17 myles - 1.57:28

Platte River parkway - Noon
mid 60's, partly cloudy, slight south wind
mind/body - good/sluggish
medium effort

Well this run turned out to be an adventure! The plan was to drive to the light rail station on Mineral (C line), run back to c470, then run the length of the Platte River pkwy to REI, run to the Union light rail station, and then take the train back to my car. That was the "plan".... we all know how plans work out, don't we?

This is what really happened: I drove to the light rail station on Mineral, took my key fob off my key ring and stuffed it in my Camelbak and I was off. Lots of people on the trail because it was such a nice day so I was eager to get going. I ran back to c470 (1.5 myles) and then started the 15.5 mile run along the South Platte down to REI. I was clipping along pretty good, casually looking at mile times, which turned out to be just under 7 minutes for the day. Last Saturday I ran down to REI in 1.53, today I was 1.46. I didn't eat anything the entire length (only water) in hopes of glycogen depleting, making the food and beer I was going to eat taste that much better. I got to REI, sat on a park bench, pulled out a power bar to get me by and I noticed a strange key fob in my Camelbak. Well I have two key fobs on my key ring, one for the security system in our house and one for my car, guess which one I picked??? NOT the car! Now how was I gonna get home from the train station? Me being Mexican my first thought was to break in... yeah right!! I've never done it before so how could I all of sudden have the skill? I ran over to the Union station, which is on the way to Wynkoop brewery, to see what times the C line train was going to Mineral.... well guess what??? THE C LINE DOESN'T RUN ON THE WEEKENDS! Not that it matters because how was I going to get in my car anyways? Turns out the E line goes all the way to Lincoln station, which is a lot closer to my house than the Mineral station. I decided to get a few beers and a not-so-good pizza at Wynkoop and the jump on the E line. Now from the Lincoln station to my house is another 5 myles. You see where I'm going with this? ...Beer=buzz=not-so-good running! If there's one thing I've learned running ultras is you've gotta run through it. Turns out I ran the 5 myles back to my house (buzz and all) without incident, just an upset stomach. In all I ran 23 myles, left my house at 11:30 and got back at 6:00. Since my family is in Utah, tomorrow I have to ride my bike down to the Mineral station (12 myles) to pick up my car. Oh well, what else was I gonna do?