14+ miles @ ~12 min/mi

Just before 5am Cara Marie Manlandro and I arrive within 10 seconds of one another at Bethesda on a lovely-cool Sunday morning. I give CM my LED flashlight to carry, though we scarcely need it with the full moon still shining bright. We start our watches at our cars and proceed down the Capital Crescent Trail. A predawn runner heading the opposite way greets us with, "I knew there'd be somebody else out here this early!" Four deer standing by trail flee at our approach. After 87 minutes we reach the end of the trail, CM's home turf near her alma mater Georgetown University. To make sure that we've gone a full 7 miles we proceed under the Whitehurst Freeway to 33rd St. NW where we turn around. Our pace for the first half is 12.5 min/mi. The return trip is slightly uphill and we meet increasing numbers of cyclists, in-line skaters, etc. as the day brightens. We're feeling strong and do the return trip at an average 11.3 min/mi with our final mile the fastest of the day. My wet t-shirt causes abrasion in a delicate location and I ask, "Do you think we could do chromatography on blood using only a technical shirt and sweat?" Today is the longest distance CM has ever run, and it goes smoothly—she's optimistic about next month's Parks Half Marathon.

(cf. Jog Log for the last 10 entries in the logbook) - ^z* - 2008-08-30

(correlates: WarningSigns, 2008-06-15 - CCT Rambles, ShowerOfBellringing, ...)