Start time: 7/31/10, 6:00am
Location: Belle Haven Park, Wilson Bridge, National Harbor, Old Town Alexandria
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 10:12min/mile
Total Miles For July: 60 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 392 miles

I missed Thursday’s run this week (and Wednesday’s spin class), which was a little frustrating since I’m trying to get back on track. But I shuffled down to Belle Haven Park (home of the start/finish line for the disastrous Potomac River Run Marathon back in 2009) to meet up with the group. John was going to run 8 miles, while Steve, Jim, and Michael were tackling 16. I was hoping to land somewhere in the middle, maybe 12, which is what I did two weeks ago in that horrible heat. I wasn’t feeling great even from the start, though, which is not a good way to start a run.

We headed up to the Wilson Bridge, then ran over the Potomac into Maryland and the National Harbor site. It was strange seeing the Awakening statue there, after so many years of it being on Hains Point, but otherwise it’s just like any other (insert name) Town Center in the area. A lot of steep hills leading up to and away from the bridge, though, and when we went back over I was pooped. John headed back to the start at that point, while we took a detour through Old Town Alexandria (where someone else’s bathroom break meant we got an extra-long walk break, which was nice). Once my watch hit 10 miles, though, I was done. I thought we were just around the corner so I said I’d walk it in… oops. Actual distance, about half a mile. Once I realized my error I ended up jogging in most of the distance.

John and I went over to Dunken Donuts afterwards and bought some coffee and doughnuts for everyone, and then hung out chatting until they got back. It was a nice way to spend the morning.

(9:26, 9:45, 9:41, 10:52, 11:00, 10:10, 9:50, 11:08, 10:05, 10:00)
(and boy, can you tell exactly where those hills are (and bathroom break) or what?)

Start time: 7/3/10, 6:30am
Location: Wilson Blvd, Washington Blvd, W&OD Trail, Bluemont Trail, Arlington Blvd Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:24min/mile
Total Miles For July: 10 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 342 miles

The rest of my group this weekend is either out of town or otherwise booked up, so I was left to my own devices for a change. Decided to run my old 8-mile loop, with the idea in the back of my head that if I wanted I could tack on two extra miles at the end and make it 10. As I wasn’t entirely sure how fast the temperature would rise I decided to play it safe and ran it backwards, meaning that there was a water fountain at mile 5 instead of mile 3; that way if I was running low and thought I was going to go for 10, I could fill up there.

On the one down side, some of the steepest hills on this run are a lovely downhill if I run it the other direction, and those climbs during mile 4 along Washington Blvd were tougher than I’d thought. Ended up taking a tiny slow down on them, so that I didn’t regret it later. It worked fairly well. On the plus side, I ran into Teresa right before I got to the Bluemont Trail, so that was a pleasant surprise. She looked totally fully of energy (while me, not so much), and it gave me enough of a moral boost that I tacked on the two extra miles at the end. That ninth mile felt great, the tenth… well… you can’t win them all.

Not my fastest time, but certainly not my slowest either. I do wish the temperature and humidity were able to stay low for one more day, but it’s still a lot better today that it will be tomorrow. No complaints!

(9:08, 9:20, 9:32, 9:59, 9:06, 9:35, 9:21, 9:03, 8:55, 9:54)

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: 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: 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: 11/15/09, 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: 10/24/09, 9:30am
Location: 10th St, Wilson Boulevard, Bluemont Junction Trail, W&OD Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:28min/mile
Total Miles For October: 82 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 699 miles

20 seconds per mile slower on the exact same route. The difference? About 30 degrees hotter outside, plus a thick humidity that on and off turned into light showers of rain. Plus, allergies acting up horribly, to the point that on miles 4-6 and 10, I ended up taking a walk break because I was having problems breathing out of my nose. Really wretched run in terms of how I was feeling and then some. Yuck.

(8:27, 8:39, 9:19, 9:52, 9:49, 10:29, 9:22, 8:59, 9:24, 10:14)

Start time: 10/19/09, 7:30am
Location: 10th St, Wilson Boulevard, Bluemont Junction Trail, W&OD Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:08min/mile
Total Miles For October: 68 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 685 miles

Originally I was going to run 10 miles on Saturday with Dave and Steve, but when it was pouring rain on Friday night with no plans on stopping and in the low 40s, it seemed like a recipe for getting sick. So instead I went for a run this morning before work. It was still cold—just 40 degrees when I left—so I broke out the hat, gloves, and pants for the first time in quite a while. The run itself was good, though; headed down 10th St and Wilson for two miles, then went onto Bluemont to W&OD for another two miles and turned around. Once I got back home, I went in the other direction for a mile and then headed back. Thanks to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and Evil of the Daleks episodes 4-5, the time just whipped right by.

I am starting to think about replacing my Garmin Forerunner 301, which doesn’t seem to be carrying a full charge these days (although still enough to get me through even a 20-miler), plus I’m getting annoyed about its reliability as of late on picking up signals or not. Nothing like running a route over and over again and getting a different mileage every time. Grrr.