~11 miles @ ~9.7 min/mi

"Great shirt!" I compliment the young Asian guy I meet running along Second Avenue near downtown Silver Spring. By chance we're both wearing exactly the same outfit, an olive-hued Bull Run Run 50 miler finisher's top. Robins hop across the sidewalk. Roses bloom in profusion. Fuel along the way is a single root beer barrel. Breakfast beforehand was a Snickers candy bar and a cup of coffee. A lady on a park bench near Rhode Island Avenue smiles. Noisy cement mixer trucks cruise along Fort Totten Road. The Capitol dome gleams in the distance. The Catholic University law school building inspires, as always, with words of wisdom inscribed along the top of its façade.

The new iPhone 4 has a built-in GPS and so using the free MapMyRun app I set off at 0645 on a cool Saturday morning to compare it with the Garmin 205 wrist GPS unit. The results are quite close: iPhone says 11.23 miles and Garmin estimates 11.17, about 0.5% less. I divert to refill a water bottle at the only fountains seen en route, a community park in the Takoma neighborhood near the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Traffic causes long pauses at a few street crossings such as North Capital. The fishhook at the end of the run is to add a little mileage and avoid red lights. Pace accelerates in the final five miles. Splits by the wrist unit are 10:38 ⇒ 10:07 ⇒ 9:27 ⇒ 9:39 ⇒ 10:04 ⇒ 10:21 ⇒ 9:06 ⇒ 9:48 ⇒ 8:45 ⇒ 8:44 ⇒ 8:53.

^z - 2012-05-09