Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Beating the Heat

We're in the midst of hot, muggy weather. Highs are near record levels, and the National Weather Service has issued heat advisories. In such conditions, what's a runner to do? Some options that are available to me include taking a few weeks to acclimate, running early in the day before the air gets too warm, and running indoors on a treadmill. This morning I chose the second of these, heading out to Forbidden Drive at 6:30 for a six-and-a-quarter-mile run.

One of my goals today was to run the orange trail from Lincoln Drive towards Valley Green (rather than the other way). I succeeded in this, finally, but not without encountering a few hitches. When I reached Rittenhouse Town, the area where one catches the trails, I had trouble finding the entrance, even though I had exited the trail at this point several times. There's a gate at the exit, but I had to look for it. Finding it, I realized how simple it is to get onto the trail: there's a gravel path leading to the entrance, but I'd never paid attention to exactly where it was when i had been running it previously.

I also took a wrong fork that turned out to lead me to a welcome discovery. As had occurred on a less successful run a few weeks ago, I found myself at the parking lot by near the Monastery House and Stables. This time, I followed a wide,  rocky trail down to what I discovered was the bridge near what had been a baptismal pool for Seventh-Day Adventists long ago. (This is the bridge that is about two miles south by southeast of Valley Green, that is, two miles in the direction of Lincoln Drive.) This trail, which provides a way to get back to the orange trail, is much less steep than the orange trail at the same point. Ascending the orange trail at this point requires a lot of power, and, when running it, I found myself walking the top part of the ascent.

So my knowledge of the orange trail continues to grow. I am somewhat surprised that I'm only familiar with the trail in one direction--towards Lincoln Drive. Running the opposite direction, especially along the segment from Lincoln Drive to the Baptismal Pool, is close to running on terra incognita.  I also found, perhaps due to the heat, that running the trail is more strenuous than I had imagined. Usually I had been running the trail outbound, so I had more energy. Running inbound, though, I found more taxing.  But I suppose familiarity and running longer distances will help me meet the trail's challenges.

No comments:

Post a Comment