12+ miles @ ~10 min/mi

The roar of diesel engines greets me as I approach the WSSC construction project on Northwest Branch Trail near mile 0.5—heavy machinery at work! Time for a detour: my plan to tiptoe around the KEEP OUT fences is a non-starter. It's Monday morning, and after taking the kids to the University I set off on my usual College Park/Hyattsville circuit. My first few measured miles flow past cool and crisp like the weather, 10.5 min/mi or so. But now at the barrier where NWB is closed I must pause, regroup, backtrack. I discover a path through the woods to Magruder Park, follow the eastern edge of the ballfields, discover a pretty neighborhood trail. It leads me to a wooden bridge over a tiny creek from which I turn right and climb the big wooden erosion-control staircase to the end of Crittenden St. A trash truck thunders past as I trot along 41st Pl to Charles L. Armentrout Dr, where I rejoin the trail. Cars here refuse to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk, so several of us pause and await a gap in the traffic.

Onward, uneventfully, I pick up the pace as Northeast Branch Trail leads me to Lake Artemesia, ~10 min/mi. A boy in sweatpants and a girl with a flying ponytail zip by as I approach. I follow them, accelerate to pass, and inform the young gentleman, "I don't want to make you trip, but I think your left shoe is untied!" He looks down and runs more carefully thereafter. Onward at tempo, my 1.35 mile Lake Loop is a blazing 8.8 min/mi pace. The remaining 1.5 mile up Paint Branch Trail is a slightly-slower ~9.5 min/mi to the engineering bldg. I meet son Robin who kindly buys me a rehydration soda at the ASME Lounge. Then it's greetings to son Merle at the Terp Zone and back to the car at the Stadium garage.

(cf. Jog Log) - ^z - 2008-09-20

(correlates: RemembranceDay, 2008-09-18 - Anacostia Evening Loop, NorthwestBranchMemories, ...)