I left the house at 5:30 AM to meet my son for a 6:00 start at the Delaware Water Gap. Our goal was to run a 10 mile loop twice: up the Red Dot Trail on Mt. Tammany, along the ridge on the Tammany Fire Road, the Turquoise Trail over to the AT by Sunfish Pond, the AT back to the start. And… Finally! The trails at the Delaware Water Gap were free of snow!
The run was tough going for me. I felt slow and tired. We got to mile 7 and what I thought to be a small stone in my shoe turned out to be a blister on my heel. By the time we finished the first loop, I had blisters on the backs of both heels. I put Band-Aids on them and started up Mt. Tammany again. My heels were ON FIRE!
Halfway up the mountain I started getting spasms in my hamstrings. I had taken Endurolytes and Sports Legs to prevent spasms. But that wasn’t enough to overcome the fact that I had not run more than 7 miles in one shot in months. The second time up the mountain got me. It seemed to take forever to make it.
I knew I couldn’t make the full 20 miles. So I sat on a rock and bemoaned my miserable condition. While my son continued on the full loop, I took the Blue Dot Trail back down to the parking lot. I was done.
I made it 13 miles. But according to my crazy training plan I should have done 21. Things are not going according to plan. But here are some photos.
Looking through the Gap just before sunriseThe Moon in the Belt of Venus, halfway up Mt. TammanyGiving it my best on Mt. TammanySunshine on Mt. Minsi, the shadow of Mt. Tammany, the Delaware River, the Poconos, the Moon, the Belt of Venus… all beautiful!A snow-free Tammany Fire RoadMy son taking in the beauty of the early morning sun and the snowmelt along the Turquoise TrailSunfish Pond
THE END
(Once the blisters start, fuck taking any more pictures.)
Oh, hi. We got more snow again. If you’ve read any of my previous posts about my wishful 50K training plans you can surmise what more snow means: I AM DOOMED! What did the plan call for this weekend? 18 miles? By the way, it’s officially Spring. This is bullshit.
That being said, my mood improved once I finally got out the door. Read on.
I went to Mahlon Dickerson Reservation to run yesterday. I lacked motivation and felt like a loser after not going for my long run that morning… because I lacked motivation and felt like a loser. It’s a vicious cycle. But my wife came home yesterday afternoon and said, “Hey! It’s really nice out! You should go for a run!” That, in my mind, translated to, “Hey! You’re a lazy fat slob! You could really use some exercise! Why don’t you get off the couch for a change!” So, I got up and went.
It turned out that the trails were even more snow covered than the week before, as seen below. The previous weekend it took me 2 hours to trudge through 5 miles of snow and I took the road back to the parking lot for the last mile because my feet were so cold. This time I decided to go 2.5 miles and turn around instead of attempting the 6 mile loop.
There’s a trail under there somewhere.When the only person to travel the trail before you was wearing snow shoes… lucky bastard.
Since I didn’t have a lot of motivation and since the snow made my effort to exercise turn into one big suck, I reminded myself that it has often been under those circumstances that I’ve been rewarded by seeing something cool, like a bald eagle, or a deer up close, or a cool snake. Though snakes don’t usually come out in the snow.
I saw a few ducks at mile 2, not too exciting. Then I was taken by surprise to see beavers swimming in Saffin Pond, which is near the parking lot. I had seen evidence of beavers in another area of the reservation (see photo). I had not previously seen any indication that they were in Saffin Pond, which often has many humans about it given its proximity to the parking area.
Looks like there’s a beaver around these here parts.
Seeing the beavers was truly rewarding. I could have watched them for hours if it wasn’t close to sunset and my wife wasn’t waiting for me to come home for dinner. So I recorded several minutes of their activity. The video above is 5 minutes of peaceful beaver swimming with a momentary disruption of an angry beaver slapping his tail.
It took me an hour and 45 minutes to go 5 miles this time at Mahlon. It was a little faster than the prior week because I just wanted the suck to be over. However, all the snow we have gotten this month has buried my training plans. I was supposed to do 18 miles this weekend. That’s hard to do when it takes almost 2 hours to just go 5. It’s impossible to do when your motivation tank is empty. I need to get with the program because my 50K is only 4 weeks away. Here’s hoping for a warm week and some rain to clear this snow before next weekend!
I give up. My hopes of running up significant trail miles are dashed. How many miles did my lunatic plan call for this weekend? 15. And I haven’t gone more than 6.7 miles on any given run yet. With several more inches added to the trails, forget it.
I did not attempt the Delaware Water Gap this weekend. Instead I stayed closer to home and ran at Mahlon Dickerson Reservation. “Ran” is not exactly what I did for most of the time I was out there. The first mile wasn’t too bad. After that, forget it. The farther I ventured on the 6-mile trail, the deeper the snow got and the less the trail had been traveled. I plowed through snow for 5 miles. That took me 2 1/2 hours! My feet were pretty dang cold and my socks were crusted with ice by then. There’s a camping area near mile 5 with a paved driveway that leads to the main road. I got out of the snow at that point and ran on the road for a mile and a half back to my car. The road was scary! No shoulder, hills, curves, and cars going way over the speed limit! I was glad to be done when I reached the parking lot.
Below are some pictures from this early morning adventure. I’m not reaching any of my training goals, failing pretty hard and considering dropping out of the upcoming race. But at least I’m getting some nice photos. Enjoy.
Season’s Greetings! It might as well be Christmas with all the snow we’ve been getting!
Week 3 of my 50K training. I was shooting for 12 miles this week. But seeing as we had a nor’easter AGAIN a few days ago, I was sure the trails would be covered even more than last week. I knew that attempting to gain miles via the Tammany Fire Road was not a workable plan. Reaching 12 miles by doing Tammany loops (3.35 miles each) would mean up and down Mt. Tammany 4 times. When I got up at 4:30 AM I knew I didn’t have it in me to make it 4 loops, especially with increased snow on the trails.
When I arrived, I soon found that the snow was deeper on the trails as I suspected. It was mildly packed on the Red Dot Trail. It was less packed on the Blue Dot Trail. That made for a super fun descent on the mountain. Most of the rocks were well covered. Running on the narrow slightly packed single tracks was a breeze. The steeper sections of the trail were less packed and a lot of fun to careen through! I knew if I fell it wouldn’t matter. I would just land in deep snow. It felt like being a kid again! Plus, I set my fastest times ever on that trail. But I only had enough in me to do 2 loops, not nearly 12 miles.
Here are several photos.
The sun rising about Mt. TammanyAnother beautiful view of Mt. MinsiThis shirt makes me look like a 6-foot tall highlighter running through the woods.Sun and single track on the Blue Dot TrailPleasant single track over a very rocky stretch of the Blue Dot TrailNor’easter wreckage along Dunnfield CreekNor’easter wreckage along Dunnfield Creek
My training plan called for 9 miles this week. The plan starts at 6 miles and adds 3 miles each week. I know it’s not the best idea, but I’ve become a bit of a lunatic in my plans in order to get ready for a 50K on April 21 that I really do not want to miss. So I set out for the Gap with 9 miles in mind.
However, there are always things that challenge my accomplishment of all the miles I have in my mind. For one, a nor’easter covered northern New Jersey with several inches of snow a few days before. Also, my family’s schedule has gotten pretty hectic with a toddler in the house, both my wife and I working full time (she working two careers), and both of us needing time to run. The first challenge made the trails harder to run on. The second group of challenges means my time for exercise has decreased, which means my physical conditioning has decreased. I should add one other factor here. My weight has increased. Lugging myself up a mountain is no small feat at this point.
What follows are photos (and a video) and some comments in three sections: The Way Up, The Fire Road, The Way Down.
The Way Up
The snow made for gorgeous scenery. The Red Dot trail up Mt. Tammany was packed with snow, not too hard to navigate. The views were beautiful.
Looking through the Gap down the Delaware River, one third of the way up Mt. TammanyThe view from Mt. Tammany looking over the Delaware River, Mt. Minsi (PA) and the Poconos
The Fire Road
One aspect of my family’s tight schedule is that my wife often works on the weekends. Add a snowstorm into the mix and time becomes even more limited. Due to that snow, I postponed running until Sunday, but had to wait until the afternoon when my wife got home. Well, that added another challenge. By the time I got to the Gap, there were quite a few people on the trails. That just makes it hard to run while maneuvering around folks, something that contributed to badly injuring myself in 2016.
So, when I got to the head of the Tammany Fire Road trail, I decided to see how far I could make it along that route. The trail was covered by several inches of pristine untrod snow. It was irresistible, my pathway to solitude away from the crowds.
I stomped through that snow for 45 minutes making it almost a mile and a half. My toes were getting cold even in their wool socks. My thighs were on fire from marching nonstop. So I retraced my steps back to the Blue Dot trail.
The pristine untrod Tammany Fire RoadThe desecrated trod-by-Snyder Tammany Fire Road
The Way Down
The way down the Blue Dot trail was slushy and sloppy. My thighs were on fire but I had a good run down the mountain.
At the bottom I was surprised by the number of trees that had fallen in the storm along the Dunnfield Creek. It was quite a mess! Climbing over some of these obstacles was a challenge with my spent thighs.
I called it a day at 2 1/2 hours with 6 miles covered. I didn’t hit the 9 mile mark. The effort expended in the snow made up for the 3 missed miles.
View from the Blue Dot Trail looking North to the next ridge upon which the Appalachian Trail traversesThe Blue Dot Trail along Dunnfield Creek looking up toward the ATAlong the Blue Dot Trail near Dunnfield CreekOn the Blue Dot Trail with the bridge crossing Dunnfield Creek in the background
