Laurel – In awhile

Day 247

mileage and campsites of Laurel highlands

Not even sure if there will be a race but the Laurel #3 over night trip is definitely canceled. I got words that Pennsylvania state parks no longer allow camping for the duration.

I might still go now my race schedule for April and May has pretty much free up. I might go as a day trip. Like last weekend, I arrived early Saturday morning (1AM) and left in the afternoon.

LH#3: I have options. But simplest is to camp at RT30, and run from RT 30, covering 10 miles in each direction. Possible date would be April 4. It probably during the peak of the outbreak, so the trip will likely be canceled. I haven’t picked another date yet.

LH#4: Night run of the last 10-15 miles to the finishing line. Possibly LH#5 if have the chance. Definitely needed. Last weekend, I found I did poorly in the dark. My night time vision is really bad, not sure if it was my head lamp battery was running low, but I couldn’t see the trail. When you can’t see, you can’t run.

Just toss this out there. I will refine the plan when the day get near. Of course, now I don’t have to worry about camping and lugging that huge pack any more.

day 242 Weekend plan

With last week reports out of the way, I am ready for tomorrow. Again apologize for bombarding so many long posts. I am training for the Laurel Highlands Ultra in PA taking place in June. My training plan has been weekend runs locally and test/training runs on location. This coming weekend will be my second attempt going out there. (I blogged about my first training run a month ago, link will be provided if I get to it).

After the first weekend out on the Laurel Highlands Trail, I have greater confidence that I could run the 70 mile race in June. It won’t be easy but the trail is almost like running on the road in most places (or like the C&O Canal). The hardest part would be the beginning 6-8 miles climb, I think. I already have a general plan how to tackle the race, even without a need of going back out to the trail for more training. I will discuss my strategy after my final trip there in May if chance allowed. COVID-19 might make a mess of thing for my April trip or even my May trip.

I do plan to keep mostly with my original plan, that is, to go out with three more times. Each time tackling about a 20-mile segment. It would allow me cover most of the trail. The dates for the next several outings are:

3/14/2020 – Laurel #2 – early segment run
4/4/2020 – Laurel #3 – daytime tail end section of the run?
5/16/2020 – Laurel #4 – night time tail end run?

The second trip, Laurel #2 will be a modified of Laurel #1, since I hardly run on my first trip due to the slippery trail condition and the heavy pack I was carrying. This time, I am dropping my bag at camp#1 and run first then pick up on my way back.

Friday night: camp at Mile 18 (RT653). hope to arrive before midnight this time.

Saturday AM: run south out-n-back to Mile 11 (or 7) (total 14-22 miles) (3.5-4 hrs) (8.0a-12p) (or 3pm)

Saturday PM/Sunday AM: run north out-n-back to Mile 23-ish (8-10 miles)(to Camp Grindle Ridge) (2.5 hrs) (1-3.5 pm)

Saturday night: camp the 2nd night at Grindle Ridge (mile 23). Ya, I have to figure out how and when to get my pack out to mile 23. Do I do the run first and come back to my car to lug the heavy pack to camp? It is at least 5 miles away from my car. Also , Sunday, how will I get my pack back to my car? Logistic is a bear. I know I wish I have a human mule to carry my things. It would have made the run easier.

Sunday AM: run Mile -0.5 to mile 7 and back (14-15 miles) (4:20) (8:-12:20) if have time. This is a hard run though. I might swap Saturday with the Sunday run.

Sunday AM (option #2) run north from Brindle Ridge for about 7 miles out then run back to the car. Again, what do I do with my pack? Do I carry two packs – one for running and one for camping? Do I bring my full camping gear or swap for a UL (extremely light and basically carrying nothing)?

We will just have to wait and see. Last trip, I basically gave up the run on Sunday because it was so hard lugging the pack.