16 Mile Training Run on the Jordan River Bike Trail

Introduction

Well, with the Las Vegas marathon coming up in 2 weeks, I decided I needed to get in one final long run.  Granted, I did a marathon about 3 weeks ago, but I wanted to get one more run in of substantial distance.  Traditionally, two weeks before a marathon you do a 12 mile run.  In the past, I've done a 20 mile, 2 weeks before and survived just fine.  

With all the racing I've done I settled on splitting the distance and just shooting for 16 miles. 

The Run

Sunday was a cool day, with some gentle cool breezes with an air temperature in the upper 40's.  There had been some rain in the morning, so I opted for shorts, a tech shirt and gloves.  I am glad I went with the gloves as my hands do tend to get painfully cold in this type of weather.

I was pretty much inspired by watching the New York Marathon.  I wound up watching most of it on ESPN2 and props to them for providing pretty good coverage (although I would've liked to have seen more of the every day runner).

I don't have any mile splits, but I know I finished in about 2:38, with no major crash at the end.  In fact, I was tempted to keep going.  The weather was really ideal, although I did miss seeing all the other runners on the bike trail.  Most people don't run on Sundays and with the dicey weather it probably kept all but the brave inside.

I wound up taking a picture at every mile interval, no matter where I was.  After 8 miles, I turned around and started taking a picture every mile after hitting 8.5 miles, so enjoy the fall foliage on the Jordan River Bike Trail.

Mile 1

Mile 2 - Water / bathroom stop here

Mile 3, just entering my favorite section of the trail

Mile 4  - getting into Taylorsville

Mile 5 - past some apartments and into no-man's land.

Mile 6 - more desolate area. 

Mile 7 - out in the boonies but just really a pretty part of the trail

Mile 8 - turn around point

Mile 8 - Just love this field area

Mile 8.5

Mile 9.5 - heading towards a park from under a bridge

Mile 10.5 - Tree shrouded section

Mile 11.5 - a little bit of a hilly section

Mile 12.5 Standing on a bridge looking south

Mile 13.5.

Mile 14.5 - almost home.

Mile 15 on another bridge.

Post run

After the run I had a MASSIVE craving for fries.  It had been a long time since I had been to Hooters (the last time I went the service wasn't that great).  Plus the Broncos games was on, so I figured why not.  I was happy to see they had Fried Pickles on the menu.  I have forgotten, though, how rich they are.  I think I got about 3/4ths the way done with them before they started to catch up with me. So good but so rich... 

I probably wound up eating too much, but it certainly satisfied my cravings:

Fried Pickles... yum!

Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich