Week 6 - Saturday

Met Paul, Ryan, Trina, Brent, and Kerry for a 20 mile run this morning. We met at Glenwood at 7am with plans to run east on the Greenbelt. I had roughed out a route that would take us off the Greenbelt for part of it to break the monotony. The rest of the gang went along with it, some reluctantly, since it meant a lot of navigation through downtown and the north end.

It was overcast, but in the mid-40s already and nice enough to be in shorts for the first time this year. It was still dark as we started off, which made it a little tricky watching for cracks and heaves in the asphalt. Within a mile or so, it was light enough to see well and by then I already fell into a comfortable pace with Ryan.

After about 4 miles, we stopped briefly at Shoreline for the others to rejoin us before we left the Greenbelt and started north toward downtown. We ran north on 13th, interrupted a couple of times for traffic as we crossed some of the busier streets. We turned west on Hayes then north onto Harrison Blvd. I really enjoyed the tree-lined sidewalk and the great old houses. Next we turned east on Hill Rd and followed that to Camelsback Park. From Camels, we turned south and navigated south and east to 6th St. We took 6th to Fort, then through the Fort Boise parking lot before taking Avenue E to wind our way onto Warm Springs Blvd.

By this point, we were about 11 miles in and Ryan and I were still clocking all of the miles below 8:15, with a couple at sub-8. I wasn't sure if I could hold that pace for the entire 20 miles, but intended to until I bonked, if I did. The only way to improve!

We continued east on Warm Springs until we reached the golf course. At that point, we rejoined the Greenbelt and turned west for the return trip to Glenwood. Ryan and I stayed together until mile 15, at which point he wanted to pick up his pace for the final miles. He pulled away and I maintained my pace. On my own now, I cranked up my music and focused on not letting my pace slip as I felt fatigue set in. Even though it seemed at times I was slowing, my splits were staying where I wanted them, all under 8:15.

As I neared Glenwood, I could tell my route planning was off a bit and I would be hitting the 20-mile mark before I reached the parking lot. I finished mile 20 in 8:01 and decided to continue the run until I reached the parking lot, which wound up being at 20.75 miles. I would take some grief for this accidental route extension by the others later!

It felt great to be finished and even better knowing I'd finished with average splits of 8:13! It has me thinking I can target 3:35 at Ogden, but we'll see how my final two 20 milers go before I commit to that publicly.

Ryan and I stretched as we waited for the others to arrive. Everyone came in in good shape. Collectively, our whole group is running well (and mainly injury free) right now. Long runs like today's have us all confident and looking forward to Ogden