~6 miles @ ~9.2 min/mi

Warm and humid, it's orchestra rehearsal night. Thunderstorms spawn tornadoes south of town. Son Robin drops his antique iPhone face-down on a concrete floor and the front glass plate is crazy-cracked, sharp edges ready to give a close shave to anybody making a call. The AT&T store sells him a new one but then it's too late to attempt a ~10 mile trek around the region. (previous journeys along that route: 2009-06-14 - UM Loop, 2007-11-08 - Anacostia Tributary Orbit, 2006-12-08 - Anacostia Tributary Orbit, 2006-01-09 - College Park Loop, etc.)

So at 8pm from parking lot ZZ near the engineering buildings at UM it's pretty Paint Branch Trail to Lake Artemesia. Two rabbits sprint away, white tails bouncing dots in the deepening gloom. Two big deer stand guard watchfully. Swarms of gnats float in the air near the lake. Lightning flickers in the distance. Green Line Metro trains rumble by.

An ocular migraine develops during the second 1.35 mile lap: glowing circles expand slowly, make it hard to see the path even with headlamp in hand. Walkers greet me as I pass. After three laps I'm concerned that the gates will be locked. Paint Branch Trail back to the start. GPS says 5.98 until a couple of tiny final loops around the car roll it over to 6.00 miles. Splits 9:41 ⇒ 8:51 ⇒ 8:57 ⇒ 9:11 ⇒ 9:03 ⇒ 9:45 with a final average of 9:15.

(see trackfile for details) - ^z - 2011-05-06