Start time: 10/24/06, 7:00pm
Location: Old Town Alexandria
Distance: 5.4 miles
Average pace: 9:38min/mile
I decided to give the Pacers Alexandria Tuesday run a whirl—it was an interesting route, through a lot of neighborhoods, and this was a lot of learning the route and following other people. One slow big hill, so not quite as tough as the normal Tuesday route I hit. Still, it was nice to see a change of pace.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=510272
Start time: 10/22/06, 8:00am
Location: Downtown Washington DC
Distance: 10 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:48min/mile
Ok, it was actually (according to the Gmaps Pedometer) a 9.85 mile run. Close enough for government work, that’s what I say. It was a nice run today; a little slow at first as Stephanie, Tod, and I got our frozen muscles to start moving (another cold cold day), but by the end we were definitely zipping along. Definitely a good day for running once you really get going. Meanwhile, Emma and Site Assistant Stephanie are off in Chicago getting buffeted by 14mph winds as they run the Chicago Marathon. Oh, and there’s a chance of snow. Yikes.
Start time: 10/18/06, 6:30pm
Location: Tanglewood Park, Glencannon Park, Peterson Lane Park, and parts of Vienna VA
Distance: 3.75 miles
Average pace: 9:15min/mile
The last (and first!) time I ran in my parents’s neighborhood was back in 2001. It was two miles and it just about killed me. (This is back when I was running—and I use that term loosely—a 16:30min/mile.) It was fun to take the area for another spin; all these roads and trails through parks that I grew up with. Certainly a bit faster a pace since the last time I was here, too. It wasn’t a great course; the paths were a little narrow and I managed to do another “step off the trail and roll my ankle” move (oops) but I felt fine, and strong despite the rolling hills of Vienna that were killing me so much five years ago. Sure, I could’ve run over on the track by the high school and had a nice flat course, but since I didn’t hit the Custis Trail this week I needed my hill work in there somewhere…
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=499954
Start time: 10/15/06, 8:00am
Location: Downtown Washington DC
Distance: 10 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:30min/mile
Sunday was a 10-mile recovery run, just me and Stephanie again. It was almost ideal weather for running, though. Nice and cool, in the mid-40s. Two layers on top and a pair of shorts and I was good to go. This is a big deal because this is in theory the weather we’ll be having in Florence for the marathon so it’s good to know that this is just what I should be wearing. (Other than that, nothing really to report!)
Start time: 10/12/06, 7:00pm
Location: Old Town Alexandria
Distance: 3.5 miles
Average pace: 9:29min/mile
When I make the Thursday runs, I normally run with Chris, Darryl, and Sonia. Except Chris and Sonia weren’t there, and there weren’t other runners interested in our pace, so just the two of us headed out together… Except Darryl’s coming down with a cold and is also running the Baltimore Marathon on Saturday. “I’m going to take it a little slow,” he said, “and do just a little bit. So don’t be afraid to leave me behind.” We stuck together because I like the company and wasn’t feeling up for a huge run anyway (those gale force winds were a little daunting) so we just did 3.5 miles. What amuses me is our mile splits: 10:03, 9:36, 9:06, and an 8:56avg for the last half mile. So much for us trying to take it slower than normal. Somehow I suspected it wasn’t going to last…
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=489997
Start time: 10/10/06, 7:00pm
Location: Clarendon and the Custis Trail
Distance: 4.25 miles
Average pace: 9:52min/mile
Yep, after my 20-miler on Saturday (and Chris running the Army 10-Miler on Sunday), we were definitely a little slower than normal. At least it’s understandable! Really, no big deal.
World Wide Half Marathon Challenge
Start time: 10/07/06, 8:00am
Location: Downtown Washington DC
Distance: 13.1 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Finishing time: 2:10:41
Average pace: 9:59min/mile
20-Miler
Start time: 10/07/06, 8:00am
Location: Downtown Washington DC
Distance: 20 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Average pace: 10:00min/mile
What a morning.
Today was my scheduled 20-mile training run for the Florence Marathon at the end of November… but it’s also the weekend of the World Wide Half Marathon Challenge, in which over 500 people around the world registered to run a “virtual” half marathon either today or tomorrow. No prizes, but we’ve all got race numbers, a results board, even a (PDF) goodie bag. Now, I wasn’t planning on try to beat my PR for a half marathon today (2:06:08) but I figured it was a fun thing to throw in there. After all, I’d be running the distance anyway.
The next bit is also in my regular journal, for those who read both and want to skip it…
Start time: 10/05/06, 7:00pm
Location: Old Town Alexandria
Distance: 5.5 miles
Average pace: 8:54min/mile
Tonight was another new course; now that it’s getting darker out, it’s not safe to run the other course on Thursdays so this new one sent us through Old Town Alexandria, as well as some industrial sort of wasteland along Eisenhower Avenue. Only the the thing is… we weren’t sure where we were supposed to turn around. We were told the course was five miles, and given a landmark… but where was it?
When we finally did hit it, we turned around and decided to come back on the other side of Eisenhower Ave. Only there wasn’t sidewalk for a stretch of the highway. And oh yeah, a big metal fence along the edge of the road. And an 18-wheeler heading right for us. Whoops! (Don’t worry, we survived thanks to hugging the fence.) Turns out it was actually 5.5 miles, not too shabby.
Afterwards I pitied any future boyfriends I may have; I was humming as I put dinner in the oven, and outright singing by the time I got into the shower. After a good run? Top of the world, no doubt about that.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=477958
Start time: 10/03/06, 7:00pm
Location: Clarendon and the Custis Trail
Distance: 4.25 miles
Average pace: 9:37min/mile
It’d been a while since I’d run the Custis Trail! More importantly, it was time for new shoes. By my best calculations I was due… perhaps a little overdue. So, armed with (yet another) new pair of Brooks Beast ’04, up and down the trail I went. A little slow in places, but I think Chris and I were both getting back up to speed. And with the 20-miler looming on Saturday, better safe than sorry. But yeah, a good run… especially since I racked up about 8 miles on Saturday running up and down the Hill of Doom with numerous training groups tackling their own 26-miler. Woohoo!
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=350060
Start time: 09/28/06, 7:00am
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail and Rosslyn
Distance: 3.16 miles
Average pace: 8:52min/mile
I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get any runs in this week, but I squeezed in one this morning before having to dash off to an appointment that meant leaving my home by 8am. Originally I was going to just stick to the Arlington Boulevard Trail, but going back and forth gets boring… and there were also a lot of construction vehicles that I had to dodge. So avoiding the first bit was paramount. Instead I kept running when I hit my normal turn-around spot, heading into Rosslyn. Turns out there really isn’t too much in Rosslyn in terms of places to run (unless you count heading over Key Bridge into DC, or down onto the Mount Vernon Trail) so I did a large loop through the River Place parking lot after I ran out of sidewalk, then headed back with a big loop at the end to avoid the construction. And I made it to my appointment on time, too!
(I had a *slight* cramp… almost just a twinge in my left calf. Which was probably not the same problem I had before but I’m marking it just to be sure. And to be fair I hadn’t been stretching all week. Bad Greg. Time to do so right now in fact.)
Saturday should be amusing. I’m working the AIDS Marathon 26-mile training run and I think I’m going to run some of the groups up the Hill of Doom (since I’m stationed right at the top of it and was told that it’s good to run with them for a tiny bit). The base of the hill to the crest on the side they tackle on the way out is exactly a third of a mile; the side they go up on the return is a quarter mile. I wonder if I can get all of Sunday’s 9-miler in this way? (Yeah, not quite the same thing, but I’ll take it.) And then, on Sunday… hopefully… new running shoes!
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=463916