Sixteen miles...Done!

Sonya and I met in the parking lot just as the sun was starting to peek over the foothills. Mt. Rainier was looming above us, the sun was glowing and reflecting from the glaciers on the eastern side, while the rest of the mountain was shadowed. Our route today was on the Orting section of the Foothills Trail - we were actually covering the first legs that each of us ran in the Rainier to Ruston 50 mile relay in June. The trail is wide and flat and paved. It cuts through downtown Orting, a tiny town in the valley, directly in the lahar zone of Mt. Rainier. Our plan was to run to South Prairie and back - a total of 15.4 miles. To make it an even 16, we ran the two blocks that make up downtown Orting, then turned left and ran two more blocks, then turned around and ran back to the start point, and finally on to the trail.

There wasn't anyone else out on the trail. It was quiet and wonderfully cool - about 53 degrees when we started. The miles flew by as we caught up on everything that has happened over the last few weeks. Our pace was great and we both felt strong. We took walk breaks as usual, although every time one of us hit the gu, we would add an extra minute. We probably ran for over an hour before we finally started to see an occasional biker and one lone runner coming from the opposite direction. Eventually, we made it to South Prairie. We were both so excited - all these years, we've listened as others in our group talked about running to South Prairie and finally, finally, we had done it! We had a quick pit stop, then turned and started back.

We were seeing more and more bikers and one or two runners, but it was still pretty quiet. We were just starting to wonder why we hadn't come across the 7:00 am group of Y runners, when we turned the corner and there they were - Rick, Melissa, Lori and Linda. They were going 10 miles, so we didn't stop to chat, but just kept moving forward. We ran alone for a while longer, then Rick caught up to us and suddenly they were all there again - they had reached their turnaround and caught back up with us. A little farther along and we saw Monica, then Elaine running out to meet us, a little farther and there was Barb and Mark. By this point we'd kind of split off into pace groups again, but everyone was in sight. Somewhere in here Puddyrat ran by, then turned around and caught us too. Sonya and I cruised back into the park feeling good and strong. A little whoopin' and hollerin' , a little dance and a lot of stretching finished out the running portion of our morning.

Our time was 3:10:07, complete with four potty stops, and a 1-2 minute walk break every 9 minutes. I can't believe how good I felt (and still feel). My hips were starting to get a little sore, and so were my feet, but nothing that would stop me or slow me down. I can't believe I just ran 16 miles, my farthest distance ever! In fact, I'm feeling so confident that I have decided. I think I'm ready. I'm signing up for the Portland Marathon today.