Start time: 8/21/10, 6:00am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 10:31min/mile
Total Miles For August: 47 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 439 miles

I’m not going to lie: that was an unsatisfying run.

The morning seemed to be a perfect storm of bad; John’s chest was bothering him, Bill was not feeling great, and the humidity was so thick you could write your name in it. Just about the only th ing we didn’t have was temperatures heading towards triple digits, and for that I count my lucky stars. It probably didn’t help matters any that we didn’t have Jim, Michael, or Stephanie with us, all of whom are good about getting us going again after the minute walk break. But even then it didn’t go great; John’s chest was bugging him enough that we ended up walking for almost a quarter mile at the start of mile 5, and in general it was a slow and pokey run. I don’t begrudge anyone in the group at all—we all have really bad runs, and I’ve brought my fair share to the group and they’ve been nothing but accomodating when it happens—but this run wass just unpleasant.

It probably didn’t help matters that towards the end I started feeling uncomfortable because I was so sweaty and my shirt was just hanging off of me. I think if I’d been feeling better myself, it might not have been so bad, but I was just desperate for the run to end and to get back to the car more than anything else. So instead I slogged through with the group until we got to the last mile, at which point I freely admit I picked up the pace a bit. It wasn’t to be mean or try to ditch anyone, but when you’re at the final mile you can do whatever you want because the finish is in sight. I actually didn’t realize at first that I’d completely lost the guys until it was time to cross over 15th Street; Steve was actually not far behind me, which was nice. But I really just wanted to get back to my car, change my shirt, and have it all be over. That’s all I ended up having on my mind. And it did feel good to kick it out a bit and just start speeding up.

Anyway, a long story to explain why an 8-miler was unpleasant, and we had some pretty bizarre splits going on in there.

(10:07, 10:22, 11:01, 10:41, 11:55, 10:28, 10:55, 8:35)