Training in Montana

20 long miles this morning. I'm still pretty tired from traveling (early flights, etc.) so I slept until 6:45 and left the house by 7:30, both really late for me. It worked out fine. Temps were perfect, 45F and overcast skies with hardly a wind. Shorts, long-sleeve shirt, and gloves weather. More wind would've meant a hat but no wind today, which was fantastic. Headed up my normal Saturday set of hills. My body was definitely tired from the week and yesterday's 3 fast miles, so I took it slower than I have been, but I woke up at mile 3.5 which is in the middle of my hill. I like the challenge of hills. They make me happy. The plan today was to do 15 miles then go home and meet my wife as she wanted to do 5 with me on a route she's never done. I was feeling pretty rough by 15 but after taking a 10 minute break at home I felt refreshed. Changed my shoes, shirt, gloves, bandanna, and replaced my Nathan backpack for a water belt. We ran slowly down the hill from our house, which is 1.5 miles, then Kaylene had to head back home so we parted ways. I ran up a killer hill I've only done a couple times before. It is a brutal 600 foot climb over 1.25 miles that has a solid mile with zero flat spots. It was a great workout, especially after 16 miles. The rest of the way home is pretty tough on this route, which is why I don't normally do it, but it felt good to be hurting a bit after a long morning of running. Good training.

AP: 8:56. Good run.