Start time: 7/30/2015, 5:45 am
Location: National Mall, Capitol Hill
Distance: 6.2 miles
Average pace: 9:47 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 79 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 465 miles
Current Shoes: 138 miles

Ended up missing Monday and Wednesday’s runs; the first due to storms, the second due to a combination of factors. Decided to squeeze in a solo Thursday morning run but wow, the humidity just about killed me. Pushed through six miles and decided to call it a day.

Start time: 7/25/2015, 7:00 am
Location: National Mall, Rock Creek Park, National Zoo, Dupont Circle, Farragut
Distance: 10.11 miles
Average pace: 10:18 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 73 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 459 miles
Current Shoes: 132 miles

We had a bonus visitor today; Armand’s brother Jason was in town and he was gamely up for a run with us turkeys. We did the National Zoo route, since it would show off a bunch of the city in one fell swoop.

We did have one moment of panic, though. Right after going through Dupont Circle, we saw a dog (italian greyhound?) run down the center of Connecticut Ave, with someone in running gear heading after it, clearly trying to catch it. I ran down our side of the street all the way to M Street, trying to get ahead of the dog so that I could then head in and try to corral it. And while I was making up some good distance on the dog, unfortunately at M Street the traffic was against me crossing and I wasn’t willing to get killed to try and save the dog.

Fortunately, there is a happy ending. When we got the Lafayette Square in front of the White House, we saw that the Secret Service officers there had managed to grab the dog. Phew! Crisis averted.

Start time: 7/22/2015, 5:39 am
Location: National Mall, Capitol Hill
Distance: 7.25 miles
Average pace: 9:11 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 63 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 449 miles
Current Shoes: 122 miles

I hadn’t meant to take off a week from running, but various issues kept me from running as planned on Saturday and then Monday. On the bright side, coming back this morning was a glorious experience. Almost no humidity and about 70 degrees. After temperatures the past few days being in the high 90s with a heat index even higher due to humidity, this break is fantastic. Just John and me this morning, but we definitely made the most of our good conditions!

Start time: 7/16/2015, 5:39 am
Location: National Mall, Capitol Hill
Distance: 7.26 miles
Average pace: 9:33 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 56 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 442 miles
Current Shoes: 115 miles

After the scorcher of the previous day’s afternoon run, being out before 6am was a pleasant temperature change, that’s for certain.

Start time: 7/15/2015, 3:15 pm
Location: McLean
Distance: 4.25 miles
Average pace: 10:46 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 49 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 435 miles
Current Shoes: 108 miles

Bonus Wednesday afternoon run! Holly and Steve sometimes go for an afternoon run from the office, and Laura and I got to join them this time. The timing worked out perfectly—when we were done I just changed shirts and then headed home—although that said, it sure was boiling hot. Phew! Makes me appreciate those super early start times.

Start time: 7/14/2015, 5:40 am
Location: National Mall, Capitol Hill
Distance: 7.2 miles
Average pace: 9:46 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 45 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 431 miles
Current Shoes: 104 miles

After switching last week to Mon/Wed, this week was back (temporarily) to Tue/Thu since Steve was out of town and it worked better for Ben and John and I. (Although no John this morning.)

Start time: 7/11/2015, 6:00 am
Location: National Mall, 7th St, Howard University, Capitol Hill, H Street
Distance: 10.26 miles
Average pace: 10:35 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 38 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 424 miles
Current Shoes: 97 miles

Ran two miles w/ Armand, then we looped around and picked up Ben for the back 8. We took a detour onto H Street on the way back from our Howard route, which worked well, although we did have a close call with a car flying down Maryland Ave. I saw it and shouted out, and Armand managed to grab Ben to keep him from hurtling forward. Excitement!

Start time: 7/8/2015, 5:40 am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 7.2 miles
Average pace: 9:36 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 28 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 414 miles
Current Shoes: 87 miles

Start time: 7/6/2015, 5:40 am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.25 miles
Average pace: 9:42 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 21 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 407 miles
Current Shoes: 80 miles

Crazy thick air today, and it was supposed to pour rain while we were running, but it never happened. All three of us cut our runs short by a mile; Ben’s was at least work-related, but there was definitely a bit of a struggle today. Oof.

(Also we got diverted several times due to fences and blockades still set up from Independence Day. Oops.)

Start time: 7/4/2015, 7:00 am
Location: Columbia, MD
Distance: 8.18 miles
Average pace: 10:10 min/mile
Total Miles For July: 15 miles
Total Miles For 2015: 401 miles
Current Shoes: 74 miles

Steve and I headed up to Columbia to run with Stephanie, Armand, and Jack; considering how many times Stephanie and Armand come down to run with us, it was a bit overdue to return the favor. Since it’s Columbia, the route was full of hills, but thankfully/happily Stephanie spared us some of the truly awful ones. Nothing too crazy for a change. Despite predicted thunderstorms, we got a tiny sprinkle during mile 3 but that was it. Phew!