With the halfway point of the year coming around the corner, it was time to up my weekly mileage in faint hopes that I could hit a few of my goals from the beginning of the year. Out of my five initial yearly goals, I was at a healthy 0 achieved. Not too shabby for an average runner that set above average goals!

A few of goals included running a 12 hour ultra marathon, a sub 4:50 minute mile, and a 3:30 marathon. My fastest mile of the year was still over a minute off, my marathon attempt ended pukes and a much slower time, and I have procrastinated on setting up a 12 hour ultra or any ultra really.

Overall though, it was quite the great running year! My weekly mileage was nearing 20 miles a week and the run today would put me at over 350 miles for the year. That was my fastest time reaching that milestone in a few years and a professional ultra runner could run that mileage in about a month.

So, the goal today was to go over an hour for the long run and make that a routine for upcoming weeks. It was time to burn off my massive caloric intake of Fritos (Not a sponsor, I wish) and being building upon the long forgotten leg muscles of the past.

Donning my bucket hat, ten layers of sunscreen, and my dorkyness, it was time to run off! I decided the Greenbelt in Austin would be the best route for maximum shade, best trail access, and least amount of eyes to judge my attire.

As I tore down the entrance of the Greenbelt, I quickly slowed down from 8 minute mile pace to 10 minutes per mile. I set the goal to survive for at least an hour and see where my feet would lead.

After about a half mile of huffing and puffing and losing my typical 30 lbs of sweat to humidity, I followed a favorite route. It passes the rock climbers who look way more badass than myself and the wildlife never fails to freak me out. Normally this is a lizard or two. And what’s a good trail run without screaming when you think you are coming upon a snake and it turns out to be a bird?

The day was quickly heating up and I stuck to the slow and steady approach. I thought some new area of the Greenbelt would be fun to explore and after two miles, I followed a deer trail up a gigantic (to me) mountain (hill).

At this point, I threw in some walking so I wouldn’t have my heart attack symptoms going up the entire beast. I thought there must be a pretty good view at the top. There has to be some sort of prize for going through this ringer outside of a side stitch and sore feet.

As I crested the top of the hill, I turned to see a whole lotta trees and not much else. No beautiful view or picture as a reward, only a mosquito bite. With a sigh, I continued adding to the miles and seeing where mile three would take me. Looks like my days of taking off as an Instagram Influencer were unlikely. At least I didn’t have another 100 foot climb to go up so I’ll take my wins where I can.

I enjoyed the newness of the trail at this point and continued taking many different turns to enjoy the new route. There were different trails splitting off left and right and diagnol. There were trails for coyotes, deer, possibly turtles, and more. A winding one to my left looked interesting and a few turns later, I came upon the 3rd mile of my run.

Hitting three miles marked 30 minutes of running which meant I could turn around and head home. Unfortunately at this point, I couldn’t remember which way was home. I recalled the general direction and after the sign of the cross, wished for the best!

Before long I found myself totally lost because I came upon this cool contraption. Some skaters built this cool ramp! I wanted to run across it and jump but it was at least six feet of a gap and I would definitely face plant into the other side. It was also at least five feet high and it just wasn’t worth dealing with my low quality insurance issues. True signs of me getting old when considering this stuff.

Without my skateboard, it meant that I needed to continue running. Looks like I will not be the next Tony Hawk and I bet he is still a faster runner than me.

The good news was the sight of a wonderful big downhill next to the ramps and I knew that was exactly what I needed. It led to another deer (turtle?) trail that included the least amount of poison ivy and hopefully no mosquitos to bite me when I took breaks to catch my breath.

As I continued down, I hoped I was trending in the general direction towards home and mile four clicked by me as I came upon a mystery creek. It was unusual to find a water source in Texas at this point that wasn’t a fountain and ever weirder, due to the lack of rain, it was running. I deemed it a good enough source to wet my hat and keep going.

After creek stomping, I found a glorious sight. Mile 5 and a recognition to my local running trail! Hurray! I would no longer be doomed to a life as a trail hermit. Even though, some days that doesn’t sound too bad with a busy work schedule.

Turning towards home, I clicked off the final two miles in a record run-walk pace time. I initially started under 9 minutes per mile pace and slowed down into the double digits as I continued frying underneath the Texas sun. On the bright side, my watch indicated that I passed the hour mark and I was officially back into the long run game.

Overall, it was good to return to the Greenbelt and it was fun to be back in the hour club. Many of my following runs would be shorter but the start of the long run season was returning.

Did you have any long runs this week? Any goals for getting in longer runs?

Average Runner Paul