It was a terrific morning for a run in Rothrock state Forest and my plan today was to get a long run in this morning before the day got too busy. At this point in my training (week 3 after an injury), anything over four miles is considered a long run so my goal was to log at least six miles in one of my favorite locations in Central Pa.
It should be said that I use the word 'run' loosely at this point in my training. The idea is to log some jogging time on my feet. It would be unfair to call myself a runner. I've never been a 'runner' but I've been an addicted jogger for many years and have run a fair number of local races including the Tussey Mountainback 50 mile race held in the early Fall in Rothrock State Forest. Check it out here www.tusseymountainback.com/ I have always run this race as part of a 5 person relay and the past two years I have logged 13.1 miles of the 50 total miles of the race.
Can you spot the wild turkey and her brood of five chicks?
So I had my lovely wife drop me off right along Rt. 322 where Decker Valley Rd. spills onto the highway. The plan was for me to run to Penn Roosevelt State Park while my wife picked up our son at a friends house. She would return and rescue my sore legs at Penn Roosevelt about an hour later.
Off I went on the soft gravel road and within five minutes a nice steady rain started to soak me prior to my breaking into a heavy sweat. It must have rained for about forty minutes as I shuffled past several cabins and ruffed grouse cuts and worked hard on the numerous uphill sections of the trail. I'm guessing that running the trail in this direction provides about four miles of uphill running.
At some point the rain stopped but I never saw the sun as the cloud cover felt as though it was being propped up by the thick appalachian forest. About an hour into the run I was relieved to see the sign telling me that Penn Roosevelt State Park was one mile in the distance and I rememberd that most of the remaining one mile was downhill. Just at this point my wife drove by and I begged her for a bottle of water but none was to be found in the cleanest mini-van this side of the Mississippi River.
Down the hill I pushed stretching my stride and burning calories as I coasted into the parking area adjacent to the pond and the famous Penn Roosevelt chimney right in the middle of Rothrock State Forest.
A bit more than seven miles Meredith announced and I could feel it in every part of my body. What a terrific feeling and I'm looking forward to adding additional mileage next weekend in Rothrock State Forest.
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