Start time: 2/13/10, 9:30am
Location: Hains Point
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 10:00min/mile
Total Miles For February: 12 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 80 miles

Almost forgot to update with last Saturday’s run; with all of the snow and all (which also resulted in the rec center being closed), I haven’t had much to report! We did try and go for a run on Hains Point on Saturday, though. Turns out Park Services plowed about 85% of the road but didn’t make it (on either side) all the way to the point itself. So we got to run down one side… then back… then down the other side… then back… then a little bit more on the first side… then back. Bleah. All the cold air coming off of the snow actually ended up really hurting my lungs, too; even the next morning they were sore.

The only bright side is that everyone else in the group (Ben, Jim, Michael, Stephanie, Steve) had been forced to sit on their butt up through the previous week and a half as well, so at least we were all in the same boat. I think we all agreed it was one of the tougher 6-milers we’d ever done. Yeesh.

Start time: 2/4/10, 5:45pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 10:23min/mile
Total Miles For February: 6 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 74 miles

Phew! Taking 11 days off from running always results in some ugliness when it’s time for me to start back up. In this case, it was resting one of my feet, which had been hurting on and off since the Disney races. A combination of relacing my shoes (to not have so much pressure along the top of it) and the time off did the trick, at least; not a single ache or pain. And I was doing my best to try and stay active since last running on the 23rd; a combination of rowing machine, swimming, elliptical, and spinning classes for 9 of the 11 days off. But still, oof.

Of course, it probably didn’t help matters that my run was on the slightly-snow-clogged W&OD Trail. I was hoping more of it would have freed up by now, but there was never more than a half-mile stretch before it would inevitably be full of snow for a bit. I should have just done my run in my neighborhood instead… ah well. All that slowing down to avoid face-planting and careful footwork somehow ends up being more tiring than one would think. That and just having my running muscles out of shape meant this was inevitable. Still, with more snow en route (aaarrrrggghhh), it was one of those “now or never” sort of things.

Start time: 1/23/10, 8:15am
Location: Downtown DC
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 10:50min/mile
Total Miles For January: 68 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 68 miles

Another run with Steve, Stephanie, and John. It was a nice day, and our climb up 31st Street ended up this being a slightly slow and meandering run, but it was fun to just take our time and chat. I need to get back to running during the week, though! (I did get some swimming and cycling in, though.)

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3429763

Start time: 1/16/10, 8:00am
Location: Downtown DC
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 10:28min/mile
Total Miles For January: 58 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 58 miles

First day of exercise after the Disney races last weekend. My group from last year was running an 8-miler, so I decided to go head out with them. It was nice to do so; Ben, John, Stephanie, and Steve were all there and we just headed out at an easy pace, chatting as we did so. (I’ve noticed that if Jim and Michael aren’t there, it’s slightly more laid back in terms of pace. Sometimes I want a faster pace, but today easing back in is just what the doctor ordered.) Time to start shedding my November/December pounds!

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3415259

Start time: 1/1/10, 4:30pm
Location: Wilson Boulevard, Bluemont Junction Trail, W&OD Trail, Washington Boulevard
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 9:34min/mile
Total Miles For January: 8 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 8 miles

Went out for an 8-miler with Charlie today, but we were both dragging—and that’s despite not partying it up or drinking on New Year’s Eve. Apparently we have both transformed into sloths. But we dragged ourselves through the course as best we could, and while it was a little bit slower than how I normally run it, I did it and I’m considering that a victory of sorts.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3370757

Start time: 12/27/09, 1:00pm
Location: Wilson Boulevard, Bluemont Junction Trail, W&OD Trail, Washington Boulevard
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 9:02min/mile
Total Miles For December: 85 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 863 miles

I headed out for another run on my new 8-mile loop, only this time I didn’t get lost. Hurrah!

There’s definitely still snow out there, but for the most part it’s not too bad. Like yesterday, hitting intersections were the worst, both on Wilson Boulevard and especially on Washington Boulevard; big piles of snow on occasion that just haven’t melted yet. There were a couple of points on Washington where I also had to step onto the road and run for half a block or so, where shade had kept any of the snow from really melting on the sidewalk. Fortunately it’s a pretty low-traffic kind of day.

On both the Bluemont Junction Trail and the W&OD Trail, it was clear that someone from Arlington County had plowed those stretches of trail. In-between where the two passes of the shovel/plow/whatever had hit, there was a small ridge of snow that snaked along the trail, mostly in the center but occasionally weaving back and forth along the pavement. It looked almost like a spine, poking up out of the asphalt and revealing itself, and it was a nice visual break from an otherwise pretty uneventful run.

Definitely need to lose some Christmas poundage, though. Oof!

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3370757