~30 miles @ ~13.2 min/mi

"Vanity of vanity, all is vanity." Ecclesiastes 1:2. On the way home it looks as though the GPS will read 29+ if I go the direct route, so I divert from the Capital Crescent Trail at Jones Mill Rd and go via Susanna Ln to Rock Creek Trail. The extra half mile gets the display to read 30.2 and makes the ego happier. And when I run out of water with a few miles to go I tell myself that dehydration will lower the number on the digital scale—which it does, to 149.0 lbs. All is vanity!

The moon is a thin crescent in the east as I set out before dawn. A rabbit runs ahead of me on the CCT. I wait 20 minutes at the Bethesda parking lot for the group to gather, The GPS keeps running all the time, and at latrine/water stops, so perhaps the pace while "moving" is ~1 min/mi faster. My right knee feels "weak" but not "achy" after a few hours, no matter what I do nowadays. This reminds ever-cheerful Rebecca Rosenberg of the "Beverly Hillbillies" sitcom episode with Granny's common cold cure, a foul concoction of possum guts and what-not. Take it and your cold goes away in 7 days, instead of lingering for a week! Rebecca and I sing the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme song in chorus as we pass the National Zoo.

Gayatri Datta and I stick together for the whole 21 mile loop. She pulls me along especially during the middle. At the end, I walk much of the final mile home, Possibly it's due to sodium and potassium deficit, since I foolishly only bring one electrolyte capsule with me and one energy gel. The Clif Builder's Bar I eat along the way perhaps helps some, but perhaps causes some minor intestinal distress. Good lessons to learn for future long treks!

(cf. 2005-10-23 - CCT-RC Loop, 2006-10-07 - Caren's Loop, 2007-10-20 - Mary's Loop, 2009-01-10 - CM's Loop, ...) - ^z - 2010-08-24