~16 miles @ ~11.2 min/mi

"Big G" in freshman physics class is the Gravitational Constant ( = 6.67 x 10^-11 meters³kg/s², if anybody cares) — but when I go running "Big G" is the shape made by following the Capital Crescent Trail from where it begins in Silver Spring, around in a semicircle to near the Kennedy Center, and then turning north on Rock Creek Trail (RCT) to Pierce Mill where I finish the capital "G" with a short crossbar to the Levine School of Music on Upton Street. My daughter's recital there today provides a good excuse to arrive on foot. (An unfortunate "Bump in the Night" traffic accident — I was rear-ended on the Beltway, coming home from a Friday evening orchestra rehearsal — has put one car out of commission and keeps me from attempting the MCRRC cross country race in Great Falls this Saturday morning.)

The result: ~16 miles in ~178 minutes; weather is warm, and the trail gets quite congested in places. The first 9 miles pass by at an average pace of 10:47, rather faster than I had planned in spite of walk breaks every 5 minutes or so. No mileposts are visible for quite a distance along the Potomac, but P-P markers on RCT give me a 3-mile average pace of 10:42 past the National Zoo. I'm tired and walk much of the final quarter mile, an uphill stretch to the music school.

Amusingly enough, the only other time I tried this route was almost a year ago, 28 April 2003 — and my average pace that time was 10:39 for the measured mile segments. Not much change, but I think I feel better today than I did then!