20 Miles? Piece of cake!

Okay, well maybe our first practice wasn't exactly a piece of cake, but I am happy to report that we made it twenty miles and we could all walk the next day.

Starting off at around 8 o'clock on Saturday morning, Jenn and I met Zoe and Robyn at the bottom of Cascadilla Falls. The first mile or so from that starting point goes uphill without stopping to arrive at the top of the Cornell campus. In the cool of the morning, we made it up without much complaint.

We made it to the 7 mile mark in just 1 hour and 55 minutes, which is just about the right pace. By the time we got to mile 8, we were all lamenting that we hadn't brought snacks and Zoe somehow talked us all into stopping for breakfast at ABC Cafe. We won't have such leisurely meals on the real walk of course, but considering it was our first day out, I won't be too hard on us.

Having fully re-fueled, we continued on to finish the first loop, ending at Jenn's and my house. We all still had some water left in our water bottles, but Jenn took them inside and filled them back up. Then we were on our way once again.

This time around, the cool of the morning was but a pleasant memory as the thermometer climbed toward 90+ degrees. While our water stores had lasted the whole ten miles on our first loop, it was completely gone by the time we got to the top of Cornell the second time. That sun was fierce!

We ducked into one of the library's up there to refill, and there was some talk of calling it a day. The last 11 miles were suddenly catching up to us in a hurry. But after about ten minutes in the air conditioned library and with our water full again, we decided to go a little further.

By the time we hit the 16 mile mark, even I was starting to feel pretty abused, and with my long legs, I only have to take about half as many strides as Jenn. Everyone was starting to fantasize about various foods again and we realized this was likely to be a fairly constant topic of conversation.

But despite sore feed, tightening hamstrings, growing blisters and general fatigue, we continued on to complete our second loop just before four o'clock. Yes, that's 8 hours for just twenty miles, and we'll need move faster than that in July. For our first time out though, I am proud of our little group. We survived 20 miles, and with a little more training, I think our goal is within reach. Next time I intend to leave a car parked half way along our route where we can resupply ourselves with food and water, sort of a simulation of our support van. Better sunblock would be in order as well as I think we were all a bit pink by the end.

Next weekend, 30 miles!

Right, guys?