Eighteen Miles, No Problem

Friend Jim and I drove to the Gateway Trail bridge , ran to milepost 18 (Pine Point Park), then back past the car to milepost 9 near I-694, and back to the car again. At Jim’s suggestion we ran on the horse trails rather than the paved trail. I’ve never done that on the Gateway before, but I sure did like it. Those trails are a combination of sand, grass, and gravel, all of which are softer and more forgiving than blacktop. My feet feel just fine afterward, knees and hips too.

I do think that the softer surfaces take a little more work though - so 18 miles may be the equivalent of 19 or 20 on pavement in terms of energy output. So I believe. If so, 18 was the perfect distance for my long run for an upcoming marathon.

At my request, we ran two minutes and walked one, for almost the whole distance. Overall time was 3:07:54, pace 10:26. Not a good pace, but if I could keep it going another 8 miles, that would be a 4:34 marathon. I’ll take it! And I could have run another 8 today, though maybe not quite at that pace. The run-2 walk-1 system is a lot easier than just running.

Lovely, cool morning, 60 to 70 degrees, sunny with no wind, but the Gateway has a lot of shade. A feel-good morning and a feel-good run.

Gateway Trail users be advised: The trail is currently closed at Manning (Co 15). We went through, but on the way back we got yelled at! A bridge is to be built (reassembled) at Manning, and right now crews are building a bypass for us to use during that construction. Then they will start on the "embankments." While the bypass is being built, the trail is closed and may actually be impassible because of large machines working right on the trail. The workers really didn’t want us to go through this morning. The actual construction begins at about milepost 16 and continues northeast across Manning for perhaps a total of a half mile


Fruit bowl: Blueberries, home-grown raspberries, mango, organic strawberries, organic yogurt, a little dark chocolate. I love this after a long run. Plenty of nutrients AND hydration to boot.