~15.5 mi @ ~12.9 min/mi

Three friends are planning to go running with me this morning. Yesterday afternoon one has a flare-up of plantar fasciitis; last night another gets food poisoning; this morning the third experiences sudden severe back pain. Or so they claim. Hmmm, must be a coincidence. Can't be me, eh?

"You're doing God's work — thank you!" I tell the elderly gentleman wielding a scraper-rake to clear off the steps and water-diverters on the Western Ridge Trail near the Nature Center. I'm at mile ~12 of a spur-of-the-moment solo excursion, from home down Rock Creek Valley Trail and back along the Western Ridge Trail. Autumn leaves ankle-deep conceal roots and rocks. A monster burl on the side of a tree reminds me of the poem I wrote seven years ago inspired by that same sight. Today it's a day of free-range dogs, only one or two on leash. Flocks of fast runners zip by. A walker in a polychromatic-sparkly coat and hood greets me. I lose the trail a few times but backtrack and soon recover it. The GPS trackfile shows the route and pace.

^z - 2011-11-27