Go With It

Today's run just kind of came together serendipitously. I'd thought about mapping out a 13-mile route somewhere near my parents' house in West Chester, but my dad suggested we try the Laurels Preserve out in horse country. I didn't know what to expect and the only map I could find of the place didn't have mileage indicated on it. So we agreed to play it by ear, run our separate runs, and meet up at the car after about an hour and forty minutes. That gave me plenty of time to cover 13 miles at a conservative pace.

Turns out it's a great place to run and I'm not sure how this place eluded me all through high school and beyond. When I started out from the parking lot, another runner went off just in front of me at a similar pace. My best guess is that I was doing about 7:30 per mile to start, which felt comfortable. I got to the end of the main trail in 16:26, and doing some quick math estimated that the stretch was just under 2-1/4 miles long. The other runner took off up a side trail onto some private property and I decided to turn around and run back toward the parking area. When I split the time at the parking lot in 15:11, I realized I'd just set myself up for a decent challenge. Just run out and back two more times, and I'd have covered my 13 miles and some change. I hit the third 2-1/4 mile split comfortably in 14:52 and accepted the dare I'd subconsciously given myself to try and run each split a little faster than the previous. The long and short of it goes that my paces went 7:30-6:54-6:45-6:37-6:35-6:46. By mile 10 or so I was feeling noticeably sluggish, but I didn't slow down as much as it felt like I did. The last split was mostly a struggle as I'd lost most of the strength to maintain my pace up hills (it was a slightly undulating course) and I lost the focus to float on the downs. I rounded the 6 splits off with a 1/2-mile cool down out to Rt. 82 and back for a total of 13.7 miles in 1:35:13. This was definitely a challenge toward the end but for the most part I surprised myself with some pep I haven't felt in a while.

Mapping the route the best I could confirms my hunch on the distance. So, an all around good Sunday morning outing. Perfect temperatures (mid-40s) although a bit muddy, and great workout. Things rarely come together like this and when they do, I'm glad to take them without question.