Start time: 1/25/03, 9:30am

Location: W&OD Trail

Activity: Running

Distance: 5 miles

Run:Walk ratio: 3:2

Average pace: 15min/mile

Brrrrr. Today was awfully cold, but after skipping last week Julie and I dragged ourselves to the East Falls Church metro station for a 5-mile jaunt. One nice surprise was to discover the AIDS Marathon winter program was there today doing their final long run (26 miles) in preparation for the Mardi Gras Marathon down in New Orleans next month. We cheered on the various pace groups as we went by them in the opposite direction, which was fun.

The run itself started off really slowly; our pace last year was a 14:30/mile, but being sloth-like for two months had whittled that down. Both Julie and I always have a sluggish first two miles, but it felt much longer this time, almost until the 2.5 mile turn-around. Heading back, though, we found ourself subconsciously picking up the pace; by mile 4 we were right on pace, and we did the final mile in a 14-minute pace. This was reassuring, since one of our goals is by spring to shave off a full minute-per-mile off our pace while still having endurance for longer runs.

The only really bad thing was that the water fountains along the W&OD trail had all frozen; fortunately, since AIDS Marathon was out and about, we could bum some water off of them when we finished. Next week if it’s this cold I’ll have to remember to bring some extra water with me to the trail!