On top of a milestone and below a millstone

The weekend was both exciting and depressing as I saw a technical high but a few realist lows.

On the positive side, I hit 100 miles a week for the first time in my life. Whether I'd feel much different if I had stopped at 95, as I would have liked, or gone ahead and run through it, as Jake suggested, I don't know. What I do know is that for seven days I got in a lot of high-quality work running. I've always been a pretty low-mileage distance runner, so consistency north of 80 miles a week seven of the last nine weeks has been boding well for my marathon training.

The negative aspect is that I had an absolutely terrible race and then spent the next day pretty much depleted and bailed on two runs.

I spent more than an hour getting to Arlington for the Crystal City 5k. I arrived 20 minutes before the start, ran to the packet pickup, got a slight warmup in and got to the line. It was evidently 98 degrees, and muggy as heck.

I was happy, though, to see Wiggy and Jess McGuire before the race, and Pat Murphy taking pictures on the course. I greeted the new Ethiopian additions to the GRC racing team and I am pretty sure they didn't know what I said.

The gun went off and I ran like crazy to get away from the crowd of people that made it seem even hotter. I was way too close to the east African leaders, but I didn't care. I eased up a little bit and cruised for a while. It was so damn hot. Oh my God. The pack of Pacers guys passed me, and I didn't even care.

Sweat was already flying off of my body, pouring into my eyes and I was ready for the race to be over. I wound up running with some fellow I can barely remember, and we came through the mile in 4:59. I was surprised I was able to move that fast in the heat. We came upon the first water stop and I was thrilled- a splash of cold water would certainly help me focus for a few minutes! I reached for a cup and dropped it. A few seconds later, I had one in my grasp and I tossed it at my face, waiting for the refreshing splash.

I would have liked it to have been lukewarm. It was hot. Not boiling, but hot. I was nauseated. Thank God I didn't actually need to drink it. After the race I talked to a volunteer who told me they put the water out at 6:30, so it just heated up for 90 minutes before the race started. So, I kept going, but decided pretty early not to get too excited about the race. I hit the second mile in 5:33, passing some dude named Nelfe Geletli in the process whom I had been following, and realized then any hope I had of breaking 16 or even improving on my two 16:08s was pretty unlikely. I tried water again, and once again it was really warm. I shouldn't be surprised, the Independence 5k, also a Pacers race, gave out hot water bottles after the race, despite it being in the high 70s, so they just don't know how to manage their supply.

On the way back in, I just stopped trying, and slowed down a lot, I saw no use in pushing too hard for a bad time- 6:14 for the third mile. Geletli and six other guys passed me, but I really didn't care. I did notice people cheering for some woman, so I ran just fast enough to hold her off.

I came across a few other people I knew, Lisa and Joanna, and found my compatriots. I was happy to have them there so that I could judge my clarity of mind on whether I was safe to cool down. I was, so I trotted off for a few more miles and rolled over to 100.

I got to Pokey's dad's house around 11 pm and got to bed as soon as I could, sucking down some of the dozen or so Powerades I took from the race (also quite warm). I got up at 5:15 and we headed out to Boyds for Riley's Rumble. The plan was for me to pace Pokey through some 7:19s so he could break 1:36. When we got there and the air was already nearly as stuffy as the night before, I wasn't surprised when they announced the race had been cancelled and was now a fun run. I jogged around the playing fields to get about 4.5 miles in then looked for Pokey at the start, to no avail. The run started and I felt comfortable in the middle of the pack, chatting with some people, having some water. I figured I'd get through the run and have 2.5 more miles to run before I'd hit 20. About 2.5 miles in, though, I started to feel my chances slip, rapidly. At the bottom of a long downhill I realized I couldn't go any farther. I should run the three miles back to the start and run laps around the park. When I stopped to turn around, I didn't start up again. I walked back to the park and sat down for a while, drank some water and waited for everyone else to finish. Jess convinced me to go out for what we planned to be a two-mile cooldown but ended up being just one mile. Pokey ended up running 1:48 or so, which was pretty good, despite the heat.

I recovered throughout the day at Scott Koonce's and after a violent storm, the temperature dropped to the high 70s. Though it was in the 80s by the time I was ready to try an evening run, it felt much better than before. I set off to do a Park++ and add on around Falls Church, and was starting off feeling great at 7:30 pace, then at three miles, I had some severe cramps in my ribs, so I stopped and walked home.

Back to the sauna

Thursday afternoon, I ran 6.25 on the treadmill at work, finishing up with a mile a little under 5:00. I brought a small towel and a sweatband and that helped a little bit this time, but it was still pretty uncomfortable. I think I need a little fan to at least move some air around me.

Friday morning I slept in and ended up doing 6 miles after work, 6:20 pace for the first three and 6:40 on the way back.

Saturday morning I did an easy 3.5 on Fisherman and a few strides in my flats.

Last year, the GRC sent a group of eight to battle the Pacers at the Crystal City 5k. This year, it's....me. Andy evidently backed out, so it looks like it will be me taking on Graham, Moran, Viviani, whoever else they have. And I probably won't compare favorably, either.

But, I've always been better on a hot night than a cooler but humid morning. I have nothing to lose (except my entry fee): I am finishing up my first 100-mile week, I didn't exactly get to bed at a good time last night and didn't act as healthy as I could have and I'm facing down the adversary at one of their own races. I'm planning to douse myself at each of the water stops and just run myself into the ground. All I will need is a one-mile cooldown and I'll have 100 and that volume, moreso than a great race, gives me confidence. I just want to get out there and race.

Lost again

The conference wrapped up Tuesday afternoon and I headed back to my room for a nap. I woke up and took a six-mile spin around the river trail again, careful to mind the bums throughout the park, out and back to the main street downtown. It was pretty hot and dry. When I came back to the hotel, our new president’s inaugural ball was in progress, and when my coworker told me about the food selection- delicious roast beef and a variety of vegetables, I hurried upstairs to get dressed for it.

I had a delicious White Russian that hit me pretty hard, thanks to my dehydration. That, plus my post-exercise euphoria and boosted energy thanks to my nap made me positively giddy, AND THEN I discovered the ice cream bar. I loaded some melty vanilla with tiny m&ms, strawberry sauce and chocolate and went toward town.

I woke up early the next morning with a route written on my arm to get me 14 miles and up onto one of the surrounding foothills to the south. I ran clockwise around the Reno-Tahoe Airport until I got to Mira Loma Road and followed it to the neighborhood surrounding the Hidden Valley Country Club. I followed the road there south and looked for the intersection with Alexander Lake Road, which would take me into Huffaker Hills, where I could get my view of the city from a hilltop. I moved away from the neighborhood and onto a remote looking road, and figured I was right on track. Then, the houses started popping up again. I saw two familiar-looking walkers, and then a sign for Mira Lorma. I knew that road ran south, so I thought perhaps I had gone too far, but as it turns out I had run around the circumference of the golf course and was back where I started. It was too late to keep exploring—an ice bath was probably out of the question and I would need to rush back to be ready for my flight.

I followed the rest of my route clockwise around the airport, and at times seemed to be going way out of my way, but it was a certain way back to the hotel. I ended up running 1:43, but had to wait until I got home to find out how far it was. It turned out to be a little over 16 miles, so I averaged 6:28.

This is how the road was supposed to look...

I also had a chance to look at a more detailed map when I was on my computer. It turns out Alexander Lake was connected to Short Lane and Hidden Highlands Drive. I passed Hidden Highlands, but to the right, it looked as though it ended.

After another day of traveling (I made my flight), I got back to humid, stuffy Virginia, with its trees and shade that does no good in stopping the moisture. I did an easy four miles at 7:28 pace and hit the sack.

Thursday morning I ran 6.75 at 7:58 pace around the Park ++ loop. It was rough, running in the brunt of the humidity. All told, I ran 83 miles in the five days I was in Reno, and that wasn’t bad. Now it’s time to test my legs at the Crystal City 5k Saturday night, help pace Pokey in his half marathon, hopefully add enough distance Sunday morning to make 20 miles, and see if I can keep this volume up when I don’t have dry air making it seem so easy to run.

Cool and dry

I don't think I can go back to Virginia. The humidity...it's just too much... In the meantime, I am having a productive trip to Reno. Through Tuesday afternoon, I have run 58 miles through four days. I am running another five tonight.

Sunday afternoon, I got an easy seven miles in, nothing special. I tried to follow the trail along the river, but a lot of drifters in the parks made me think again about that.

Monday morning, I left at 5 am to do my long run. I had a 20-mile loop mapped out that would take me into the hills west of the city, to get a little elevation change, because the most I have climbed or dropped was 92 feet over the course of 6.25 miles on Saturday. I got lost, of course, about three miles in, when I crossed the Truckee River. I wandered around for a while and when I realized how lost I was, I figured I would either run the extra distance when I got back on course or adjust things. I probably had added about four miles when I got back on track, and I was cool with that. Running in weather that was cool and dry enough to wear a shirt was a treat, and I didn't care if it meant doing a little extra distance. When I got about halfway up the hills, I realized I had to be at the conference at 8:30, I realized my chances of getting back, showering and eating before my first workshop were slim if I ran another 28 minutes, I headed back. Toward the end, I thought I saw a sign that said "Robert Goulet House, right on McDonald"

I turned around and went back, but it turned out to have said "Ronald McDonald House, right on Gould." Bummer. I ended up running 7:07 pace, 2:24:30 for 20.3 miles. I felt fine the rest of the day.

Tuesday morning I headed to the north and went five miles out and five miles back, with a few hills thrown in there. I ran 7:00 pace on the way out and 6:00 on the way back.

Facing two fears

Friday afternoon, I became a little more flexible, philosophically. After years of resisting treadmills, I was faced with a difficult decision- try, and possibly die, running seven miles outside in 97 degrees with suffocating humidity, or run on a treadmill.

After stepping outside to feel just how bad it was, I opted for the treadmill. It wasn't fun- I tried to watch the television in the console, but the earphones gave me little electrical shocks in my ears, so I switched to my mp3 player that was possessed by my sweat and plays what it wants to. I managed four miles averaging 7:00 pace and then had to wring my shirt out, because despite the air conditioning in the gym in my building's basement, it was hard work, and I was soaked. Two more miles, under 7:00, and I wrung the shirt out again. One more mile and I was done.

Though it wasn't great, I probably will end up using the treadmill for some miserably hot or humid days to complement outdoor runs over the next six weeks or so, just to save my body some trauma and my psyche from the grind.

After a day's worth of air travel Saturday, I arrived in Reno for a conference. I was free for the rest of the day, so I hung out for a few hours until 7:30, when the weather cooled down. I wanted to run in the foothills to the east, so I headed out that way, looking for Cleanwater Street, which would possibly take me there. Upon arriving, a sign told me it was a dead end, so I went north, looking for the next road that would take me there. I found Greg Street, so I went with it. The split that I took at what turned out to be 3.2 miles told me I went 6:20 pace, and it didn't feel that fast. It was amazing how much better I felt in the dry air in Nevada.

I hit a trail that looked to take me into the foothills after 28 minutes, so I took it. It followed the Truckee River, and eventually ended, though I hoped it would take me to a bridge I saw in the distance. I had given up on the foothills, or even running through the valley, but I wanted to make it to the bridge. I figured it was about 42 minutes out from the hotel. I decided to hop on the train tracks and try to reach the bridge. I just recently got over my fear of train tracks, almost 10 years after the passing of my friend Conrad Frazier, who was struck by a train.

I was cruising along, then I saw my second fear:

A g-d rattlesnake. It scared the living crud out of me, hissing and rattling and stuff. I leaped high in the air and did a karate kick, just in case he could jump too. He did not, and we both rushed off in opposite directions. I picked up my pace to get to the bridge and back to the trail, and believe me, I was vigilant in looking out for him the second time around. Terrified, in fact.

I figured I had gone at least six miles out, though it turned out to be a quarter mile longer, and after eight and nine miles I was feeling pretty good. The best part was that I wasn't drenched in sweat. I was dehydrating, certainly, but it was a pleasant dehydration that didn't bog me down with its byproducts. I slowed down for the last mile or so and ended up averaging 6:37 for 12.5 miles, feeling a lot better than I had in weeks.

The next morning I woke up at 6 to run a 40-minute tempo around a reservoir and get 10 total in before a day of work, but during my warmup I could tell I hadn't rehydrated from the flights and the run less than 12 hours before. I tried the tempo anyway and made it about eight miuntes before I packed it in and just explored Reno or a while. It's a little skanky, and Sparks, where I ran on Saturday, was mostly buildings for lease.

Ending note: It's been a bizarre week for Pittsburgh's West End, which I have come to love over the last 18 months. I haven't been able to ruminate completely on the murder of Lauren Deis because the details are just so revolting and I haven't really been able to settle my mind around it, but there was some good news. Reprinted from the Tribune-Review's Laurels and Lances:

Laurel: To saving the Old Stone Tavern. Pittsburgh's second-oldest building -- at Greentree Road and Woodville Avenue in the West End -- appears to be on the road to restoration. Thanks to a historic designation, the two-story brick structure dating to the 1780s can't be torn down. It once served as a toll house and might have played a role in the Whiskey Rebellion. Kudos to all those behind the effort to preserve yet another piece of our marvelous history.

Oh God, it's so humid

This seems appropriate

It’s time I faced the reality that sometimes the elements are too much for me. I thought I was adjusting to the heat and humidity, if not nicely, then at least effectively. I managed a 90 mile week despite temperatures breaking 95 four straight days and was faring pretty well. I learned to handle mornings as cooler-but-humid fiascos and evenings and hot-but-drier times to muscle through runs. Sunday, though, I was pretty tired. I was dragging throughout my trip to the Newseum (not worth $20, as far as I am concerned) and just managed to do my afternoon run. I slept 10 hours on Sunday night and woke up too late to do a morning run, and when I got home and set out for 10 miles, I didn’t feel like doing it after a quarter mile. It turned around and walked home.

Tuesday I ran 10.5, 7.5 of it with Pokey, around the mall and across the river to the Mt. Vernon Trail. I felt better then. I slept in again on Wednesday and by that point decided I would cut my mileage to 70 this week, rather than 80. I went up to B-CC for a GRC workout, my first track workout in more than two months. Dickson, Wiggy and Karl and I stuck together for some thousands on the track. I had planned to start out at 3:10 and widdle my way down by a second on each successive repeat for a total of eight, but after the first I reconsidered. I hit 3:07 even, taking it pretty easy. I tried to take the next one easier, but hit 3:06. I hit 3:05 for the next two, hanging back as the other guys went at it. Everyone asked if I wanted to lead the next one, and I eventually gave it a shot. 3:05 again. I felt pretty successful, hitting the majority of my 1ks in 3:05. By that point I was completely soaked and pretty happy with my workout, but the guys goaded me into trying another one. So I gave it a shot. 100 meters in, I felt a raging cramp in my right side, so I stopped and cooled down with Murph on the grass, barefoot. It was nice, but the grass was saturated with water. After that, I didn’t much have the strength to run anymore, so I capped that day at 7.5 miles. I was really happy with the workout that I did, though. My first time running fast in a while. I feel like as much as I expanded my endurance so far this year, my speed hasn’t budged at all.

Thursday I was about to leave for my run to work, when the fire alarm went off in my building. Wanting to live, I left immediately, but before I changed into my running clothes. Unfortunate, because by the time I was allowed back in the building, it was 8:45 and the temperature was well over 80, with the humidity raging. I headed off and took some sport beans about 3.75 in and followed that up with some water on the Custis Trail. I wasn’t exactly cruising, but I was moving somewhat. When I got to the Mt. Vernon Trail I was pretty worn, and by the time I crossed the TR Bridge and passed through the Kennedy Center parking lot onto the Rock Creek trail, I was fading quickly. When I got to the volleyball courts, I stopped completely, and could go no farther. I walked the last three miles to my office, shirtless, sweaty, meandering along the sidewalk through throngs of tourists. I hope I gave them something to think about…

Throughout the run I had Warren Zevon's "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" in my head.

I spent the rest of the day in a daze, then came home and did a very easy 3.5 (8:00 pace) around the Fisherman’s loop.

Friday morning I got up in an attempt to run a road workout on the Greenwich mile. I got to the start an changed into my shoes and set out on what I planned to be 1xmile, 1x2mile, 2xmile. I hit the first half in 2:33, but I dropped my effort substantially in the third quarter. I picked it up for the last quarter, but managed only 5:22, and I aborted the workout. I’ll run this evening with Melissa, hopefully not sweating on her, and get a few miles in before I head to Reno for a conference. I am sad to miss the Rockville 8k Saturday evening, but I’m going to have quite a training opportunity for three whole days and parts of two others-

Saturday- 63-102 Blazing sunshine

Sunday 62-98 Sunny, breezy and hot

Monday 59-95 Sunny and breezy

Tuesday 58-92 A day full of sunshine

Wednesday 57-93 Plenty of sun
The humidity tops out at 20%.

I wonder if anyone who compiles this information for Websites thinks about how the weather summaries look when viewed in a series like that, if it affects their choice of descriptors...

It’s been a good week to ease up on my training, because I am going to do some damage to my legs early in the morning and in the evening the next five days…

My former coworker’s daughter seems to like running in the heat more than I do. But, as I am reminded every day, it's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Out of gas

I stayed home Friday night to rest up for my Saturday morning long run. Turns out I rested too much. I ate dinner at 8:30 and planned to run at 6:30 am, but I ended up sleeping until 9:50. With Emily Ward coming to visit any time in the afternoon, I scurried off to run, discounting the significance of my 13.5-hour fast.

I was planning a 20-mile run—10 miles through Vienna to a point on the W&OD Trail, then an eight mile tempo on the trail heading east, which would deposit me close to home so I could cool down two miles. It was raining lightly and about 75 degrees, maybe it went up three or four degrees from when I would have started but the difference was negligible. I averaged 7:30s on my way to the trail (a paved trail, but one with half-mile markers) and felt pent up. When I got to the first half-mile mark I stopped and wrung out my saturated socks, I felt I might as well at least start off not feeling like I have sponges inside my shoes.

Things went well for a while- I hit 5:45 for the first mile, 5:40 for the second, and 2:47 for the first half of the third mile. Then I got really tired. I started to slow down to 6:00 pace for a while. Then 6:30, almost like clockwork. I figured the point was then to get home- if I felt like going the extra two miles when I got there, great. As I approached the bridge over the beltway, 2.5 miles from home, I felt fine. When I crossed the bridge, I did not. I kept going for a while until I reached Idylwood Park. I sat down on a bench, but only felt marginally better. I lied down, felt better still. Then I put my feet up on the back of the bench and closed my eyes, and felt alright. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and saw furiously moving pine branches swaying in the breeze set against the gray sky. It looked like an avant garde expression of resilience in the face of adversity. It told me I should get up and go home so that a. I don’t die out there and b. I am back in time for Emily Ward’s visit. I got up and started to walk, but I barely got anywhere before I realized it was a losing effort. I saw a woman I had passed while I was nearing the end of my run and thought I might see if I could hitchhike home, because walking seemed like a bad idea. I presented my case, and she was skeptical of a stranger, as I well understood. I started to walk away and she called for me and asked if I had been the person lying on the bench. I said that was me. She then told me to get in the car and there’s no way I’d be strong enough to overpower her. With a chuckle, I got in and upon arriving home, didn’t want to move for a while. I managed 15.5 miles of running, but I fell far shorter than that in my mind.

I suppose I should start practicing with sport beans… I’ll be sure to pick some up before I go to Reno and attempt my long run where I will be relatively unfamiliar with my surroundings. I can’t have this happen again anyway…Three months until Chicago.

Boring, hot, week

Saturday

Started running with Murphy, Marren, Sloane and some guy named Jonathon. We took the towpath from the store to the Chain Bridge, then up the trail and on to Glebe, then followed that to the Custis Trail into Rosslyn. The Ms and I went to TR Island, Jake withdrew and Murphy and I ran around for a while. I briefly bumped into Susan Tremblay. Murphy then headed back and I ran another half hour to hit 18 miles in two hours. I knew that was the last time I’d have great weather for a run for a while.

Sunday

Slept a little late and tried out the Fairview Park loop. I started to get a little thirsty toward the end. Then I tossed in an Idylwood Filler to total 14 for the day and 90 for the previous week (transposing the long run).

Monday

I took another shot at the New Virginia Manor loop that failed so miserably last week. It went better this time, and despite climbing temperatures between 10-11 am I averaged 6:50s for 8.25. In the afternoon I did an easy Timber to total a little more than 14.5.

Tuesday

I was back to work and started off with a seven mile Park loop, pretty humid, in the morning. The evening was an easy Idylwood Filler.

Wednesday

I stayed late at work and started my medium run at 9:15 p.m. I did a Double Pimmit but forgot the loop through the townhouses, so I only had 12.6, but I averaged low 7s.

Thursday

Another Park seven in the morning and a 7.25 mile loop I am calling a Willamsburg in the evening.It's been hot for a while now, breaking 102 a few times, 95 four days in a row. I am getting used to it, though. I've been running with water bottles to try to get used to drinking for the marathon. I'm not crazy about it, though.

Friday

Slept in and didn’t run in the morning. Came home and planned to do a Westmoreland, but peeled off on Idylwood and ran around Virginia and the Pinecastle loops for 7.5.

Sunday

Finished off another 90 mile week with 6.5 easy miles with Emily Ward at Walney Park in Centreville. Great soft trails there, a 3+ mile loop I did twice. Emily stopped after 5, I got a little more. Lots of couples having formal photos taken. It was cool, a little humid, but pleasant.

In the evening I ran a Barbour, trying to stay around 8:00 pace but eventually averaging 7:30.

Let's see what these legs can do...

Closing in on the end of my first 90 mile week, I was eager to see what I could do in a 5k race- shorter than any run I have done in almost a month. Elyse suggested a race in Alexandria, which was then moved to the George Mason campus.

I got off to a bad start by sleeping in to 9:20, which meant I couldn't do my five mile morning run. I guess it also meant I was late for work, but that is less than relevant. So, I had to smash 11 miles into the evening. I took the Metro out to Vienna with some Lululemon runners and we ended up taking a cab to the campus. I got a three-mile or so warmup in, and got to the line. Of course, being a Pacers race there were at least six of them there, because what better way to give a bonus than to stack a race with your own employees? I knew I wasn't going to be running anything incredible- I hadn't even done a real (productive, that is) workout in a few weeks, but I hoped to at least hang around and get under 16, just to show a little improvement since my even-splitted 16:08 in early June. The gun went off and the pack sped away, and I let them go. Perhaps stupidly, but I didn't think I would gain too much falling apart early. I came through the mile in 5:06, and was feeling pretty good about that. I was hurting, lungwise, but otherwise I felt able. Two guys were ahead of me who looked vulnerable- a tall guy and an asian fellow in a navy blue top. I surged past them both on one uphill and focused on catching a Pacer who was straggling. It was a rolling course, and I was keeping my legs' dexterity, for the most part, though I wasn't driving ahead enough. The second mile was 5:17- not good at all. I thought I was at least holding 5:10 pace, despite the hills and relative no-man's land. At this point, we were heading west, right into the sun. I could barely see ahead of me- I just followed the silhouette of the straggler and ran away from the breathing behind me. As we closed in on the end, I was not feeling too great, especially when I realized my third mile was another 5:17. But, I heard the dude behind me start to marshal some strength for a kick, so I figured as long as I was there, I might as well keep him behind me, so I surged in and held him off by a second. 16:08 again. I found out later that he had beaten me by about 3:50 at the half marathon I did in Arlington in May. So, even though that race was a disappointment, it felt good to improve relative to him.

I got a three-mile cooldown in, looked for the people with whom I came, but saw nobody. I went for another two miles, and realized they ditched me. SOBs...

Anyway, although I wanted to go under 16, and given the wonderful weather it might have been my best shot, I am content to have at least maintained my speed from the last race, considering the last four weeks were 90, 86, 85 and 80.

Worst Races #8

St. Barnabas 5k, 2001- I spent the 2001 summer trying to break 16 for 5k, in hopes of walking on at Miami. This was one of my many, many failures, and perhaps my most painful. I paced myself well at the beginning, running well behind Mike Diano, and coming through the mile at 5:10. Then, it just got worse. I slowed down when I felt my strength totally sapping, and twice I stopped and stood there, unable to see straight. People passed me left and right, and I struggled in and saw my dad, who had come to see me run. It was emotionally throttling for me to know he saw such a dramatic collapse. This wasn't a race where I took it out too hard and burned out- My approach was reasonable! I was prudent! I was a failure.

I finished 13th, in 17:32. I had worse races that year, but after I acknowledged that I was struggling with anxiety problems and lowered my athletic expectations. Had I recognized my anxiety issues that summer, I would have taken a full semester away from college and skipped the Miami fiasco, or gone right to Richmond instead.

Relief

Wednesday morning I woke up more excited than I had been in a while- the temperature was in the 60s and the humidity was imperceptible. I ran an easy 6.8 extended Park in the morning and a 6.3 Pimmit Hills in the evening, neither of which were taxing.
I still slept in on Thursday and only got a 4.25 morning run, but reversing the Fisherman's loop made me realize just how hilly Fisher Road is. I complemented that with a 5.75 afternoon run around Capitol Hill.
I will take it very easy for my morning run Friday before the road race at George Mason.
The reprieve from the heat and humidity came at just the right time to refresh my enthusiasm for running high (to me) mileage. I'm on pace to hit 90 this week, and though it isn't the best course of action before a 5k, the fact that it won't be sweltering makes it a good chance for a hard effort.
It's going to get hot and humid again early next week, and I am not sure if I will opt to move my long run to Saturday to dodge it, or at least hit it on the early side. I would like to double on Saturday, because I would like to stay home that evening and relax.

Take the Long Way Home

Tuesday morning I slept in again, worn out from the evening's run before, so no doubling. I charted a trip home from work, or rather, the Tenleytown metro stop that would take me over the Chain Bridge. Because I hadn't done a morning run, however, I started the run about 2.5 miles up Wisconsin, at the Bethesda station, giving the route the DC trifecta- portions through Maryland, DC and Virginia. The first five miles was mostly downhill, but after crossing the bridge, I was in for a rough climb into Arlington County. Since I was climbing, I figured it was as good a time as any to concentrate on my form, so I did that, thinking about a month from then when I'd have to race on the hills of Mt. Washington. It was hot, but not as humid as the day before. Once I got about seven miles in, I just cruised the rest of the way home. It was still hilly, but they were rolling hills. I ended up with 13.4, for my medium long run.

The Wrong Kind of Rebound

I was miserably hot on the way to work Monday morning. It was 85 by 8 a.m., and so humid I sweated on a three minute walk to the metro. The temperature only escalated, until about 1, when the temperature topped out at 95, with a 100 degree heat index. Between 2:45 and 3:25, it poured, and dropped the temperature 20 degrees, to 73 from 93. Even if it was humid, I'd still have a good run!
I got home, and things were not going as I had planned. The temperature was back up at 85, and the humidity was stifling. I waited an hour, and the temperature rose even more to 87. I couldn't wait much longer, so I decided to head off and try out a new loop in McLean I found, a series of long residential streets without much traffic.
It was so humid that I felt like I hadn't since 1998, when I last ran while vacationing in Hilton Head. There was no relief.
After my first segment of the loop, I found myself on a trail among some back yards. This didn't seem right, but I decided to go with it. I followed one trail to a park and a schoolyard, and found myself on Kirby. Luckily I was close to Old Dominion, which I thought connected me to another road I needed, so I took it, though it didn't connect me where I expected it. I eventually found my way back to the loop and realized what a great resource these loops were- a hillier Virginia Manor (in Pittsburgh) without all the walkers and kids on bikes, or traffic. As it got dark, I couldn't quite find my way back, so I took the long way and wound up doing 12.5.

Delay

My plans to run early fell by the wayside when I made a calculated move to ensure my safety.
I woke up at 6:30 to run early and have the rest of the day free to lie around and see Bain's new house. When I went into the dining room, however, I freaked out. It looked like someone was on my couch. I had a reason to be worried:http://kdka.com/video/?id=70325@kdka.dayport.com
I called out a few times for the intruder to identify him or herself. Nothing. I grabbed the vacuum cleaner and swung it at the form on the couch. Nothing again. Did I kill it? Oh my god, I was freaking out. I reached down and felt a cool, oxford shirt. What a well-dressed intruder... I pushed on the shirt, and it gave way.with both hands, I groped. more shirt. I turned around and did what i should have earlier- turned the lights on. A pile of my unironed shirts was piled on the couch- I had started ironing earlier in the day and left most of it for later. I realized then that my judgment and coordination were ill-suited for running at this point. I went back to bed and slept until 9:30, at that point too hot to start running.
I lazed around most of the day, and wrote off being able to get to Bain's.
I thought about trying for 18, but that was just ridiculous, so I decided to take my 18 mile loop, run the first 6, turn around and come back. I thought I hit six miles in 42:12, but upon remapping the loop, it turns out I was actually averaging 6:47 pace. Not exactly how I wanted to start my run, and that explains why I once again stopped wanting to live toward the end of my run. It was somewhere in the mid 90s when I started, though it cooled down to 88 by the time I had finished.

Hi there, specter of death

Every now and then you get too confident because a workout or two went well and you think you can throw caution and preparation to the wind and succeed anyway. Well, I got way too confident that I could handle running in the heat. I didn't count the humidity, though.
Saturday morning I joined a bunch of GRC guys for Dueling Ferries, a repeated 10-mile loop on the towpath and some gravel roads outside of Poolesville, MD. The plan was to take the first 10 miles easy, refresh with some water and then go after it in the second 10. That sounded like a great idea to me, so I was all for it.
I didn't stay out late the night before, but I wasn't in bed by 9. Unwisely, I didn't have a water bottle with me and throughout the evening I got pretty thirsty, and I'm not sure if I ever replaced what I lost.
We started the run either really easily or I was just feeling good, because it didn't seem too stressful. A few people made comments about some of the guys going for the record (2:07 something) early, so they might have a more acute sense of what is pushing it. People stopped for water at about 3.5 miles in, but Sloane and I just slowed down and kept going. Eventually the pack caught back up to us and I stayed at the front, and it quickly started speeding up when we hit the roads. I stayed up there until about nine miles, then dropped back a few seconds. I came through 10.1 miles in low 67 minutes, and had some water, but I wasn't feeling great. I decided I would run to the water pump and back, then add on closer to the cars and water bottles if I was able. Skinny Jesus and Murphy were also game for the out-and-back, and I stuck with Jake as we were amazed at how much farther the pump was on the second loop. We swore it was 20 minutes in, at a reasonable pace, but it took us shy of 26 minutes this time.

I was fading by that point, about 13.5-.75 miles in. I poured some water over my head, but it didn't help. Asish and Ian were waiting and they went with Jake, and I took it a lot slower. After a while, I just stopped and walked. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but I think it's what I needed to do. My body was revolting against me. It happened so fast, I was amazed at how my form and will to continue broke down. My neck was burning up, my limbs were going numb and I just couldn't continue. I got back to the starting point, and immediately doused myself with ice water. It felt good, but I couldn't do it fast enough.

I went home and barely moved for a few hours. I took a nap and had dreams about having miles and miles to go on the towpath. Then on my way to a party near Shaw, my friend Alan and I came across a man who passed out in the street and we attended to him while waiting for an ambulance. He had some kind of heat exhaustion, and it was a powerful cautionary sign for me to take a lot better care of myself. Dickson said it pretty well while we ruminated on the way home- when things go south on a long run, they don't take their time getting worse...

Minor setbacks

After the success of the last few days of running, I was feeling pretty good. I thought a 3x2 mile workout on Thursday would go swimmingly and I could easily push my weekly total to 90 miles.
Both assumptions were incorrect.
Thursday morning started well enough, with a four-mile Fisherman's loop. Thursday evening, I headed out in 90 degrees for the Greenwich Mile loop. From the get-go, I was feeling tired, but thought I would give it a shot. I was shooting for 10:30s- hitting 5:15 by going 2:37-2:38 for the halves. I was right on pace for the first one, but I slowed dramatically from 1600-2000: I dropped to 5:40 pace. I recovered a bit and came through the first half of the second mile in 2:39, but I was going to have to fight like crazy to hit 10:30. And I failed- finishing in 10:39- not where I wanted to be... I had some water and jogged around, but knew I was done before I got into the meat of the workout. I jogged a four-mile cooldown to the 66 overpass on the W&OD and called it a day, still getting 12.1.
I spent a little too much time cleaning my kitchen that night and didn't get to bed as early as I wanted. When my alarm went off at 6:15, I summarily reset it for 7, realizing that with a 20-mile run the next morning, it might be wise of me to take it easy the day before, since I'll be proving myself somewhat. So, I slept in and did three miles on the Fisherman's loop and will do five around Capitol Hill after work. With 12 on Sunday, I'll still hit 85 for the week, and it only makes sense. Tomorrow's 20 miler is an important step for me- I've run that much just thrice before, and only twice in a single effort- my 20-miler in Oct. 2008 and the Marine Corps Marathon. I ran that far in a single day during the Philadelphia Marathon and almost ran that far the day after the Monument Avenue 10k. I'll be fighting the heat and humidity, though I have a few factors in my favor: I'll be running with a bunch of GRC guys so they'll keep my pace under control, plus we're starting slow and then speeding up after 10, so knowing I am halfway there will be a huge confidence boost when the going gets tough. I might bring a change of socks, and I will certainly bring several frozen bottles of water and various sports drinks. It's also not supposed to be sweltering tomorrow- 74 degrees with 75% humidity in Poolesville at 8 am, and of course the temperature will increase and relative humidity will decrease over the next 2+ hours.

Double Pimmit

I went to see Bela Fleck and Chick Corea at Wolftrap last night with Ben Semmes, who's interning down here for the summer. The weather was perfect- just 30 minutes after I ran in 94 degrees, a sudden storm came through, relieving so much of the heat. I wish I had been able to wait to run. Regardless, I felt like I had reached a point where I was able to stand the heat.

I woke up at 3 am Wednesday after having an absolutely ridiculous dream about a hostage situation involving my friends in Yemen, and while I was up I checked the temperature at it was 70 degrees with 97 percent (!) humidity. There was no way this was going to be better at 6, so I slept in and planned to run when it was hot in the evening.

About 16 hours later, it was 94 degrees and I headed out with a bottle of ice. I got moving pretty quickly, about 7:00 pace, and dropped the bottle off a little more than a mile into the loop, a new one I called the Double Pimmit, because it covers two parts of Pimmit Road, bisected by Route 7. I managed to get down to the 5:50s for the next seven miles so by the time I got back to the bottle and carried it and its now-cold water to mile 8, I had averaged 6:00 pace for the first eight. I took some time to refill and recover and just pour some chilled water on my neck, then back at it. Six minute pace for a little more than four miles to finish in 1:22 for 13.1, astoundingly faster than my Pittsburgh half marathon time that I could have run another mile and still been faster. That's all irrelevant because I jogged so much of Pittsburgh, but it still a nice benchmark.

Elyse suggested running a 5k next Friday night in Alexandria, so I figured why not. Now I know I can handle running in the heat better than ever before. The big tests will be tomorrow's 3x2 mile workout and Saturday's 20 miler.

Throughout the run I had Kenny Loggins' Mr. Night in my head, and the corresponding scene from Caddyshack. It helped. Who needs a music player?

Enjoying Falls Church

As the title of this post reveals, I really like running in Falls Church.
I also think I have started to adapt, albeit slowly, to the climactic situation here in northern Virginia.
I left at 7 am for a morning run- 6.8 miles on what is now becoming the standard Park loop. It as 70 degrees with 76 percent humidity, but I managed to run 6:59 pace.
In the afternoon, at 6:20, I ran a new loop- the Freedom Lane 5.5, to the north. I started slow, but decided at some point to start pushing the pace. It was 95 degrees, with 40 percent humidity. I think I was about two miles in when I started to push. It wasn't an outright hammering, but I was oriented forward a lot more than I have been for my runs in the heat. I eased up a little bit on Williamsburg after passing Westmoreland, but I drove it home and averaged 6:30 for the 5.5 miles.

This week's going to be a scortcher

It was 71 degrees when I got out the door at 7 this morning. I wanted to get up a little earlier and do a formal hill workout (the Run for Roch is just five weeks away!) but my 16-hour day Sunday wore me down. I ended up doing a little more than 4.5- an out-and-back heading west on the W&OD. I was struggling, just dead legged and beat.

I switched the hill workout to the afternoon- to the Capitol. I'll run hard up and down the hills on the northern and southern sides and jog the flat stretched to the east and west. Six of those and the run to and from the office will be about six miles, giving me 11 for the day.

The forecast looks pretty intimidating this week- highs of 91, 94, 97, 96, 92 and 91. It's fair to assume it will be humid.

Summer job facsimile

During the summers in 2003 and 2004, I worked as a lifeguard at a medium-sized condo community in Pittsburgh's southern suburbs, less than a mile from where I grew up. I spent a gleeful number of mornings running from the pool and finishing by diving into the unheated water. It was absolutely glorious. It was, by no means, anywhere close to as humid or hot at even 10 am there as it was at 7:20 in Washington.

I biked from Falls Church to Logan Circle and started a run from my friend Amy's place. I went up 16th to Harvard then down into Rock Creek Park and along the trails to P Street and back (5.5 miles) to pick up Matt Ciccone, who joined me for a second loop, which was one of his first runs since the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. Despite that, and his introduction to the elements, he held up well, though about 2.5 miles in, before he realized, he had better walk, and I gladly obliged him. We ran again after a while, took another short walk, then ran to Dupont Circle.

With the sun at full bore at about 8:45, he had reached his limit and I quickly agreed that it was prudent to stop. I had 10 for the day, and I was pleased. We sat by the fountain, and I just couldn't resist. I pulled off my shoes, rolled into the water and felt better than I had in recent memory. It was no less than "freaking amazing."

An unwelcome time for hills

I planned to start at 6 am, but I slept in until 8. I needed it, though.

I managed 17 mile at 7:12 pace this morning. I was really getting thirsty the last three miles, about when I hit a stretch with little to no shade. Most of the first 10 miles was downhill, with some notable exceptions, and the rest was uphill, including a huge climb at 10 miles. I thought of trying to make it 18 when I realized I missed a turn toward the end, but once I got to the gate to my complex, I just stopped, walked to the pool locker room, took my shoes off and immediately got under the shower and turned it on cold.

I lost 12 pounds over those 17 miles.

I started off way too fast- 6:33 pace for the first three miles, and tried to slow my pace down to what I'd be doing when I'm dying at the end of a run, while I have the capability to go faster, but that rarely worked. More than an hour later, I am

still aching for water, but I don't want to get bloated, as I am wont to do when I guzzle fluids.

Though I am going to switch today's and tomorrow's mileage for consistency's sake (one long run per week) I technically did 92.5 miles over the last seven days, definitely a personal record. And, I am feeling better now than I did at the beginning of the week. Tomorrow I will do an easy five alone then meet up with Ciccone for another five before we watch some Italian soccer and eat like archdukes.

Pretty good week, 6/7 through...

I'm closing in on 85 for the week, my highest total in memory, perhaps ever. It started horribly- running myself into the ground Sunday morning with mess less hydration than I needed,and gradually cooled off Thursday and Friday.

Friday morning I got up and did an amended Park loop to get seven before work, then a new loop going west on Idylwood, Virginia to Fairwood and back on Buckelew and the W&OD. Cool but very humid in the morning and pretty sunny in the evening.

I'm going to do my long run tomorrow morning, early, because I am staying in tonight to get a good night's sleep- I've been dragging the past few days. If I can get going by 6, I can get 18 in before it gets too hot.

Relief, on two schedules

After a pretty miserable Wednesday, Thursday brought some relief.
Wednesday evening I was so tired on my way home that I kept falling asleep on the Metro. My attempts to correct my ingrown toenail on my right foot seemed largely useless.
When I woke up Thursday, though, the toe was feeling much better. When I stepped outside for my morning four miles, it was a temperate 72 degrees, with 65 percent humidity. At this point, if the humidity is lower than the temperature, I am pretty happy. I cruised along at 6:50 pace.
In the afternoon I went to see my ENTs, Dr. Ali and Dr. Chia, about correcting my sleep apnea. The situation is this: my tonsils are gigantic, and they choke me when I sleep, enough that I stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer an average of 26 times an hour. I tried a mouthpiece that was supposed to shift my jaw, but I couldn't sleep with it in my mouth. We discussed surgery, and their expectation was that the resulting pain and weakness would keep me from training for three weeks. The prospect of losing three weeks of training was grim, especially in August, when I planned to have the procedure, so I am delaying it until December, after the cross country national meet.
In the evening, I took a quick nap and headed out to do a quick four-mile tempo on the roads. I found what looked like a pretty nice, but somewhat complex, loop in Falls Church that I adapted from the Woodley Loop. I did a stride and headed off. Within the first quarter mile I had already made a slight misstep, starting to turn down a cul de sac. I hit a half mile in 1:40, then almost took a wrong turn again. I hit the mile in 5:14, then headed to what I thought was familiar territory. I covered the next half at 5:17 pace and kept it up for the rest of the second mile, but then things went wrong. I ran a block too far, up to route 7. Though I didn't have to cross the road, I could tell I went wrong. Then, I started to turn onto the right road, then changed my mind. I then realized I was totally off track, but decided to just roll with it. I got back on course for my Woodley loop and finished up a little under 23 minutes, hoping I was somewhere under 5:30 pace. I mapped it out later and I found I went 4.25 miles, averaging 5:23. Not bad, because I definitely didn't have the same drive once I knew my route was shot.

AAAARGH INGROWN TOENAIL BAAAAAAAAAARGH

BROTHER OF CHRIST MY RIGHT BIG TOE HURTS SO MUCH

Tuesday morning- A light 3.75 mile loop around Falls Church in high humidity, but a touch of breeze. Not terrible.

Tuesday evening- I ventured to TC Williams High School to talk to the NOVA track club about the 8k, and joined in a workout. A fellow named Dave was planning some ambitious 4x8 and 4x4, so I was game to join him. Unfortunately, I missed a bus that would have gotten me to the track with more time to spare, and I wound up doing one 400 of a warmup before talking to everyone about the race, then another, faster, 400 while everyone was doing strides. It was cooler, probably 80, a nice change from Monday. With a half mile under my belt, I joined Dave with the plan of running some 2:30s. First one- 2:29. Then 2:28, then 2:26. As I ran the third, I started to cramp up, likely from the bare-bones warmup. I cut the fourth 800 off at 400 (75), then ran three 400s (74,73,72) before starting a cooldown. When I switched into trainers, my big toes started throbbing. It was miserable. I got a ride home from this fellow, Mike, and went to work submerging my left foot in warm water and cutting back the nail as much as possible.

Wednesday morning- I woke up with the headache that comes from waking too early when you really haven't had enough sleep. It was medium long run day, and I had 13 miles to go before I got to work. I started out slowly, shuffling down the W&OD trail, with hopes of holding any effort until I reached the Custis Trail, but I was already suffering 3.5 miles in. I pushed decently hard against the pain in my right toe, my fatigue and the humidity. When I got to the Mt. Vernon trail, I stopped and wrung out my socks. The last four miles were pretty unpleasant, but once I hit the mall I was able to gut it out.

Hi there, Hound

I woke up at some point Monday morning (around 3 am) and got up to eat something. My legs promptly failed me and I fell to the ground. Turns out the 18 miles in the heat got to me...
I woke up at ran a Park loop, but it was still blazingly hot and stiflingly humid. I averaged 7:30s, I think. I had to stop halfway up Highland and collect myself.

In the evening, I met up with the Lululemon RUN CLUB and did a very easy six with them, mainly staying with Will and Elyse. I struggled there, too. In the end I was just happy to be done, with 12 for the day. While staggering around after the run on P Street wearing a Pharaoh Hounds t-shirt, I heard my name, looked up and saw Jim, Melanie and Mae Hommes! They were in town while Jim does some research into the correspondence of a 19th century missionary. Sadly our schedules did not match up so that we could get in a run together, but it was a great surprise to see them, just an hour after I saw my colleague Bill walking by on his way home from the gym.

As much as I absolutely love DC, I miss the Hounds. That group that got me involved in 2004- Jim, Hack, Hans, Rich, Paul, Shafer, Ryan and Dan were, although older and more family-centric than I, great training partners.

Time to catch up on about two weeks of half-written posts.

GAAAAAAH

I went into Sunday's long run with a lot of momentum and optimism. After a strong day on Saturday, I figured 18 miles would be a cinch. I woke up a bit late, though, and had to jump on the bike right after I got up and head to Georgetown. Either riding fast downhill or pedaling hard uphill, I was getting thirsty, but didn't take the steps to correct it. I arrived in time to talk to the Washington Running Club about the GRC 8k, but soon enough before 8 am that I didn't really have time to relax and rehydrate. We started off and I ran with John, a fellow who runs with the Potomac Runners and lives in Falls Church. We had a good five miles or so together before he turned around and headed back. His son is going to VCU in the fall so I gave him a heads up about what I like about the Richmond area. We were going a little fast, though, and when we stopped for water I noticed how much of a toll our pace had taken on me. I ran with Dan, Max and TJ for a bit until we hit another water fountain, but I needed more time to douse my head. When I stopped, I couldn't imagine running much longer. We were at about nine miles. They other three had moved up ahead and I kept an equal distance behind them for about eight minutes. Then, after crossing a bridge and looking out for a swarm of cyclists, I just stopped. I tried wringing out my socks (disgusting, I know, but get over it) and starting again, but I just couldn't do it. My hands were dry, which made me worried I had stopped sweating. I walked along for a while and realized I had my Metro and debit cards in my pocket, a recent development in my long running after my disaster two weeks ago. I walked a bit farther until I caught a semi-major intersection and caught a cab. The air conditioning chilled my weary frame, draped in wet shorts and a shirt. I reconvened with the group at Dean and Deluca and gulped down two containers of orange juice. Expensive, but delicious.

I went home, watched a movie, and took a nap. At about 7:30, I headed out to finish off my mileage for the day, though it violated the spirit of the single long run. I combined a Pimmit Hills loop with a trip up and down Highland for another eight miles (which felt like they nearly killed me). Afterward I sat in the shower for about 10 minutes and let cold water bring me back to life.

Early morning

After a late night, partially extended by just missing a Metro from McPherson Square after midnight, I got up at 5:45, ready to bike to the city for a day of running-related activity. Joe and Neal were running the Lawyers Have Heart 10k and the GRC team was manning a few tables to hand out water along the towpath and in front of the Watergate. I was going to catch people after the race and encourage them to run our race. I got going a little late but the ride was relatively easy. I parked my bike near the Glover-Archibald trail, about a mile and a half out from the start of the race, so I'd have a little cushion in case my run didn't go well. I headed off on a pleasant, Wisconsin Ave-centric loop to River Road and Western Avenue, then down to Macarthur. It was humid, but not too warm, and the loop was mostly shaded. Pleasant enough running conditions.

As I finished, I worried I would be late for seeing Wiggy and Neal go by, and I doubted my directions, so I took an ill-suited detour, but recovered, surged the last mile or so and reached my bike with time to spare before the runners came by. I saw Wiggy, then Karl (a surprise) and Neal run by, all looking relaxed. I also saw Lauren, Jessica McGuire, Will and Elyse and someone else I can't recall.

june 9-11

Need to write stuff here

Dry spell over

The Run After the Women 5k
I went to this DC Road Runners-sponsored evening race to try and drum up more support for the GRC Father's Day 8k. It was in Bluemont Park, a nice plot along the W&OD and Four Mile Run Trails. It's usually the point in my long runs where I am really tired of running and want to stop, so it was nice to be less exhausted. The weather was also generously dry and cooler, probably high 70s and a setting sun. It was really pretty.
The races were set up like a high school cross country meet- a women's race first- The Women's Distance Festival, followed by a men's race.
I did a 5k+ warmup before and during the women's race. It was an easy out-and-back course, starting in Bluemont Park and heading west on the W&OD Trail almost to Falls Church Park. It was a little bit uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back.
We had to share the trail with walkers, joggers and bikers. One such jogger jumped in front of the pack as we were about to start the second 5k.
The gun went off and I was back in a race. I started swiftly and this teenager was sticking with me. I kept pretty strong form going over the first quarter mile. I wondered how long it would take to shake this kid. Was he serious? I was hurting already. This running fast business is for the birds. This wasn't easy, I was pushing. I thought there was supposed to be a period of numbness at the beginning of a race...
I edged ahead of him when we passed the jogger and started pushing. Also we went under Wilson Boulevard and I could hear his footsteps echo in the tunnel. It wasn't too far, so I was sure anyone could hang for a few minutes. I still heard him behind me as we crossed a wooden bridge, but less threateningly. I focused on maintaining my pace and that's exactly what I did. 5:11....8:04 at the turnaround. A family on bikes stalled on the narrow bridge that the W&OD used. I yelled a few times to get them out of the way. I ended up dodging them and continuing on my way. Two miles in 10:22. Still 5:11 pace.
From the turnaround, I could see the kid and some long haired dude, behind me, but not a danger unless I slowed down. So, I didn't slow down. I kept cranking down the slight hill, hoping to negative split myself under 16:00.
The pretty tree-line field and accompanying path seemed a lot longer on the way back than on the way out. I saw I was unlikely to break 16, but I kept pushing nonetheless, and broke the metaphorical tape at 16:08. Completely even splits.
The boy and long-haired dude followed 20 or so seconds later.
Though I was initially disappointed to not have broken 16, it was my fastest 5k of the season (out of three). I ran completely even splits, which speaks to the strength I have built up and the lack of speed I have worked on. I was happy with it, especially considering how rough I felt at the beginning.
I had a pleasant 3+ mile cooldown after talking to some potential Fathers' Day runners.

Early June

After Tuesday's disastrous long run, things were in bad shape for a while. Wednesday I went to the Washington-Lee High School track (hi Pat Fisher!) and met up with the Potomac Runners to tell them about the Father's Day 8k. I planned to run 11 miles (around the track). The heat around 90, but I hadn't fully recovered from the day before. Also, I had some really sore back muscles that made it hard to maintain my usual form. I eventually got going, but it wasn't comfortable, and I scrapped it after 7.5 miles.

Thursday, I waited a while and followed a storm for a 10 mile run around Falls Church. It was much much cooler, probably 75, and I averaged 6:25s. I enjoyed that a lot.

Friday, I failed to wakeup early enough to run before work, so I tried to force in 12 after work. It didn't work. I was going to head to Roosevelt Island and spend some time there, but my the time I got to the Key Bridge, I was dizzy, thirsty and tired. I headed back to the Mall, around around there and called it a day.

For a long time, I had planned on running the Race for the Cure. It has been a staple of my running for 10 years, and I only missed 2006 when I wasn't allowed to run. Since 2005, I have run it in memory of Kathy Kropf, mother of my high school friend Dan Hersh. She was delightful, a great mother and a wonderful hostess for so many parties in my high school days. She also succumbed to breast cancer after more than a decade. I got home Friday but but was unable to fall asleep. From midnight to 5 am, I tried and failed. I drifted off a little after 5, but could not wake up at 6 to get the bus and train to the mall. I woke up at 10:30 when my mom called to tell me something I couldn't retain. I ended up running a wilting eight miles at 7:10 pace around McLean.

Run until I drop

I could tell I was a little thirsty in the afternoon, so I tried to adjust for it. I always underestimate what I will need when I am at the office, sitting pretty still. When I hit the road at 5:30, it was about 86 degrees. I caught a nice breeze on First Avenue and didn't start sweating until 3:15 in. I passed the mile mark at about 6:30, and I knew I had to slow down. With 16 miles left, this was no way to start off. Unfortunately, I just didn't do it. I got going. 6:22 pace through 3.35, then along the Mt. Vernon trail I slowed a little and averaged 6:25 pace through a little more than 6 when I turned onto the Four Mile Run Trail. I made a conscious effort to slow down once I hit Four Mile Run, and things got a little smelly along the creek. When I crossed over at Shirlington, I started to feel a little fatigue, but kept pressing. Crossing Walter Reed Road meant I would have some shade while I traversed a few parks, and that helped a little. When the trail starts to descend to water level, though, I typically feel terrible, and this time was no different. About that time my mp3 player, which I was admittedly cheating by using, shorted out. It was dead weight for the rest of the run because I couldn't listen to podcasts to keep me interested anymore. The climb at Glencarlyn Park was miserable, though not as bad as the first time I ran it.
I started wringing out my shirt at this point, and sweat was just pouring out. When I hit Bluemont Park, I was practically jogging. I crossed Wilson and started heading up Alrington Mill, and when I got to the top of the hill I stopped. For a while, I thought I would start jogging again, but it just didn't happen. I wasn't dizzy, but I couldn't spit, there was just no more moisture in my mouth. I shot for 17, got 12.5. Not the long run I had envisioned. I stopped at a water fountain, but it did little to refresh me. I walked another 1.5 miles to the East Falls Church Metro station and rode it home. I had no appetite for the rest of the day, and ate rice and peas only because I forced myself to do so. It was bad.
It also made me wonder about my physical limits. How much longer would I have been able to run if I kept that pace up? In all, I averaged 6:59 pace, though it was surely slower in the second half.
Adjusting to this summer weather (especially once it officially becomes summer) is going to be my biggest challenge.