~6 miles @ ~16.8 min/mi

"Here comes a group for you to look at!" Mary Ewell and I step off the trail in Rock Creek Park to admire another pack of young gazelles from the Georgetown University cross-country team as they canter by. Sorted by sex, alternate female and male hordes of half a dozen lissome runners pass us a few minutes apart. We're reminded of the awesome Adonis whom we saw near here three years ago. Mary explains her age eligibility criterion: 15 years. "They're older than that!" I argue. But Mary clarifies: 15 years plus or minus, relative to her. Mary also notes the narrow hips on the fast girls, which reminds me in turn of evolutionary biology comments in Why We Run. We philosophize and criticize as we walk and jog along.

It's a cool Sunday morning when Mary picks me up at home and drives us to the tiny parking lot on Beach Dr at the DC boundary. A pair of ladies are studying the park map, recognize me from VHTRC races, and decline my offer to advise them on routes. They salute Mary's JFK 50 Miler 2007 shirt a few minutes later when they blitz past us on the climb up the Western Ridge Trail. Mary and I enjoy the day, with much banter along the way about "non-attachment" and our need to stop clinging to delusions of speed in our running. (Easier said than done, at least for me!) We discuss yoga and meditation, Mary's Ph.D. thesis work, current politics, bicycle technology, our families, and various other fun topics. Mary almost rolls an ankle as we accelerate the pace nearing the end of our loop.

^z - 2010-10-13