Start time: 2/10/09, 5:00pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 3 miles
Average pace: 8:48min/mile
Total Miles For February: 29 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 74 miles

Just a quick three-miler; I thought it was going to be in the 60s and sunny when I went running, but it was actually the mid-50s and cloudy. Oops. Also, the Potomac smelled so much like a swamp on my run I thought I was going to gag. I was happy to pick up the pace a tiny bit on the second and third miles, though; I felt like I could keep going but it was more important for me to play it safe after Sunday’s cramping issues.

(9:03, 8:41, 8:40)

Start time: 2/1/09, 1:15pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 12 miles / 3×4 miles
Average pace: 9:39min/mile
Total Miles For February: 12 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 57 miles

There is something rather disconcerting about running in 60 degree weather while dodging sheets of ice on the trail. And yet, that’s what happened today. We had a bizarrely warm temperature (it’s supposed to snow tomorrow night!), and there sure were a lot of people taking advantage of it—including myself. The plan was to run 12 miles; start at marker 3.5, run just down to marker 3, then turn around and all the way up to marker 9 before coming home. (Marker 9.5 is on the far side of Gallows Road and it seemed rather silly to have to wait for several minutes to cross such a major road when I could just pick up half a mile in the opposite direction and ignore the road entirely.)

As it is, when I first left the house, I ended up turning around a minute later because I clearly did not need to be running in pants. I swapped out to shorts, and ignored my jacket, hat, and gloves that I’d put in a bag “just in case.” There was still a strong breeze going on (and at that point my car said it was 57 degrees out) so I kept on my UnderArmour ColdGear long-sleeve shirt, with a t-shirt over it. Originally I was going to just run 12 miles straight, but 4 miles in I stopped for a minute to gulp down some gel, then headed back out. At mile 8, I also stopped, this for a couple of minutes, so I could take off the long-sleeve shirt and tie it around my waist. (Don’t worry, I kept the t-shirt on.) So really, it ended up being three 4-mile sets, I guess, even though the stops were never terribly long.

More importantly, though, sections of the trail were absolutely covered in ice. Anywhere there was a hill and some shade was fair game, really. (Or at one point along the infamous “hill of doom” where two people couldn’t be bothered to shovel their sidewalks. Thanks, jerks! And on a pretty steep hill, no less.) So it’s hard to say how my run really went; there was a lot of slowing down and speeding up going on as I ran. I certainly didn’t feel as strong after this run as I did last weekend’s, alas. (I’m glad after next weekend’s 14-miler my schedule involves some shorter distance weekends.) Overall, not great, but under the circumstances I’m glad that I never wiped out, and kept moving pretty well. I’d really wanted a stronger time in that last 4-mile stretch, but considering two of those miles had seriously bad iced-over sections that made me slow down, I am not complaining one bit.

And hey, it sure was gorgeous out. 60 degrees by the time I finished, and I sure was glad I stopped to take off that long-sleeve shirt. It felt marvelous out.

38:33 (9:36, 9:23, 9:46, 9:47)
39:02 (9:34, 10:04, 9:53, 9:29)
38:17 (9:06, 9:50, 10:01, 9:18)

Start time: 1/29/09, 6:00pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 3×1 mile
Average pace: 9:41min/mile & 7:48min/mile
Total Miles For January: 45 miles

On Thursday I went back for some more mile repeats—same deal as Tuesday, but this time it went much much better. I think it helped that I didn’t go too fast on the first one, so I was able to stay more consistent through all three. If I can do this again as well I’ll probably add in an extra mile. (Maybe.)

In general this was also a pretty good exercise week; rowing and stationary bike Monday, mile repeats Tuesday, mild yoga Wednesday, mile repeats Thursday, and spinning class Friday. (I picked up the Friday spinning class partially because of Wednesday’s class being cancelled, and partially because I pushed this weekend’s run to Sunday.)

warm-up/cooldown: 10:04, 9:19
mile repeats: 7:51, 7:48, 7:47

Start time: 1/24/09, 1:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:27min/mile
Total Miles For January: 35 miles

This run had all sorts of “finally” meanings.

Finally running again after a week’s break. That wasn’t intentional, although at least I walked my butt off on Sunday (5mi) and Tuesday (7.25mi). Unfortunately while I made it through spinning on Wednesday, then all the inauguration exertion caught up with me, big time. Oof. Oh well. I got a lot of sleep last night and everything seems to be back to normal.

Finally running outside. I mean, come on, this should be a given. It’s just been too darn cold, though. This run seems to have shown that treadmills are indeed (as I was hoping) the enemy. Bleah. No more treadmills for a while if I can help it! Sure was windy out, though. Brrrr.

Finally hitting double-digit mileage. The last time I did that was when I ran 13 miles of MCM with Sarah… at the end of October. Yikes! It felt nice to get the mileage moving up again.

The run itself wasn’t bad. It wasn’t one of those, “Wow, I did great,” but after last week’s major poop-out on an 8-miler, I’ll take it. Once again, I ran downhill for the first mile, then turned around and started my climb up through mile 6. Oh, did it feel nice to turn around at marker 7.5 and start heading back downhill after all of that! Slowly getting back there. It felt nice to make some real progress today.

(9:03, 9:20, 9:36, 10:09, 9:55, 9:48, 9:30, 9:15, 9:09, 8:42)