Start time: 8/5/07, 6:30am
Location: National Mall & Cap Crescent Trail
Distance: 18 miles
Average pace: 9:22min/mile

Phew! Today was a hot day; not quite as bad as yesterday was (where it went over 100, I believe) but still very hot. We caught a break by it not being putrid out, though, and that was a good thing indeed. We headed out and did the first seven miles down near the National Mall; because of the distance and the heat we were supposed to slow down to somewhere around a 9:30. We had a little trouble gaging our speed at first, but felt good. (9:19, 8:52, 9:04, 9:16, 9:29, 8:43, 9:00) Well, aside from some stomach issues I was having, but a trip to the world’s most repulsive portajohn helped a great deal.

From there it was onto the Cap Crescent Trail; Laura dropped back a bit because of stomach cramps, but the remaining four of us pushed on together until 11 miles into the course. (10:00, 9:33, 9:13, 9:37) It was at that point that Dvora and Paul decided to turn around early (Dvora only had a 14 scheduled, Paul wasn’t feeling well) and a couple of seconds later, Dave zoomed off into the distance. At which point it was just me, with seven miles to go. Oh well, good practice for the marathon, right?

At first, I was feeling a little sluggish and tired, and my stomach briefly decided to give me some problems. It was two miles to the turn-around, and a full mile back I was still feeling less than stellar. (9:34, 9:40, 9:53) Then, finally, my second wind kicked in and from there it was smooth sailing all the way back, a great way to end a run feeling energized and strong. (9:35, 9:10, 9:26, 9:14)