Start time: 4/17/09, 4:45pm
Location: Rosslyn, Memorial Bridge, Kennedy Center, Georgetown, Key Bridge
Distance: 6.15 miles
Average pace: 9:15min/mile
Total Miles For April: 39 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 229 miles

Took most of this week off from running to see how my tendon would feel. I did do some exercise though; swam 1000m on Monday morning plus spinning class, and another 1100m in the pool on Thursday. Everything felt fine so I went for a run this afternoon; through Rosslyn, down to Memorial Bridge, past the Lincoln Memorial, up along the Potomac to the Kennedy Center, through Georgetown, then across Key Bridge back into Rosslyn and home. Good news is the run wasn’t bad (although I was dragging a bit); bad news is that my tendon is a little sore now. We’ll see how it is in a day or two… Hopefully it’ll be fine tomorrow.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2737747

Start time: 4/12/09, 10:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:39min/mile
Total Miles For April: 33 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 223 miles

My plan was to run 8 miles this morning, after taking a week off to let my tendon in my right ankle rest and heal. But as is all too familiar, a week off meant a lot of dragging out on the trail. Just was not feeling this run in any way, shape, or form. Honestly, pushing out five miles? A minor victory. Not pleased with doing just 5, but since the tendon is still a tiny bit sore that’s probably the smarter thing to do anyway.

(8:42, 8:20, 8:42, 8:52, 8:39)

Start time: 4/4/09, 10:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 9:11min/mile

Start time: 4/5/09, 10:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 9:17min/mile

Total Miles For April: 28 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 218 miles

Normally, I’d have run a 20-miler this weekend. But more and more I’m hearing the same thing (and from a variety of sources); instead of running a 20-mile training run, you’ll get the same endurance benefit if you run two 12-milers that weekend (one each morning) and it’s less stress on the body. So, since I have no real goals other than “finish” for next month’s marathon, I figured I really need to give this a proper shot.

The first 12-miler I ran with Charlie, who was a great pacer. We ran on the W&OD Trail, first heading downhill for a mile and a half before climbing all the way until mile 7 (marker 7.5) at which point we turned back down towards the finish. It was a beautiful morning, but windy like there was no tomorrow. So windy, in fact, that when we hit mile 7, we turned around there when originally our turnaround point was half a mile further up the trail. I just couldn’t take the wind pushing us backwards, and Charlie agreed. Looking at how much our times promptly dropped once we got out of the combination of climbing and really strong headwinds? Pretty funny. A nice solid pace and even with some negative splits to boot.

Today’s 12-miler was all by myself. I ran an additional mile downhill (all the way to marker 1) before turning around and beginning my climb. Once again, I turned around a tiny bit early (mile 8, or marker 6.5) but in this case it wasn’t wind but rather severe trail congestion up ahead. Seriously, at the 6.5 marker on the W&OD I could see all the way to the bridge where marker 7 is located, and it was just clogged full of families teaching kids how to ride bicycles. Um, no thanks. So once again, I ended up turning early and once I got back to the start, ran an additional half mile before turning around yet again to finish. All on my lonesome (and with additional early downhill) I definitely headed out too fast at first, and on the way uphill I was really dragging. But towards the end I got a little bit of my rhythm back, and best of all my total time for Sunday was only 1:19 slower than Saturday.

The one bad thing is that all weekend my right ankle’s been bothering me a bit. It feels like I strained a tendon in it, so I’ve been doing all the right things (ice, elevating, anti-inflammatories) and I’m going to take a few days off to be certain and let it heal.

Will this really work in place of a 20-miler? I guess I’ll find out in four weeks…

9:15, 9:24, 9:26, 9:32, 9:36, 9:18, 9:28, 8:48, 8:51, 8:56, 8:40, 8:52
8:35, 8:29, 8:40, 9:17, 9:43, 9:32, 9:50, 9:23, 9:16, 9:29, 9:25, 9:46

Start time: 4/2/09, 6:30pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:29min/mile
Total Miles For April: 4 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 194 miles

Today was a quick four-miler; I was contemplating going further but I was still feeling a little stiff from Monday’s 9-miler, so I decided not to risk it. It was definitely a faster four-miler than I was doing a few months ago, though, and I was pleased at my pace for the first two miles since they were going uphill. Even better, I saw Casey from spinning out on the trail (she’s training for a triathlon), and then a few minutes later, Rachel from AIDS Marathon out with a cycling group. It’s always so great to see familiar faces out there!

(8:38, 8:41, 8:26, 8:13)

Start time: 3/30/09, 5:20pm
Location: McLean, W&OD Trail, Bluemont Park, North Arlington
Distance: 9 miles
Average pace: 8:56min/mile
Total Miles For March: 73 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 190 miles

Originally I was supposed to pick up 9 miles this weekend, but my allergies were so bad on Saturday that they just weren’t going to allow it. So, after some thought, I decided that I’d finally take the plunge and try one of the “safe” routes I’d figured out where I could run home from work. The absolute shortest distance I could find would be an 8-miler, and adding that extra mile on would be fairly easy. So, I took the bus into work with a backpack full of running clothes, then at the end of the day changed and ran home: Chain Bridge Road to Westmoreland Drive all the way to the East Falls Church Metro. Then, the W&OD Trail for two or so miles to Bluemont Park, head through Bluemont to Wilson Boulevard, and from there home along Wilson and 10th Streets. (If I was running the shorter route, at the EFC Metro I’d instead have taken Washington Boulevard all the way to 10th Street and home.)

It was definitely a lot hillier than I’d remembered, and I’m feeling those after-effects now. Oof! And a couple of times on Westmoreland, the sidewalk on one side of the street would abruptly end, so I’ll need to learn the crossings a bit better. But it was a nice run, definitely. Not something I think I’d do every week, certainly, but it’s nice to have it as an option.

(8:43, 8:46, 8:37, 8:51, 8:51, 8:50, 9:19, 9:25, 8:57)

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2683347

Start time: 3/18/09, 5:45pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:42min/mile
Total Miles For March: 42 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 159 miles

I’d wanted to get Tuesday and Thursday runs in this week before the half marathon on Saturday—but I was feeling horrible on Tuesday, to the point that exercise of any sort just wasn’t going to happen. Instead I squeezed in a run today after work, which was better than nothing. Not too bad, nothing huge to report, just a gorgeous day outside.

(8:28, 8:54, 8:33, 8:51)

Start time: 3/14/09, 10:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:33min/mile
Total Miles For March: 38 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 155 miles

I had to run some errands out in Vienna on Saturday, so on a whim I changed into my running gear first and then after taking care of various business, went running between markers 12 and 14.5 on the W&OD Trail. I don’t make it out there very often; when I used to do all my marathon training on the W&OD, our last two longest runs would make it out to markers 13.5 and 15, so it was rather rarified territory (so to speak). It is funny because I always forget that it is just a teeny tiny downhill grade on the way out—it never seems like it until I turn around and suddenly I see that the trail is now at a slight slant. Too, too funny.

More importantly, this part of the trail (marker 12 is just on the far edge of Vienna) is much more deserted than the sections I normally run on, when it comes to other people. It’s also in vast stretches of empty space, with the end result being a quiet, peaceful run. It’s nice to jog alongside my favorite-named stream out there (“Difficult Run”) and maybe see another person every mile or so. Just me and the latest broadcast of the Splendid Table from NPR. Good time.

8:29, 8:28, 8:35, 8:42, 8:32