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Early afternoon and work is quiet enough that I have a chance to get out and run, foolish as it may be with my right knee still twingey when I descend stairs or sit too long. The usual three fast loops on the woodsey paved trail, witnessed only by squirrels, with marked miles accelerating: 9:11 + 8:21 + 7:16, that last at near redline.
The next day my knee makes serious complaints when descending stairs. I rest it a couple of days, and over the weekend watch DVDs while pedaling on Paulette's recumbent exercise bicycle, about 90 minutes each day. The machine claims it's ~21 miles and ~700 calories, though my pulse is barely above 100. I am sweating a lot though ...
^z - 2010-01-27
Blistering pace! CM Manlandro is wearing new shoes, and they (or her feet) still need some time to adapt. We start in front of my home at 0530 and follow neighborhood streets to the Capital Crescent Trail. After the high trestle, however, CM pauses to adjust a sock by the light of my flashlight and detects a blister forming. We turn back, take a side excursion toward Grubb Rd but decide to abandon it, and end up retracing our way home again in 38 minutes. Perhaps CM's feet were stressed out by her run yesterday in the rain, and that plus the new type of shoes (her old favorite model was discontinued) caused the problem?
I do the dishes, and when Barry Smith picks me up we proceed into Virginia, where we park at Difficult Run and Georgetown Pike just before 8am. Sara Crum appears moments later, and through the mud we go downstream on Difficult Run Trail (the Fairfax Cross County Connector Trail). The Great Falls Park trail map shows most of our route: we take the Ridge Trail to the Old Carriage Road Trail to the park visitor center. After a restroom break we continue up the Potomac River on the Pawtomack Canal Trail where we see two pairs of mallard ducks and one pair of deer. We turn back after ~53 minutes just inside Riverbend Park and retrace our path, pausing occasionally for Barry to take photos with his cellphone, and are back at the cars another 53 minutes later.
^z - 2010-01-25
The MCRRC "Shooting Starr" 4 miler begins with tension, as I try to handle my duties as a novice Parking Volunteer. After dithering between the big starting-line lot and the much smaller registration-lot I opt for the latter. I let people park there temporarily while signing up for the race, then move their cars. It seems to work, mostly. Christina Caravoulias visits with me and takes photos. Race Director Eric Bernhardt is ubiquitous and controls the chaos well; he also gives a moving pre-race talk reminding us all of Jim Starr, whose memory the event honors.
I meet Dondra Coniglio, from Columbia MD. This is her very first race ever, and she's hyper-nervous. Her training during the past month or so hasn't gone beyond 2-3 miles. I tell her to hang with me, and we do the race together, splits 12:14 + 12:39 + 13:23 + 12:26 with occasional walk breaks. We try to catch Christina but lose sight of her after about three miles. I chatter away and allot Dondra only one "I'm sorry" per mile, of which she uses two and keeps two in reserve.
^z - 2010-01-22
I'm still #47 on the waiting list for the Massanutten Mountain 100 race this May, but comrade Kate Abbott is already in and we're training together in hopes of running it together. Today, Friday, we both play hooky from work to get a preview of the first dozen or so miles of the course, including the infamous Short Mountain. I arrive at Edinburg Gap early but miss the turn to the parking area and have to circle back to find it. My wanderings include an involuntary trip up the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Off Road Vehicle (ORV) drive, scary scraping of the MINI Cooper's chassis on the ice, and a nearly-slip-off-the-road turnaround. I'm properly parked just as Kate arrives. We leave my car behind and ride together to the Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp where the race starts and finishes this year.
Today's trek is mostly a fast walk with occasional runs where possible. In near-freezing weather just before 9am we're off, climbing steadily for the first 3+ miles along Moreland Gap Rd. At the orange-blazed Massanutten Trail we begin a segment that Kate did last year with Carolyn Gernand. Instead of thorny blackberry bushes we crunch along through brown leaves and shallow snow, sporadically interrupted by icy patches. Pickup trucks are parked on the forest road that we cross after a few miles. We take off extra layers and roll up sleeves as we warm up.
Kate's cellphone rings as we plod along the ridgeline of Short Mountain. It's Caroline Williams, fellow runner whom we helped crew for at MMT last year! (cf. Massanutten Mountain Midnight Madness) I text a memo to Twitter/Facebook: Massanutten Trail - Short Mountain ROCKS! From the start we've climbed ~1600 feet. Then it's down down down, ~1100 feet, until after ~4 hours we arrive at mile ~12, my car, and refuel. In the actual race this would be within the cutoffs, but not by much. Today we've got enough time to spare that we decide to continue for another couple of miles along the Massanutten Trail. We climb ~1000 feet to Waonaze Peak on Powell Mountain, then take the Bear Trap Trail down to the ATV/ORV path, aka Peters Mill Run Road.
I stumble on a stick and fall, but land on hands in the snow with minor abrasion. The ATV lane is covered with ice and mud, so our shoes become heavy. We're finally back at my car, ~16 miles total, and take off shoes to avoid mess. Kate returns via I-66 to pick up her sons and I take I-81 and US-340 through West Virginia and Maryland to dodge bad DC-area traffic before a holiday weekend.
^z - 2010-01-19
Shoes crunch on the snow as a last-quarter moon rides high and lights the Capital Crescent Trail. Temps are in the mid-20s but when the wind pauses it feels quite warm; when it blows, rather chilly. In downtown Bethesda at 7am Sara Crum arrives halfway through my Snickers candy bar. Gayatri Datta is soon there too, so we set off along Leland St towards Rock Creek. Our route is down Beach Dr to Bingham and back, then north on Jones Bridge Rd to Rock Creek Trail and onward to the water fountain at Old Spring Rd. Loops up and down the Mormon Temple hill occupy us until Gayatri's GPS indicates it's time to head back to Bethesda via the CCT. Our conversations are splendid, as so often they are during long runs when folks can say anything. Family, injury, health, training, politics, relationships, ... all's fair game when on foot and sweaty.
As we cruise between high fences that protect the beautiful Columbia Country Club from the threat of crude runners, what should I spy beside the trail but my lost water bottle! It fell from my fanny pack here a fortnight ago (see 2009-12-27 - Icy CCT) and lies there in plain view. Contents frozen solid, duct tape and rubber band intact. Woot!
^z - 2010-01-17
Corner of Mackall Av and Sorell St: as I jog by the teenage couple is standing in the road, kissing, only coming up to take a breath of winter air every so often. Ten minutes later, on my way back, they're still there keeping each other warm. We're on a neighborhood byway near Langley High School. Perhaps they got lost on their walk home? (^_^)
A hawk perches on a telephone line. This afternoon Stephanie and I had planned to run together, but work preempts her so I head out alone. Snows has mostly melted off the sidewalk; a few piles remain where plows have pushed white stuff off the roads. I climb cautiously over mini-icebergs as necessary and trot west-north-west to Mackall, as Stephanie and I did a couple of months ago (2009-11-20 - Georgetown Pike). It's less than 20 minutes from my start when I arrive there, after dodging cars from high school students intent on escaping the walls of academe. I haven't checked a map and turn north on Mackall in vain hope of doing a neighborhood loop. Alas, it only leads me to a dead end at Holland St, so I have to backtrack past the young lovers in the lane.
^z - 2010-01-15
Clair is on the recovery road from foot and knee injuries of 2009, so armored with new lavender-and-black Sugoi winter wear she ventures out with me this afternoon to circle the parking lot perimeter. We discuss aid station themes; Clair has extensive experience at the Hardrock 100 miler, and as a ski patroller. The wind cuts into us and my knees turn red. Lap one is ~10.1 min/mi. Our second circuit is ~9.9 pace, as the short walk break is canceled out by Clair's dash to the finish—or what she mistakes for the finish, which turns out to be 20 meters or so before the actual end. But she continues her kick strongly and afterwards confesses to having been a sprinter in high school. I do one additional 1.5 mile lap solo at ~7.5 min/mi. Showoff!
^z - 2010-01-12
A red-headed woodpecker blows past and perches on a tree to watch me. A discarded Christmas tree lies in the middle of the road, shoved there by 20-40 mi/hr winds. Temps are in the 'teens and the wind chill index in low single digits. I envy lady runners and their wisely warmer arrangement of certain bodily organs. The nozzle of my water bottle freezes solid after an hour and the electrolyte drink inside turns into a slush, reminding me of Barry Smith's kind offer yesterday to buy me a 7-11 "Slurpee" when he stopped to get coffee while giving me a ride home (cf. 2009-01-02 - Frigid CCT, Beach, Leland)
Today's solo run is an out-and-back from home to CCT to RCT to Candy Cane City, where I cross the footbridge and take roller-coaster Leland St to Wisconsin Av in Bethesda before turning back. Outbound facing into the wind is a bracing experience; the homeward journey feels slightly more comfortable. I kick out the final mile in ~9.5 minutes.
^z - 2010-01-10
"Go ahead, it's fine!" I encourage the women standing in line to get into the men's restroom as I'm on my way out. The MCRRC New Year's Day 5k race begins in a few minutes, and the queue outside the ladies' room is far too long. No harm; runners do far less conventional things outdoors before many races! This year the Half Beast is gone: volunteers can't give me bib #333 during the distribution of numbers, and I settle for #222, a third of the biblical Number of the Beast. I've been #333 since 2006, so it's time for change.
Gayatri Datta and I ride to today's race with Barry Smith, who is back from running the Honolulu Marathon 2009 and is signed up for the Disney Marathon next weekend. Gayatri plans to do a multiday stage race in the Himalayas come next October. We chat in the car and I salute their energy. Christina Caravoulias takes pre-race photos and runners wish one another Happy New Year. At the starting line Wayne Carson lines up near me, and sandbagging banter ensues.
Today's run turns out OK, a new PR for the 5k by about 20 seconds in spite of suboptimal pacing. Splits by my watch: 6:54 for the first mile, then 7:00, and the final ~1.1 miles in 8:02 (a pace of ~7:15). I finish 7th out of 21 in the 55-59 year male group, official time 21:54. After the race Mical Honigfort tells me about the group run yesterday on the Appalachian Trail that I skipped due to snow and freezing rain.
^z - 2010-01-05
Kate Abbott warns me that it's cold outside, and I soon discover how right she is. Three afternoon laps accelerate, from ~9.5 to ~8.8 to ~7.7 min/mi pace, as wind gusts blast from the northwest and my eyes water. A single other runner, dressed in black and lavender head-to-toe, is circling the perimeter in the opposite direction.
^z - 2010-01-03