Category Archives: 05mi

Getting Ready to Eat

0, 05mi

Start time: 4/24/09, 5:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:47min/mile
Total Miles For April: 60 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 250 miles

I’d hoped to get this run started a little earlier (went to work super-early and everything) but the office conspired against me. Ah well. So, instead of 6 miles, I went with just 5 and that was good enough, right? I’m still getting used to warmer weather; when was the last time I was running in 80 degree conditions??? I deliberately dialed it back a bit on mile 4 because it was uphill and I was feeling like I was going to fade. That worked pretty well since I got to make it up on the next mile and not feel like crud.

As an added bonus, I ran into Alma on the trail! Yay! She’s training for a triathlon in June and is trying to convince me to sign up for it… hmmm…

(8:42, 8:47, 8:35, 9:12, 8:40)

Shorter than expected

0, 05mi

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)

Vacation’s Over!

0, 05mi, new shoes

Start time: 3/24/09, 5:30pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:26min/mile
Total Miles For March: 60 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 177 miles

After taking Monday morning off from the gym (and its usual rowing and elliptical fun), it’s back to the grind. I’d wanted to push my mid-week runs up to 6 miles this week but we’ll see how that goes; so often (like this run) it just doesn’t happen thanks to other time constraints. Still, it was a nice 5-miler; uphill for the first two, then back down for the next two and a flat final mile. I know I run on the W&OD a lot, but one thing I do like is the general lack of roads to cross. I did have one intersection to get through here, but between marks 2 and 5 there are no crossings at all—which means no continual starting and stopping. That’s something I get if I run in my neighborhood (plus car exhaust!) and it can get a little old.

More importantly, my new shoes arrived right after the half marathon. It felt soooo good to retire the old ones.

(8:42, 8:50, 8:19, 8:10, 8:12)

End of the Line

0, 05mi

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

2 (and a half) by 2

0, 05mi

Start time: 3/12/09, 5:30pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 2.5 miles x 2
Average pace: 8:16min/mile
Total Miles For March: 33 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 150 miles

Originally this was going to just be a 5-mile run—but I had to stop to take care of something two and a half miles in, so instead I turned it into a repeat session. It worked out pretty well; I got about 3 1/2 minutes of rest between the first 2.5 miler and the second and I was really happy with the end results. Doubly so because for the first one, 1.5 miles were downhill and only 1 mile was uphill; for the second, it was reversed and I ended up with a faster time. Yeah, I can deal with that. (Doubly so since I was home from work sick, yesterday.)

1st repeat: 8:12, 8:21, 4:17 (8:20avg)
2nd repeat: 8:17, 8:19, 3:51 (8:11avg)

More Mile Repeats

0, 05mi

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

Back to the Repeats

0, 05mi, indoor track

Start time: 1/27/09, 2:15pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 3 x 1 mile
Average pace: 9:43min/mile & 7:54min/mile
Total Miles For January: 40 miles

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve run mile repeats. I was hoping to get four of them in today, but I also knew I was potentially biting off more than I could chew at first. I figured if I would go by the old adage from Fred that if you can’t complete the exercise at the desired pace, to terminate the rest. I ran my warm-up mile, then went for my 8min/mile targets.

The first two were fine—heading a little fast out of the gate on each of them at first, and then adjusting accordingly. And for the first half of the third one, it was the same as the first two… but then I definitely started sucking wind towards the end of the third. Three? Three sounds good to me.

warm-up/cooldown: 10:05, 9:21
mile repeats: 7:38, 7:58, 8:07

Last Week!

0, 05mi, 06mi

Start Time: 10/18/08, 8:00am
Location: W&OD Trail (Arlington)
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:04min/mile
Total Miles For October: 49 miles

Start Time: 10/19/08, 5:45pm
Location: W&OD Trail (Vienna)
Distance: 5 miles
Average Pace: 8:17min/mile
Total Miles For October: 54 miles

Oops! Catching up a bit here. Saturday was the last Empowered & Fit session; it was a beautiful morning, nice crisp weather. On the schedule was a 6-to-8 mile progressive run, and I headed out with Donna, Paul, Other Laura, and a guy named Jason from Sundays. The run wasn’t quite doing a good job of slicing off 15 seconds every mile, but we certainly did speed up. I decided to just run 6 and call it a day, so I definitely picked it up on that last mile. Wow, though, what a difference cool weather makes!

On Sunday I ran in Vienna for a quick five-miler before heading over to my parents’ house for dinner; I was originally going to run 6 miles but I could tell that it was getting dark fast enough that I needed to stop while I was ahead, so to speak. More crisp, great weather for running.

(10/18: 9:40, 9:03, 8:48, 8:44, 8:38, 8:04)
(10/19: 8:29, 8:15, 8:09, 8:19, 8:14)

ICK

0, 05mi

Start Time: 10/14/08, 4:30pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average Pace: 8:53min/mile
Total Miles For October: 43 miles

I decided on Tuesday that I was going to run “whatever I wanted” and just enjoy the run. Well, that would have been ok… if the sudden heat wave had not unleased swarms of gnats all up and down the Mount Vernon Trail. So, about two miles in, I ran through a cloud of gnats… and then spent the entire rest of the run doing the following:

1) Greg wipes face with hand
2) Greg looks at hand now covered in gnat corpses
3) Greg wipes hand off on shorts
4) Greg looks at hand, now clear

Repeat over and over again. I probably wiped 60 to 80 gnats off of my face. Disgusting. Originally I was going to run 6 miles, but under the circumstances I decided ending my run a bit early was the smartest thing to do.

(9:11, 8:55, 8:36 (fleeing the gnats!), 8:46, 8:58)