faster with age

     In Milford Pennsylvania today. I ran up a hiking trail that I like here that goes up to the Milford Knob Overlook. It climbs 500 ft mostly in 1 1/2 miles. I had to hike some small parts that were too steep. I ran 7 miles round trip from the house.I got away late and the temp was into the 80s with a lot of humidity.

     I did another trail run today that took the same trail up to Milford Knob Overlook then took the Cliff Trail along the ridge past several spectacular overlooks above the Delaware river. You can see Pennsylvania, New York, and new Jersey.  There are a lot of ups and downs along the ridge. The temp reached 82 by the time I got back and very humid. The entire trail is pretty shaded so not too bad until the last mile on the highway back to the house was in the direct sun. I went 12 miles total at 8:44 overall pace with some of the uphill miles as slow as 12 minutes.

     Still in Pennsylvania. I ran from the house to a  paved road that goes down through what they call the Delwater Gap National Recreation Area. There was a closed bridge ahead and no through traffic. This kept the traffic very low [only 1 car about every 5 min]. On the run I saw a Box Turtle, an 8 inch millipede, saw several whitetail deer, and a few wood ducks. It was a beautiful morning after raining most of the night and was much cooler. I ran a little over 8 miles at 8:37 AP.

     My wife and I got up early and hiked up to the Milford Overlook. On the hike we found an ornery snapping turtle and had a rare sighting of a Pileated Woodpecker. Nice temps again and nice morning.

     We spent last night at the farmhouse about an hour from the Milford Pa house. There is a nice loop here I like to run that's about 2.4 miles. It's all but about 1/2 mile on dirt road and very hilly. I did 5 laps which comes to 12 miles. 

1st lap 19:23  [8:09 pace]

2nd  18:56 [7:58 pace]

3rd   18:45 [7:53 pace]

4th   18:11 [7:39 pace]

5th   16:09 [6:48 pace]

     The temp was in the upper 50s here. The elevation is a bit higher so very nice conditions. It is mostly wooded with just a few farm houses very nice area. It's one of my favorite places to run. On the last lap I was pretty much running all out especially the last mile in 6:14. Overall pace for 12 was 7:40. Then I ran back to where my wife was walking and walked in with her.