Start time: 3/14/09, 10:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:33min/mile
Total Miles For March: 38 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 155 miles

I had to run some errands out in Vienna on Saturday, so on a whim I changed into my running gear first and then after taking care of various business, went running between markers 12 and 14.5 on the W&OD Trail. I don’t make it out there very often; when I used to do all my marathon training on the W&OD, our last two longest runs would make it out to markers 13.5 and 15, so it was rather rarified territory (so to speak). It is funny because I always forget that it is just a teeny tiny downhill grade on the way out—it never seems like it until I turn around and suddenly I see that the trail is now at a slight slant. Too, too funny.

More importantly, this part of the trail (marker 12 is just on the far edge of Vienna) is much more deserted than the sections I normally run on, when it comes to other people. It’s also in vast stretches of empty space, with the end result being a quiet, peaceful run. It’s nice to jog alongside my favorite-named stream out there (“Difficult Run”) and maybe see another person every mile or so. Just me and the latest broadcast of the Splendid Table from NPR. Good time.

8:29, 8:28, 8:35, 8:42, 8:32