Category Archives: 06mi

Last Week!

0, 05mi, 06mi

Start Time: 10/18/08, 8:00am
Location: W&OD Trail (Arlington)
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:04min/mile
Total Miles For October: 49 miles

Start Time: 10/19/08, 5:45pm
Location: W&OD Trail (Vienna)
Distance: 5 miles
Average Pace: 8:17min/mile
Total Miles For October: 54 miles

Oops! Catching up a bit here. Saturday was the last Empowered & Fit session; it was a beautiful morning, nice crisp weather. On the schedule was a 6-to-8 mile progressive run, and I headed out with Donna, Paul, Other Laura, and a guy named Jason from Sundays. The run wasn’t quite doing a good job of slicing off 15 seconds every mile, but we certainly did speed up. I decided to just run 6 and call it a day, so I definitely picked it up on that last mile. Wow, though, what a difference cool weather makes!

On Sunday I ran in Vienna for a quick five-miler before heading over to my parents’ house for dinner; I was originally going to run 6 miles but I could tell that it was getting dark fast enough that I needed to stop while I was ahead, so to speak. More crisp, great weather for running.

(10/18: 9:40, 9:03, 8:48, 8:44, 8:38, 8:04)
(10/19: 8:29, 8:15, 8:09, 8:19, 8:14)

Day After

0, 06mi

Start Time: 10/12/08, 7:45am
Location: Clarendon, Ballston, Bluemont Park
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 9:01min/mile
Total Miles For October: 38 miles

This was thankfully a lot nicer; the day after my run I was supposed to run a 6-miler at a 9min/mile pace, and while my quads were not thrilled with me they held up a-ok. One funny thing was that I decided to try out having a clear breath-right strip on my nose to see if that would help out any. It did… but after three miles it fell off because of all the sweat. Bah!

(8:59, 9:11, 8:37, 9:09, 9:03, 9:07)

Rest of September

0, 03mi, 06mi

Start Time: 9/28/08, 11:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 3 miles
Average Pace: 9:04min/mile
Total Miles For September: 61 miles

Wow, that was horrible. I was supposed to run a 10-miler, but the humidity? Out of control. As in, having problems breathing and feeling like it was actually pulling me back. Much worse than anything through the summer itself, which was rather unexpected. Aborted the run and went home; my only consolation (hours later) was hearing how many other people had the same problem with outdoor exercise on Sunday. Still, a little distressing.

Start Time: 9/30/08, 7:30am
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:52min/mile
Total Miles For September: 67 miles

A slightly later start than I wanted this morning, but it all actually worked out very well. Just randomly ran all over the place; down Clarendon Boulevard and 10th Street to Glebe, then over to 50 before winding through residential neighborhoods, followed up by two more miles on 50. Nice weather, didn’t feel like I was pushing, and it was ultimately just what I needed to feel like things were starting to return to normal.

Excuses, Excuses

0, 06mi, progressive run

Start Time: 8/24/08, 8:50am
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:49min/mile
Total Miles For August: 70 miles

A duplicate of Friday’s progressive run on the Mount Vernon Trail, except this time I was really struggling. Allergies from dog-sitting? Not enough sleep from said dog whining outside the door at midnight, 5am, and 7am? A hot sunny morning? (The temperature was actually lower than my Friday run’s was, but it felt hotter. Hmmm.) Or just a bad run? Oh well. I survived, I finished it, I more or less hit the times. Move on and stop coming up with excuses.

Splits: 9:24, 9:10, 9:01, 8:42, 8:36, 8:12

Progressively Early

0, 06mi, progressive run

Start Time: 8/22/08, 6:30pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:49min/mile
Total Miles For August: 64 miles

Now, technically I was supposed to run this on Saturday (and then on Sunday another progressive run, or alternately a make-or-break run). So it was about 5 1/2 hours early. But I’m dogsitting starting Saturday afternoon until Tuesday, and I know the dog in question likes to get up early. Really early. So I figured Saturday morning might be my last chance to sleep in for a while!

Like before, the splits were supposed to be 9:30, 9:15, 9:00, 8:45, 8:30, 8:15. I wasn’t as dead-on the mark as last time, but since only one mile was too slow (and by all of four seconds) I am not complaining. My right ankle was a little stiff heading out, but by the time I got back it was all good. Oh, and why does no one actually walk their bike through the stretch of trail underneath Memorial Bridge? You know, that super-skinny section of the trail, with the huge signs on either side saying, “Dismount and walk your bike”? Today was a new one—a cyclist heading north slowed down, saw me halfway through the bridge, and then kept on riding. Trust me when I say there is not room for two people there. Ugh. What a jerk.

Splits: 9:29, 9:15, 9:04, 8:36 (oops), 8:27, 8:05 (eager to finish)

Progressive Goodness

0, 06mi, progressive run

Start Time: 8/12/08, 6:10pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:48min/mile
Total Miles For August: 32 miles

My last attempt at a progressive run was seriously off-pace, never really hitting the times I was supposed to, always too fast or too slow. The idea is to start the first mile at a 9:30min/mile, then drop 15 seconds off each mile. I was originally going to run this on the W&OD trail, but on the way home the Mount Vernon Trail just looked so nice… so I took a detour and ran there. (Which turned out to be nice because during my warm-up walk down through the creaky bridge, I ran into canis_lupus_va on his way home from a bike ride, and we stopped and chatted for about ten minutes.)

The first mile was a little fast, but from that point on the GPS swears I hit all of my planned splits within 3 seconds. Hurrah! Much, much better. Having the GPS certainly helped out a lot; I needed them because the mile markers are nowhere near the Roosevelt Island parking lot and are only on the full mile, but it helped keep me on pace a lot more. Very, very nice. (But can I do a 8-mile version now? *gulp*)

Splits: 9:07, 9:13, 9:01, 8:42, 8:30, 8:13

Code Orange

0, 06mi, new shoes

Start Time: 7/29/08, 7:00am
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 2 miles & 4 miles
Average Pace: 10:02min/mile & 8:08min/mile
Total Miles For July: 74.5 miles

Uuuuggghhh. Today’s run was a small “make-or-break” run (2x2miles, plus warm-up and cool-down miles) and thank god it wasn’t more or I would be a smear on the pavement. The official air quality is orange, and “unhealthy for sensitive groups”. Um, yeah, I would agree. My throat actually hurts a little bit now. I think I am going to leave the car at work (I don’t need it for anything tonight) and take the bus home so I can at least feel a little better about not pumping more nastiness into the air.

Anyway, I ran this on the Arlington Boulevard Trail, which of course means that the first mile has a gradual uphill and the second mile reverses it. I was happy with my first 2-mile set, not quite as thrilled with the second but honestly I was glad to have survived without any asthma-esque problems. I did feel fat and slow as I lumbered through the second set, which really means that I was overheated and running out of gas. I must have looked like a right mess by the end, my shirt clinging to me with sweat. *shudder* And I am amused that both times the second mile was 20 seconds faster than the first.

warm-up: 9:34
2-mile sets: (8:08, 7:48) & (8:28, 8:08)
cool-down: 10:30

All Over The Place

0, 06mi, progressive run

Start Time: 7/26/08, 9:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:44min/mile
Total Miles For July: 68.5 miles

After taking a few days off while starting the lung steroid (yay), the plan was to run a 6-8 mile progressive run on Saturday; start at a 9:30min/mile, then drop 15 seconds each mile. Well, that was the plan. Half a mile up the trail, I glanced at my watch and I was just over 5 minutes. A little slow. So I picked up the pace a bit, hit the mile more or less where it should be… and then my times were all over the place.

What happened to my old pacing ability? I think I somehow killed it with all that trackwork in the winter, which is counter-interintuitive since that’s what gave it to me in the first place back in 2005. I don’t get it. Argh. Oh well. I got a late start, the sun was beating down on me, and I called it a day after 6 miles. (Amusingly, my average pace is faster than if I’d hit the times where I should’ve, which would’ve been an 8:52. Heh.)

9:26, 8:43, 8:42, 8:27, 8:39, 8:28

On the Road

0, 05mi, 06mi, travel, treadmill

Start Time: 6/24/08, 5:00pm
Location: Long Beach, CA
Distance: 5 miles
Average Pace: 8:57min/mile
Total Miles For June: 48 miles

Start Time: 6/26/08, 8:00am
Location: Long Beach, CA
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:44min/mile
Total Miles For June: 54 miles

I was in Long Beach last week for a business trip, and while Long Beach is lovely (in places), the part I was in… not so much. So I ended up sticking with the treadmills, both times doing a progressive run where I just slowly pushed up the speed over time. A nice time, all in all. Not terribly scenic, but there you go.

Giving Mt. Vernon another try

0, 06mi

Start Time: 6/1/08, 10:30am
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 2 miles & 4 miles
Pace: 10:03min/mile & 8:29min/mile
Total Miles For June: 6 miles

It’s been a long time since I’ve run on the Mount Vernon Trail; I gave it a try once and really hated it. Too many bicycles that whipped by without any warning, really narrow sections of the trail, and generally speaking a big headache. But it’d been almost three years, and I figured I should give it another shot, if only for variety’s sake. My plan was to drive over to Roosevelt Island early, while there’s still parking, and head out from there. Unfortunately I was so tired this morning I slept in a couple of extra hours, and I knew it was going to be a humid day. But, it was only 10:30, so despite the lack of shade, I decided to give it a try instead of diverting back over to Rock Creek.

All things said, it wasn’t bad. It’s still got a lot of cyclists who think it’s ok to not warn people they’re about to pass (trust me, I had no headphones on, I would’ve heard a bell or a “passing!” from them), but there were enough that understood how things are done that it wasn’t too bad. (I was a little horrified that I only saw one cyclist actually get off their bike and walk it through the two sections where the signs say as much, because of the path being incredibly narrow at that point. It’s an accident waiting to happen.) It was supposed to be another 5-7 mile run (including the warm up and cool down miles at either end) and I made it as far as the airport (3 miles in) before deciding I was going to turn around while I still could. (There are some parts around there where there’s no shoulder.)

The way I was definitely huffing and puffing a bit, and (so far as I can tell) with no uphill grade as an excuse. Ah well, that’s why I’m doing these, to get better at this. Not to bad, all in all. Perhaps the most important thing was that knowing it would be warm, I threw out my pride and wore a racerback tank top that I’d gotten from Pacers. I felt very silly afterwars when I stopped at Giant to get a drink, but otherwise? Not so bad. So maybe I’ll keep from baking this summer. We’ll see.