Monthly Archives: August 2013

10 is better than 20

10mi

Start time: 8/30/2013, 8:05am
Location: National Mall, Hains Point, Mt. Vernon Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 10:49min/mile
Total Miles For August: 88 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 530 miles
Current Shoes: 124 miles

Most of the group had a 20-miler on their agenda for this Saturday, but Ben and I joined them halfway into the run. It was nice; Steve’s niece Stephanie joined us and it was her furthest distance and then some. Some faltered a bit towards the end, and I knew it’d be a slow run because they’d already packed on 10 miles before I arrived, but all in all it was a nice time.

Takoma Park run

05mi

Start time: 8/28/2013, 5:47am
Location: Takoma Park
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 9:44min/mile
Total Miles For August: 78 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 520 miles
Current Shoes: 114 miles

Due to events down on the Mall on Wednesday, I ran by myself in my own neighborhood. Ran deep into Takoma Park MD, then headed back home. Hillier around the Sligo Creek area than I’d expected!

Gorgeous Morning

06mi

Start time: 8/26/2013, 5:47am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.45 miles
Average pace: 9:52min/mile
Total Miles For August: 73 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 515 miles
Current Shoes: 109 miles

I have a sneaking suspicion this morning is the only gorgeous one we’ll have all week, so I tried to revel in it as much as I could. Fantastic breeze and cool temperatures. Nice when you can get them in August!

Detroit Marriott

06mi, treadmill

Start time: 8/23/2013, 6:00am
Location: Detroit Marriott
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 9:32min/mile
Total Miles For August: 67 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 509 miles
Current Shoes: 103 miles

Still not a fan of the dreaded treadmill. But I will grudgingly admit that if I am to run on one, there are worse things than to be on the 40th floor of the Detroit Marriott, facing eastward and getting to watch the sun rise near the end of the run.

Early Bird

06mi

Start time: 8/21/2013, 5:40am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.1 miles
Average pace: 9:46min/mile
Total Miles For August: 61 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 503 miles
Current Shoes: 97 miles

Got to the Mall a tiny bit earlier than normal and had enough time to run both my solo miles before meeting the guys, which was a nice thing to have under my belt since it was super-humid and would’ve been tough to keep going when hitting the cars later. Nice company, if not nice weather.

Catching Up (Again)

06mi, 09mi, treadmill

Start time: 8/10/2013, 6:08am
Location: National Mall, Hains Point, Capitol Hill
Distance: 9 miles
Average pace: 10:43min/mile
Total Miles For August: 37 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 479 miles
Current Shoes: 73 miles

Start time: 8/12/2013, 6:00pm
Location: WSC Silver Spring
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 9:27min/mile
Total Miles For August: 43 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 485 miles
Current Shoes: 79 miles

Start time: 8/14/2013, 5:52am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.25 miles
Average pace: 9:59min/mile
Total Miles For August: 49 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 491 miles
Current Shoes: 85 miles

Start time: 8/19/2013, 5:47am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.37 miles
Average pace: 9:49min/mile
Total Miles For August: 55 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 497 miles
Current Shoes: 91 miles

Saturday, Aug 10: Me, John, Stephanie, Ben, and returning to the fold Mark went out for a 9-miler. Ben and Mark cut it a little short (maybe a mile or so) but all in all, an uneventful and pleasant time. And then, with it over, I dashed off to New Jersey for the weekend. Fortunately by car rather than by foot.

Monday, Aug 12: Got home too late to run in the morning, but ran 6 miles w/ Charlie at the gym that evening instead. Ugh, treadmill.

Wednesday, Aug 14: Back to morning runs. Ben and Mark provided welcome company… doubly so because near the end we spotted the crazy guy from a couple of weeks ago, having latched onto someone new. Crazy guy split off from the rest of the group while they were in eyesight and I swear, just from the person he was talking to’s shoulders, I could tell he was relieved. Ha!

Monday, Aug 19: Went on vacation over the weekend and didn’t run a step. So there. Ben, Mark, and Steve were all present. Gorgeous, gorgeous weather. Definitely picked up the pace a bit on my opening/ending miles (8:17, 8:29, and ~8:07avg for the last third of a mile) in part because of the weather and partially trying to push myself a bit.

Home Run

06mi

Start time: 8/8/2013, 7:15am
Location: Takoma Park, Sligo Creek
Distance: 6.2 miles
Average pace: 9:49min/mile
Total Miles For August: 28 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 470 miles
Current Shoes: 64 miles

Working from home today (and I missed Wednesday’s run due to some other issues), so I did a little run from home instead. Super-crazy-humid. Ugh.

Another weekday

06mi

Start time: 8/5/2013, 5:50am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.28 miles
Average pace: 10:03min/mile
Total Miles For August: 22 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 464 miles
Current Shoes: 58 miles

Mostly uneventful weekday run, except that Ben joined me for my first mile, which is normally solo, so that was a nice surprise.

14 + 2

16mi

Start time: 8/3/2013, 6:04am
Location: Custis Trail, Mt. Vernon Trail
Distance: 14 miles + 2.14 miles
Average pace: 11:44min/mile
Total Miles For August: 16 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 458 miles
Current Shoes: 52 miles

The idea was a 16-miler where we ran 6 miles on the Custis Trail, then 10 miles on Mt. Vernon Trail. Unfortunately we made a slight miscalculation on where the water fountains were on the second half and we had to beg for some water to make it all the way back.

At the 14-mile point, Steve was feeling ready to bonk and said he was going to walk the rest in. As I have no fall marathon and also had a blister on the bottom of my foot, I decided to walk that last bit in too. Definitely the right call.