Start time: 10/14/2013, 3:45pm
Location: Takoma Park, Sligo Creek
Distance: 7 miles
Average pace: 9:46min/mile
Total Miles For October: 19 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 599 miles
Current Shoes: 193 miles

Ran a rare 7-miler with Charlie (his choice of distance, although I wish I’d insisted on 8 miles now that I look at my 2013 total!); lots of gnats and a little warm/sunny, but otherwise no complaints!

Start time: 9/23/2013, 5:47am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.35 miles
Average pace: 9:55min/mile
Total Miles For September: 43 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 573 miles
Current Shoes: 167 miles

Ran Monday with Ben and a long-absent Steve; very pleasant weather, no complaints.

Start time: 9/25/2013, 4:30pm
Location: Rock Creek Park, National Zoo
Distance: 7 miles
Average pace: 9:19min/mile
Total Miles For September: 50 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 580 miles
Current Shoes: 174 miles

Ran after work for a change; parked in Rock Creek where Blagden hits it, and ran down to the Zoo (and up into the Zoo for about half of its length before deciding that hill is for suckers and turned back around) and back. A little warmer than the morning would have been, but a nice run overall.

Start time: 10/15/11, 6:48am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 7.27 miles
Average pace: 10:26min/mile
Total Miles For October: 32 miles
Total Miles For 2011: 543 miles
Current Shoes: 84 miles

The plan for Saturday was to get to the Mall 20 minutes early, enough time to pick up some extra stretching, two extra miles, and be back in time for the run. Didn’t quite happen, so that got truncated into just one extra mile beforehand. Better than nothing, of course. Other than that, a fairly uneventful run w/ Ben, Bill, John, and Steve.

Sept 13-17

Start time: 12/24/10, 8:00am
Location: Columbia, Maryland
Distance: 7 miles
Average pace: 10:10min/mile
Total Miles For December: 40 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 625 miles

Steve and I drove up to Columbia, MD to meet Stephanie and Rich and go for a run with them on their home turf… which turns out to be just a mile away from Centennial Lake, where this year I ran the Columbia Triathlon. And of course, that meant… hills! Been a while since I’ve done any sort of hills whatsoever, so it felt good to get out there for a few. A couple of spots had a bunch of ice so we had to tread verrrrry carefully, but we all survived, and it was a nice change of scenery.

(10:00, 10:38, 10:07, 10:08, 9:56, 10:31, 9:50)

Start time: 5/15/10, 7:00am
Location: Downtown DC
Distance: 7 miles
Average pace: 10:00min/mile
Total Miles For May: 22 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 261 miles

Went for a nice run with some of the guys on Saturday morning; we ended up running through some scenic parts of the area (Capitol, White House, Lincoln Memorial, around the Tidal Basin) and it was a nice change of pace. Stephanie and I also got a nice shock when we ran by a police dog in a parked cruiser that started barking like mad at us. We both gave off a little scream. 🙂

Start time: 4/3/10, 7:00am
Location: North Arlington, Tidal Basin
Distance: 7.4 miles
Average pace: 10:28min/mile
Total Miles For April: 12 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 193 miles

A nice easy-going run with the group this morning—we were going to run down to the cherry blossoms and back—and Michael brought his camera for a few photos. The plan was for six miles, but oops… a bit more. We stopped a lot for photos, plus crowds around the Tidal Basin slowed us down a great deal. But it was fun!

(And then, an hour and a half later, I went biking with Ryan. I figured we’d do a dozen or so miles, instead we did 22. Oof. This has been a “more mileage than I was expecting” kind of day.)

Start time: 12/5/09, 4:00pm
Location: Thomas Circle Gym
Distance: 7 miles
Average pace: 8:40min/mile
Total Miles For December: 11 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 789 miles

Start time: 12/6/09, 1:00pm
Location: North Arlington, Bluemont Park, W&OD Trail
Distance: 16 miles
Average pace: 10:26min/mile
Total Miles For December: 27 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 805 miles

After missing Thursday run (was really not feeling at all well), it was time for another “goofy run” this weekend. When I woke up Saturday morning I could hear the rain coming down; coupled with being a little exhausted, I decided it was wiser to stay in bed for a few more hours. By that point, of course, the rain turned into snow. I ended up running at Charlie’s gym on one of the treadmills, which wasn’t so bad. Unfortunately I should have remembered to take it slow because I had a lot more scheduled for Sunday…

Sunday’s run was supposed to be 14 miles; about four miles in, I started hitting a ton of snow and ice all over the W&OD Trail. UGH. It’s funny, you’d think that having to slow down so much to keep from wiping out would make the run easier, but I think it actually makes it harder. Your muscles tense up, you’ve got to really concentrate hard to stay upright, and it’s an unpleasant experience. Plus, of course, all the cold coming off of all that snow and ice. Brrrr. I was about three miles from home when I got a very stupid idea; I should turn around and run back one mile in the relatively ice-free area, so that I would have 16 under my belt and next week’s 20-miler wouldn’t be so bad. Wow. Stupid move. I felt like I was face-planting on miles 15 and 16. Just glad it’s done. Next week I will be more mindful about taking it easy!

(9:21, 9:05, 9:46, 9:55, 10:47, 10:46, 10:54, 10:29, 10:19, 10:49, 10:17, 10:18, 10:36, 12:14, 11:00, 10:20)