~4 miles @ ~11.3 min/m

Today I've got tons of excuses as I leave home for my usual short neighborhood circuit (Seminary to Forest Glen, Linden, Woodstock connector trail, Ireland, south on Rock Creek Trail, then home via Capital Crescent and Warren Street). It's the first run in 19 days, the course is hilly, I don't take walk breaks (other than a minute when my son calls me as I pass under Rock Creek Trestle), I've been sick, it's too hot, my socks don't fit me, I hurt my fingernail bowling earlier today, etc., etc.! But a video of the 1954 Commonwealth Mile, Roger Bannister vs. John Landy, inspires me to press onward. (2008 note: it's no longer available — why not?) An unseen woodpecker taps a staccato beat, and cyclists on RCT wish me a happy weekend. The county is resurfacing the CCT near mile 0.5 with nice new crushed bluestone, so I have to crawl around barriers blocking each end of that trail segment. The Nike "Free" shoes I'm wearing feel good for the first 3 miles, but then I start to get pains on the bottom of my left foot. Perhaps they aren't made for street running. My heartbeat is 160 when I arrive home, but after a few minutes it's down to 130. Whew!