Start time: 4/24/10, 12:00pm
Location: SW Waterfront, National Mall, Georgetown Harbor
Distance: 8.86 miles
Average pace: 9:57min/mile
Total Miles For April: 52 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 233 miles

Another jaunt with the weekend group; not too much to really report, aside from being quite happy that it did not start raining on us like the weather report had threatened! I fear my Sunday bike ride might get scratched, though, it’s supposed to be rainy for quite a few days. Distance came up a tiny bit short due to a slight detour in Georgetown but it’s all good.

(In general this was a strange week for exercise. Missed Wednesday’s spin class due to work but biked home on Tuesday from work so that sort of balanced out. And then I missed Friday’s swimming due to feeling sick and staying home all day. Ah well, time to start over on Monday I guess!)

(10:25, 10:10, 9:59, 9:50, 10:10, 10:01, 10:03, 9:52, 7:44 (.86mi))

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: 11/21/09, 7:20am
Location: Arlington + DC
Distance: 9 miles (0.71 + 6.99 + 1.30)
Average pace: 9:43min/mile
Total Miles For November: 57 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 763 miles

Today’s run was actually in three parts; just under three quarters of a mile jog over to Jim & Michael’s where the group was meeting, then seven miles with them (Arlington to Georgetown to Rock Creek to Reflecting Pool to Memorial Bridge to Iwo Jima to Arlington), then a mile and a bit more to round it up to an even nine miles. I hadn’t run with the large group in a while, and it was nice to see and chat with them. I know it’s a different pace when I run with them, but it’s nice to get out there in a social setting and hang for a while.

Start time: 3/30/09, 5:20pm
Location: McLean, W&OD Trail, Bluemont Park, North Arlington
Distance: 9 miles
Average pace: 8:56min/mile
Total Miles For March: 73 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 190 miles

Originally I was supposed to pick up 9 miles this weekend, but my allergies were so bad on Saturday that they just weren’t going to allow it. So, after some thought, I decided that I’d finally take the plunge and try one of the “safe” routes I’d figured out where I could run home from work. The absolute shortest distance I could find would be an 8-miler, and adding that extra mile on would be fairly easy. So, I took the bus into work with a backpack full of running clothes, then at the end of the day changed and ran home: Chain Bridge Road to Westmoreland Drive all the way to the East Falls Church Metro. Then, the W&OD Trail for two or so miles to Bluemont Park, head through Bluemont to Wilson Boulevard, and from there home along Wilson and 10th Streets. (If I was running the shorter route, at the EFC Metro I’d instead have taken Washington Boulevard all the way to 10th Street and home.)

It was definitely a lot hillier than I’d remembered, and I’m feeling those after-effects now. Oof! And a couple of times on Westmoreland, the sidewalk on one side of the street would abruptly end, so I’ll need to learn the crossings a bit better. But it was a nice run, definitely. Not something I think I’d do every week, certainly, but it’s nice to have it as an option.

(8:43, 8:46, 8:37, 8:51, 8:51, 8:50, 9:19, 9:25, 8:57)

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2683347

Start Time: 9/27/08, 8:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 9 miles
Total Miles For September: 58 miles

This Saturday was supposed to be like last week’s 5x3mile extravaganza, but without set 4 added in. I did the first three sets and came in under my suggested times (30, 30, and 27min) but I didn’t attempt the last one (25min) because all the way through the third set I felt more and more like I was going to throw up. Charming. I thought it was from eating cereal instead of oatmeal for breakfast, but it’s now hours and I still feel really horrible. Fun fun fun.

9:10, 9:48, 9:46 (9:35avg, 28:46tot)
9:52, 9:49, 9:33 (9:45avg, 29:15tot)
8:26, 9:10, 9:08 (8:54avg, 26:44tot)

Start time: 6/10/07, 8:00am
Location: Capital Crescent Trail, C&O Canal Towpath, and Georgetown
Distance: 9 miles
Run:Walk Ratio: 8.5:1
Average pace: 9:40min/mile

Last week I’d said my plan for this weekend was to shift up one group to the 10min/mile group, but I’d found out the day before that a 9:30min/mile group existed. I’d been feeling good, so I decided, why not? Chris was starting to shift up one group as well, and Zack had been out sick so decided to shift down a tiny bit to get back up to speed. We joined the three regulars in the 9:30 group; Ben, Steve, and PWNICR (Person Whose Name I Can’t Remember), who warned us that sometimes their 9:30s were a little… slower. Chris and Zack and I found ourselves continually pulling ahead; the times we tried and stay with the others, we were definitely going a little slower. We finally gave up and let ourselves pull ahead, which worked well since the other three guys ended up turning around early anyway. Once it was just us, though, we hit our marks every mile and took the last mile in fast (per Fred) which felt great. A nice run!

Oh, and for my first time on the C&O Canal Towpath? So far, not a fan. Perhaps it’ll get better/easier, but I don’t like the shifting of the gravel, or getting rocks in my shoes. I know the softer surface is supposed to be good for you, but… hmph.

Next week I’ll be down in Wilmington, but will try and squeeze in my 10-miler down there. We shall see!

Start time: 4/22/07, 8:30am
Location: Capital Crescent Trail
Distance: 9.5 miles
Average pace: 9:16min/mile

A couple of weeks ago, I had still been thinking about running the GW Parkway 10-miler today. As it got closer, though, I realized that my running would probably be really cut back on in April and that I wouldn’t be able to get much in for the two weeks leading up to the race. So instead, Del and I made plans to just go running on our own that day. And what a gorgeous day it was to run; breezy and sunny, with the sun shining off of the Potomac but the trees of the Cap Crescent Trail giving us shade when we needed it.

The plan was to run 10 miles, but my legs were feeling a little tight starting around mile 9, and when we hit 9.5 miles Del decided he was done as well because his hamstrings were tightening up. So instead we walked the last half mile back to my car, then on the way back to Del’s place to drop him off he ran into Health Bar and grabbed us both strawberry-banana protein smoothies, which were pretty good. So, not quite what was planned but still a good run. I am, however, quite relieved that I didn’t sign up for the race!