~6.5 miles @ ~9 min/mi

"Make Way for Ducklings!" Or rather, ducklings make way for me, hastily escorted by their parents off the path and into Lake Artemesia as I pass by. It's a Wednesday evening and I've got an hour to invest before time to pick up kids from the University. So at 7:45pm I park by the Paint Branch Trail near US Route 1 and jog to mile marker 1.5 behind the Engineering bldg. From there it's downstream through and around big flood-puddles left by this afternoon's thunderstorms. First mile 9:22, then the fragment to the lake loop, around which I do two more laps at 9:22 and 8:26 pace, according to pavement mile markings.

Lightning bolts in the east reflect ominously off the surface of the water. A MARC train idles on the track for a few minutes, then pulls away. At first I think I have the lake to myself, but then a handful of others appear, fishermen leaving for the day, a cyclist, a couple of other runners. Green Line metro trains rumble past, almost empty. The final mile is 7:50 in ominous near-darkness under overhanging trees. Sagging bamboo fronds slap me in the face. Intermittent rain during the run becomes steady after I get back to the car.

^z - 2009-06-12