Start time: 3/9/10, 6:15pm
Location: Clarendon/Courthouse
Distance: 3 miles
Average pace: 8:34min/mile
Total Miles For March: 30 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 149 miles
I’d gone swimming in the morning, but it was such a beautiful evening that I wanted to squeeze in a quick run in-between work and dinner plans. Not really time for more than 3 miles, but better than nothing. And now… off to those earlier mentioned dinner plans!
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3531973
Start time: 3/8/10, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:51min/mile
Total Miles For March: 27 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 146 miles
Wow, it was a beautiful day in the DC area today—almost 60 degrees! After work I went for a quick run on the W&OD Trail, which was mostly nice… well, except for the nasty, algae smell coming from Four Mile Run. Bleah. That water smells rather horrendous today. None the less, it was nice to just get out and knock out a few miles.
(8:38, 8:56, 9:09, 9:05, 8:25)
Start time: 3/6/10, 7:30am & 10:30am
Location: Hains Point, West Potomac Park, National Mall; North Arlington
Distance: 10 miles & 4 miles
Average pace: 9:59min/mile & 9:14min/mile
Total Miles For March: 22 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 141 miles
Went running with my group today for 10 miles, which is always a real pleasure. Even with walk breaks we picked up the pace a bit the last four or so miles, which was a nice feeling. I’d originally planned on running 12 miles (and tacking on two more at the end) but everyone else was heading to Starbucks and I decided that sounded like much more fun. (My old Garmin GPS is continuing to glitch, but fortunately Michael was leading the pack and his much newer one seemed to be hitting the right marks. Mine slid about a tenth of a mile halfway through and it was rather obvious; suddenly we’d magically tacked on an extra minute for no good reason according to mine, but Michael’s had us at the usual pace and was beeping at the .9 mile points. Argh. Time to replace it soon.)
Except afterwards I felt guilty from my chai latte and piece of coffee cake, so when I got home I changed my shirt and then ran my old 4-mile loop, which aside from two small sections is now finally snow-free. (I just have to run on the opposite side of the street for the start and end of the loop.) I had a stitch in my side for that (probably from the coffee cake) but I pushed through anyway. Mission accomplished!
(for the 4-miler: 9:17, 9:06, 9:18, 9:13)
Start time: 3/4/10, 6:45pm
Location: Custis Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 9:33min/mile
Total Miles For March: 8 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 127 miles
Wow, that sucked.
It’s been ages since I ran on the Custis Trail. I hadn’t planned on doing so—I was aiming to run on the W&OD Trail after work—but I got out of the office much later than I thought and it was fairly dark. Since the Custis Trail is lit (unlike most of W&OD unfortunately) I thought I’d do the responsible thing and run there instead. Only problem is that Custis Trail is one of the hilliest running courses in the area. Lots of straight up and down hills that kick my ass every time I run them. When I used to run with Pacers, on Tuesdays I’d run in Old Town and Thursdays I’d run in Clarendon on Custis (or was it the other way around?) and it was always a huge time difference with Custis.
Anyway, it clearly had been too long since I’d done some serious hill work; on the second mile there was one hill that kicked my ass so thoroughly that I actually ended up walking for about 10 seconds just to get to the top. Bleah. On the bright side, yesterday my right foot had been a tiny bit sore and I figured out the reason today, with the heel lift in my right shoe having slid out of position. (It’s there to help my right calf from getting strained.) Soon as I put it back, problem solved. Now if only the hills were that easy to slay! I guess I know what I need to do more of… unfortunately…
(8:49, 10:03, 9:59, 9:22)
Start time: 3/3/10, 6:10pm & 7:15pm
Location: TJ Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 2 miles
Average pace: 8:12min/mile & 8:30min/mile
Total Miles For March: 4 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 123 miles
Wednesday was a bit of an experiment; I’d missed Tuesday’s run due to jet lag, so I decided that I’d try and get some running in either before or after spinning class. By the time I got there, I was too early for the 6:30 start, but too late to get 4 miles in. So instead, I ran two miles, then did my 45 minute spin class, then skipped the cool down and dismantling of the bike (don’t worry, I cleared it with the instructor in advance) and immediately ran 2 more miles. Considering I felt a tiny bit wobbly at first from the transition, I’d say only picking up 18 seconds per mile was a nice accomplishment. (Then I went back and wiped down and took apart the bike as well as did some cool-down stretches.)
(8:15 & 8:10; 8:29 & 8:31)
Start time: 2/28/10, 1:30pm
Location: LAX Marriott Treadmill
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:53min/mile
Total Miles For February: 51 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 119 miles
Hey, guess what happens when you actually start running regularly again? It gets slightly easier. Funny thing, that. About halfway through the run I realized it was feeling a little too easy and I started turning the pace up a bit. It was nice for everything to still be comfortable. Now if I can just keep my nose to the grindstone, maybe… just maybe…?
Start time: 2/26/10, 7:30am
Location: Venice Beach, Santa Monica Beach
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:36min/mile
Total Miles For February: 46 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 114 miles
Well, after all of these trips out to the west coast, I finally go to do (to me) an iconic run: along the beach. I should clarify, though; I was running on a concrete strip that runs along the beach itself, not on top of shifting sands (which is bad). But I started at Venice Beach and ran north for a while before turning around and heading back. It was a pleasant run, especially since on the way back when I was on a sort of a Boardwalk-type of stretch that all the vendors had started to set up their merchandise and such.
I also had to recognize while I was out there that I am woefully underprepared for March’s half-marathon, and realistically I am going to give up any sort of PR goals. Which was a bad discovery to make, but also better to decide it now than the day of the race.
Start time: 2/25/10, 7:00am
Location: LAX Marriott Treadmill
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 9:05min/mile
Total Miles For February: 36 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 104 miles
Just some running on the hotel treadmill. I’m not a big fan of the treadmill in general and I started off slow and then ramped it up a bit. Still not terribly fast, but after missing Tuesday’s run due to work and needing to pack, I won’t deny that I was feeling a little rusty.
Start time: 2/20/10, 8:00am
Location: Hains Point, National Mall
Distance: 9 miles
Average pace: 10:49min/mile
Total Miles For February: 31 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 99 miles
Went for another run with the group this morning; the first three miles, on Hains Point, were great. They’ve plowed out the entire area now, and aside from the occasional tiny patch of ice and/or packed snow it was clear and easy, and we had a good pace going. The other six miles, though… well, Not So Good. A lot of ice-dodging and having to stop and walk over entire stretches. Most of DC’s sidewalks still aren’t ready, or at least they were once ready but then the melting-and-refreezing cycle messed them up. *sigh* Ah well. We got forced to slow down a great deal but at least we got the distance in (and the company was great).
I’m missing next week’s run, so I’m hoping in two weeks when I run with them again it will be a radically different landscape. (Please?)
Start time: 2/18/10, 6:45am
Location: TJ Community Center
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 9:04min/mile
Total Miles For February: 22 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 90 miles
More indoor track running. Um… yay? It was a good thing to have done; with a race a month away I really need to get my butt back in gear. But I am super-sleepy now. Cannot stop yawning.
(9:07, 9:01, 9:11, 9:00, 8:59)