6 miles @ 12 min/mi

Capella gleams high overhead, a jewel in Orion's crown as CM Manlandro and I set off on Rock Creek Trail from the Lake Needwood parking lot shortly after 5am. Yesterday's near miss by Hurricane Hanna leaves behind some puddles along the path and a few fallen branches, but no major obstructions bar our way. I dance around a frog that hops in front of me. CM describes the not-quite-tragic adventures she has had recently with flat tires on her car.

Yellow police tape at both ends of a tiny bridge near Southlawn Ln puzzles us, but we soon see more such barriers at Avery Rd and Baltimore Rd and deduce that they must have been placed yesterday to warn of potential high waters. My watch band broke so CM is our timekeeper; she tells me that we're clocking along downstream at about 12.5 minutes/mile. Then suddenly, after about 2.5 miles, it's Mud City with a boggy wallow all across the path. The creek must have risen here yesterday and only receded slowly. Our shoes and ankles are half-coated and our socks are wet now. At milepost 11, just after the Sue Wen Stottmeister glade, we turn around. The return trip, as I forecast, is a faster one in spite of our best efforts to keep the pace under control. CM hands me the flashlight for the last few miles so she can retie her wayward hair and take a drink. A frog hops out of the way during the final hill climb, perhaps the same frog I missed stepping on outbound.

We finish up with miles of 11.5 and then 11.0 min/mi pace. CM is tapering for the Parks Half Marathon in one week; so far so good! Dawn brightens and the sun rises as I drive home and CM heads for the MCRRC kids runs where she's a volunteer race official.

(cf. Jog Log and Rock Creek Trail Miles 10 to 14 (2006-07-10), ...) - ^z - 2008-09-18

(correlates: 2008-07-13 - CCT Cutdown, 2004-11-13 - Wonderful Windy Weather, SigilOfPower, ...)