Did not quite make the 17 goal, but how many people can run 16.3 miles!

You get to see a lot in 16.3 miles…

I took several pictures to share what my runs look like with you.

I began my run after work late, at about 5:30 pm and it takes me hours to run this far so I was concerned about still being on the trails in the dark.

On the return I opted to stay on the higher, more open service road rather than the trail along the Rio Grande because it was already dark under all the trees and this ended up cutting out nearly a mile.

None the less, I have never ran this far so I still set a new PR!!

It was a warm (75 degree) evening and the sky was beautiful with a little breeze.

And I had my wonderful little side-kick to try to keep up with…Parker is a real motivator, let me tell you.

She never stops.

When we get home from the long runs that I let her come on occasionally, she doesn’t even rest…she starts tearing around the yard with her toys while I am the one laying on the cool cement patio panting!

So, after about six miles down the Rio from where I usually start at the Hispanic Cultural Center, you begin to run along next to fields and farms.

Its quite picturesque.

But what will always get me about this desert when I am long gone is the sunsets and the giant skeletal cottonwoods.

The sunsets here are unlike any I have seen anywhere in the U.S.

And I have heard from others who have traveled abroad a lot that they are also unlike any they have seen outside the U.S. as well.

And the way that the sunsets light up the Sandia Mountains, our watermelon mountains, and set them on fire will take your breath away every time.

So, due to the new PR and cooking for my guest… I made mussels as soon as I got home.

Cooked up a storm still covered in salt from sweating.

They were delish, of course, cause you can’t really ever go wrong with mussels but I shall definitely be tweaking the recipe I used from the food blog I subscribe to.

I like my food to be sensational and even after running 16.3, the sauce was lacking in flavor to me and too hot from the peppers it called for.

I still ate over a pound of these fabulous little ocean treats though.

Good protein for sure at least!

My favorite rosemary bread with lots of butter left me feeling full and satiated.

Besides, I needed that pound of mussels because I burned over 1500 calories!

Run stats:

• Miles: 16.3

• Duration: 2:49:07 h/m/s

• Ave Pace: 10.23 min/mi

• Ave Speed:5.78 mph

• Calories burned: 1,557

• Elevation climb: 774 ft