ShoreTurtle – Running in and around New Jersey

Port Mercer to Rocky Hill – 20 miles

Early this morning I met up with Progman2000 to run along the canal towpath from Lawrence Township to Rocky Hill, New Jersey. He was great company for the 20 miles. As long runs go, it felt good. We refueled at the Rocky Hill Wawa which was at the top of a long hill. On the way back down the hill, we took turns running in front of a speed control radar sign. It recorded 9 mph for me and then flashed to 38 as a car came down the hill. We saw more wildlife and people on the way back South than we did in the foggy trek North. Towards the end of the run, we saw several turtles sunning themselves near the canal.

At the start of the run, I had set my Garmin virtual partner (Bill S) to 20 miles at 9:30 pace. We started out slowly in the fog and predawn darkness, though we made up time throughout the run. The second half of the run was faster than the first half. When I told Progman2000 that Bill S was no longer .3 of a mile ahead of us and that we had closed the gap to 400 feet, we picked up the pace even more. Mile 20 was a blistering 8:01 pace. We caught up to Bill S and left him in the dust (which is always satisfying).

Special thanks to Progman2000 for the run.

Here were our splits: 10:34, 10:08, 9:53, 9:46, 9:39, 9:51, 9:33, 9:50, 9:18, 9:22, 9:24, 9:11, 9:17, 9:20, 9:19, 9:20, 9:16, 9:11, 9:08, 8:01

Here are some photos:

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Next 20 miles

I woke up early this morning and drove over to Mercer County Park to meet Flyers26 for a long run. We parked our cars in the East Picnic area lot where the Hamilton Area Trail Group meets. We may or may not have done the 50 push-ups that the group does before their trail runs. It was very dark at 5:30 a.m. so who is to say that we didn’t. I brought along my headlamp and a mini-maglite for running in the dark. The flashlight helped us identify where the puddles of water were. Neither of us wanted wet feet. We ran the same 10 mile loop twice, which included the park path and some secondary roads outside of the park.

With this run, I realized that I’m starting to get the long distance mindset again. It’s a funny thing to think there’s only 8 miles left to run, but I was genuinely happy about reaching mile 12. Around mile 15, we passed the Dunkin Donuts again, though Flyers26 declined my offer to buy him some donuts. I wondered aloud if they had salt packets. I don’t think that they do. Who puts salt on donuts? That would be a nasty combination. Around mile 17, a light rain started to fall. With 3 miles to go, it didn’t faze us at all.

Flyers26 and I are roughly the same speed (he’s probably faster), though as usual, we unintentionally pushed each other to run faster. Our goal was to run a 9:15/mile pace. Our splits early on were faster than that, though we both knew that we would slow down during the second loop. We stopped just once when we finished the first loop back at our cars. I refilled my hydration, ate some sports beans and changed my tank top which was soaked.

I can’t thank Flyers26 enough for running the 20 miles with me. We helped each other get through it. He was good company. Without him, I would have focused more on the 100% humidity, my tired legs & my sore feet. There were several times during the run when I forgot how long we had been running or how tired I was.

I remember during the Philadelphia marathon in 2006 and Chicago in 2007 that I thought back to my tough training runs during the Summer. I suspect that I will think about today’s run while I am running the Harrisburg marathon in November. I’ll remind myself that there is such a thing as a good 20 miler and running can be fun.

Stats:
29 miles for the week
117 miles for the month
685 miles for the year

This was my first 100 mile month since February.

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Turkey Swamp 25K – Freehold, New Jersey

[Race results for the 2009 Turkey Swamp Races can be found on Raceforum.com.]

I participated in the Turkey Swamp Race this morning. There were several races held at the same time. Runners had the option of registering for 10 miles, 25K, 20 miles or 50K. I ran the 25K with Hurley and Progman. Frank ran the 20 miler.

It was my first time running this race. Apparently, it was a new course. The course was an interesting mix of trails, gravel road and fields. For the 25K, we did 6 loops. It was great running with Hurley and Progman. They helped me get through the race. The light rain at the start of the race was refreshing. At some point the sun came out and warmed up quickly. Soon I was overheated, despite drinking the two 20 ounce bottles of Gatorade that I carried. I also poured water on my head at the fluid stations.

I ran with Progman most of the race. Around mile 12.5, I took a spill on the trail. Thankfully, aside from my pride, I wasn’t hurt. My hands, elbows and knees were covered in dirt. Progman turned around to make sure that I was okay and then kept running. During the last lap, I was tired, overheated and didn’t have much left in the tank. I convinced him to go ahead and I ran the rest of the way by myself. Several times, I fought the urge to walk. Eventually, I made it to the finish.

The course, my lack of long runs recently and the heat made this one of my toughest races to date. The race was well organized and there was a picnic afterward. This was my first race where I got to see the long distance runners in action. The 50Kers were inspiring. Frank finished the race barefoot, which was inspiring as well.

Here are some photos:

My Garmin registered 15.98 miles. My official finish time was 2:36:04 (10:04/mile pace). I was 23rd overall, out of 53 finishers. I was 7/11 in my AG. My splits were: 10:10, 9:41, 9:48, 9:56, 9:42, 9:49, 9:44, 9:52, 9:40, 9:38, 9:33, 10:02, 10:09, 9:21, 9:31, 9:27

If I don’t run this race next year, I might go just to spectate.

I’ve created a Turkey Swamp graphic for my rotating blog header.

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