to hunt for fossils in the Fossil Pit, but I've never run there. There's a wealth of trails that are technically hiking trails, but are much better for running than hiking. Upon getting to the Montour Preserve at about 3:30 P.M., I headed counterclockwise along the 4.25 mile long Chillisuagi Trail (one of the most awesome trail names I've seen, by the way). It starts out along the 54-foot-high Chillisquaque Dam, with vistas of Lake Chillisquaque on one side and Montour Preserve lands on the other. On the other side of the dam, the trail turned north and closely followed the lake. At one point, it briefly followed the actual shoreline, with the water just a couple of steps away. The trail then cut across a stretch of grass and veered away from the lake a bit. A problem: that stretch of grass was covered in goose droppings, perhaps one per square foot or more. I slowly and carefully walked that stretch for obvious reasons and resumed running on the other side. The trail couldn't decide whether it was a packed gravel trail or a dirt trail and kept switching between the two every few tenths of a mile. The Chillisuagi Trail shared the path with a trail called the Planet Walk, which as one might imagine had informational plaques on the planets of the Solar System spaced along it. It occurred to me that the plaques weren't evenly spaced, but I thought little of it. I saw a couple of trails that warrant further exploration in the future and a few minutes later rounded Heron Cove and started heading west. Half a mile after the end of the Planet Walk, it suddenly occured to me why the plaques weren't evenly spaced: they were showing the scale of the Solar System. Meanwhile, I continued east, with periodic views of Lake Chillisquaque through the shrubbery. Presently I came to an offshoot called the Ridgefield Point Loop. I had agreed to meet my mom at the end of the Chillisuagi Trail half an hour after I started, but I figured it couldn't hurt to check out the trail, especially since it was only three quarters of a mile long. Checking out that trail proved to be a smart move--it was a very nice trail, mostly on dirt. I've never really admired the ground while running, but on this trail the gray rocks, brown pine needles, and very green grass contrasted well. The trail wound through the woods before going through a clearing right next to the lake. I stopped momentarily to take in the view, then continued. The trail began to curve northwards again, but suddenly forked. The trail wasn't blazed, so this was a bit confusing. I picked the right fork, which seemed to lead back to where I entered the Ridgefield Point Trail. The fork ended after thirty seconds. Go figure. Some more time passed and I began to wonder if I had made some mistake. Eventually, the trail merged with the packed gravel Chillisuagi Trail and continued north, presently crossing Middle Branch Chillisquaque Creek (the main tributary of Lake Chillisquaque). After that crossing, the trail began to go through a mix woods and fields instead of just woods. It turned south, heading back towards the starting point. I now saw glimpses of a road as well as the forests and fields and I also saw a few more offshoots, though some were marked with 'Posted' and 'No Tresspassing' signs. So many nice-looking trails are marked with those signs around here.... Around mile 4, I began feeling something strange in my shoe. Sometimes, rocks and stuff do get in there, so I stopped, took off my shoe, and felt around inside. There was nothing. It occurred to me to check inside my sock. Two of my toes were covered in dried blood; I suppose my toenail must've scraped against one of my other toes. It wasn't bleeding or even hurting anymore, so I put my sock and shoe back on and continued. I got to the end of the Chillisuagi Trail about an uneventful half a mile later.
At this point, all of the offshoots were too far away to explore at that point, so I ran down the road to the visitor center, where I had seen a trail on Google Maps. It turned out to be a loop called the Wildlife Management Trail and it wasn't unlike the Chillisquaque Trail: woods, fields, gently rolling hills. I saw a pond at one point and at another point, the trail became wilder, with rocks and roots, and wound through a dark grove of evergreens before suddenly becoming a grass trail in a meadow. I saw a herd of deer as well and also noticed some strange posts with numbers carved in them. They looked like distance markers, but weren't evenly spaced. Unlike with the Planet Walk, I didn't figure out their significance. Near the end of the loop, I saw what looked like an interesting offshoot, but it didn't even go half a minute before dead-ending near a pond. Oh well. I did the loop a second time and then headed up the road towards the starting point. I then turned onto a trail at the base of the dam and ran to the other side of it before heading up a somewhat tricky climb to the top of the dam. Here, I turned around and ran back along the top of the dam. It was an inspiring straightaway and a nice way to wrap up a run. I still had a couple hundred feet left to go, so I ran across the parking lot to finish up.
I was surprised about the hills on this run. I had thought that it was mostly flat, but the northern side of the trail has some rolling hills and a couple of steep (but short) ones. It seems that I am getting progressively faster. On this run, my pace was 7:37/mile and the time was 55 minutes and change (I'm ashamed to say I don't remember my exact time and I can't figure out how to upload data from my Garmin onto my computer). The first and seventh and possibly the fifth (again, I don't remember for sure) miles were at 7:19. The second, third, and fourth miles were at a 7:40 to 7:55 pace. The sixth mile was the slowest: 8:01. Maybe I was getting tired. So far my return to running seems to be successful. This was my first week at 25 miles per week (I was doing 40+ back in the spring, before the shin splints) and my shins haven't been giving my too much trouble.
At this point, all of the offshoots were too far away to explore at that point, so I ran down the road to the visitor center, where I had seen a trail on Google Maps. It turned out to be a loop called the Wildlife Management Trail and it wasn't unlike the Chillisquaque Trail: woods, fields, gently rolling hills. I saw a pond at one point and at another point, the trail became wilder, with rocks and roots, and wound through a dark grove of evergreens before suddenly becoming a grass trail in a meadow. I saw a herd of deer as well and also noticed some strange posts with numbers carved in them. They looked like distance markers, but weren't evenly spaced. Unlike with the Planet Walk, I didn't figure out their significance. Near the end of the loop, I saw what looked like an interesting offshoot, but it didn't even go half a minute before dead-ending near a pond. Oh well. I did the loop a second time and then headed up the road towards the starting point. I then turned onto a trail at the base of the dam and ran to the other side of it before heading up a somewhat tricky climb to the top of the dam. Here, I turned around and ran back along the top of the dam. It was an inspiring straightaway and a nice way to wrap up a run. I still had a couple hundred feet left to go, so I ran across the parking lot to finish up.
I was surprised about the hills on this run. I had thought that it was mostly flat, but the northern side of the trail has some rolling hills and a couple of steep (but short) ones. It seems that I am getting progressively faster. On this run, my pace was 7:37/mile and the time was 55 minutes and change (I'm ashamed to say I don't remember my exact time and I can't figure out how to upload data from my Garmin onto my computer). The first and seventh and possibly the fifth (again, I don't remember for sure) miles were at 7:19. The second, third, and fourth miles were at a 7:40 to 7:55 pace. The sixth mile was the slowest: 8:01. Maybe I was getting tired. So far my return to running seems to be successful. This was my first week at 25 miles per week (I was doing 40+ back in the spring, before the shin splints) and my shins haven't been giving my too much trouble.
