Start time: 3/11/10, 7:15am
Location: Wilson Boulevard, Bluemont Junction Trail, W&OD Trail, Washington Boulevard
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 8:58min/mile
Total Miles For March: 38 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 157 miles

It’s supposed to rain a lot on Saturday, so I decided discretion was the better part of valor and ran the 8-mile loop I came up with back in December. It’s funny, I ran it twice in December and then on New Year’s Day, but since then this route has been neglected. (Partially due to the route being clogged with snow for quite a while, partially for not running 8 miles on my own.) It meant I’d forgotten where the hills were, if nothing else.

Now, my watch says I ran this in 1:11:48. But here’s the thing. If it looks like I’m going to be stuck at an intersection waiting to cross for more than two or three seconds, I usually stop the watch, then start it again once I’m good. I am slightly not-convinced that I started it back up once. I probably did do it at this speed, which actually is just a fraction different than two of the three other times I ran it. But I also was seriously huffing and puffing around the midpoint when the hills began to show up in full strength, and twice I walked for about 10 seconds to catch my breath and rally for the rest of the hill. So… that was my time. Allegedly.

(On the bright side, I did look at my watch with about a mile and a half to go and remembered that time stamp, so I measured out that part of the course and checked the pace for that final portion and it was a 9:06. I know I was going much faster early on (since I do know the first two mile markers on this course) so signs actually do point to me having gotten this right.)

I also learned a very important lesson, if you think you need to use the bathroom one final time as you’re walking across the parking lot to get started, just go back inside. At least there’s a gas station not too far down the route that came to the rescue.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3370757