Start time: 11/29/09, 12:15pm
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 8:54min/mile
Total Miles For November: 72 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 778 miles

After yesterday’s 5-miler, I’d hoped to pick up a 10-miler today. (Time to get ready for the Goofy Marathon and a Half Challenge in January, after all.) The weather decided to cooperate today, with a high of 62 degrees at the end of November. Crazy, I know. I actually left the house with a long-sleeve shirt and shorts on, got all of three steps, and turned around and went back and changed into a short-sleeved shirt.

The run itself was pretty unmemorable; nothing out of the ordinary to report. (Aside from, perhaps, having fallen asleep during mile 8. Not sure what happened there.)

(8:20, 8:23, 9:06, 9:09, 9:19, 9:02, 8:58, 9:49, 8:32, 8:19)

Start time: 11/28/09, 12:15pm
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:23min/mile
Total Miles For November: 62 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 768 miles

Ah, the joy of an inadvertent week off. Monday morning I felt a soreness under my left shoulderblade, but I figured just getting it moving would make it feel better. I went for a swim, and it was bothering me the whole way through; came in about 40 seconds slower than normal for my mile swim. And then, it just kept hurting more and more. Ugh. I finally got a massage on Friday night and that seems to have done the trick (fingers crossed). But through all of that, exercise just wasn’t an option—it hurt too much for it to move.

Anyway, I tried my new 5-mile loop today and it went not bad. Especially after a week off! Now I just need to learn the new mile posts…

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3325261

Start time: 11/21/09, 7:20am
Location: Arlington + DC
Distance: 9 miles (0.71 + 6.99 + 1.30)
Average pace: 9:43min/mile
Total Miles For November: 57 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 763 miles

Today’s run was actually in three parts; just under three quarters of a mile jog over to Jim & Michael’s where the group was meeting, then seven miles with them (Arlington to Georgetown to Rock Creek to Reflecting Pool to Memorial Bridge to Iwo Jima to Arlington), then a mile and a bit more to round it up to an even nine miles. I hadn’t run with the large group in a while, and it was nice to see and chat with them. I know it’s a different pace when I run with them, but it’s nice to get out there in a social setting and hang for a while.

Start time: 11/17/09, 8:00am
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:10min/mile
Total Miles For November: 48 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 754 miles

Just another whirl around the four-mile loop. I did come up with a new five-mile loop course that I’m tentatively going to start running next week and make that the new regular morning run. We shall see.

(8:16, 8:06, 8:15, 8:00)

Start time: 11/15/09, 8:15am
Location: 10th St, Wilson Boulevard, Bluemont Junction Trail, W&OD Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:01min/mile
Total Miles For November: 44 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 750 miles

I don’t get this 70+ degree weather this time of year. I mean, it’s lovely and all, and I’m really excited about wearing my short sleeved shirt today. But it just feels… wrong. Also, it meant a rather sweaty and red-faced run this morning. I ended up inadvertently taking two walk breaks; one during mile 5 when I almost choked on the granola bar I’d brought with me on the run (never doing that again), and then during mile 8 when I almost fell over on a patch of wet leaves and walked for about 30 seconds to get out of the rest of them. So, not bad. Especially since it was better than the last two times I ran this route.

One nice surprise was running into Pam Riker who was doing some mile repeats on the trail, since we were meeting with other fellow AIDS Marathon staffers for brunch a few hours later. Clearly we had the same idea…

(8:32, 8:24, 9:02, 9:02, 9:24, 8:58, 9:23, 9:39, 8:44, 8:56)

Start time: 11/8/09, 11:00am
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:23min/mile
Total Miles For November: 30 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 736 miles

After a week off, I finally went running again the Sunday after the marathon. It was an unseasonably warm day, which was lovely, if suddenly a slight shock to my body which kept saying, “Wait, what, I need to start cooling you down?” It felt good to get out and moving again, though.

(8:15, 8:14, 8:35, 8:30)

Start time: 10/29/09, 8:15am
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:14min/mile
Total Miles For October: 89 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 706 miles

Boy, it sure is getting dark out in the morning. It’ll be nice to have the clocks change an hour on Sunday. Last pre-marathon run this morning and I ended up just doing the regular loop. Today, fueled by something I haven’t eaten in years: a pop-tart. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

(8:20, 8:04, 8:24, 8:08)