The Gateway Trail

It’s wide open! At least the four mile section that we ran today. We parked at the Hwy 96 bridge and ran north to milepost 16, then back past the car to 12, then back to the car. That gave us the chance to cut the run short near the middle in case of heavy rain, or add a shirt in case the wind was too cold, or whatever. But neither of those was necessary and the run was great. I love the Gateway Trail, built on an abandoned rail line, with a paved lane for people and a gravel lane for horses. I think of it as a flat trail, but in fact most of it is slightly sloped one way or another, and there are short (very short) hills in a few places. It’s a wonderful run through the woods.

Eight miles in 1:14:15, for a pace of 9:17 overall. The splits are below, but the mileposts on the Gateway are not located very precisely so the total time is probably more important. I walked a few times, imagining that I was being kind to my big black toe, but in fact it felt good to walk anyway. Mostly I ran. I did stop for perhaps a minute to look back when a couple of strange-looking guys were walking toward my sweeties, but the guys passed them by without incident and we all continued running.

Splits: 9:24, 8:39, 8:45, 10:06, 9:18, 9:31, 9:41, 8:51, total 1:14:15, pace 9:17. It’s a masterpiece.


Recent dinner: Sloppy joe mix with no-hormone no-antibiotic bison and Sunshine's homemade organic catsup, organic mustard, Target organic blue-corn chips, organic tomato, asparagus, and sweet onion.