~8.8 miles @ ~11.1 min/mi

"V", short for Javi Hartenstine, is picking her way through the fallen trees that block the Capital Crescent Trail (Georgetown Branch) after last night's dramatic storm, a derecho that blasted through the region and left widespread power outages in its wake. A tattooed cyclist has to stop every hundred yards to portage his bike over and around the debris. V and I chat; she lives in Bethesda, ran cross-country in high school, and is about to move to Baltimore to be closer to her work. She's funny and rather faster than me, which is good since it keeps me working hard on a hyper-humid morning.

At 6am sharp I park in the downtown Bethesda garage, on schedule to run with comrades Barry, Ken, Rebecca, et al. But none of them make it out of their neighborhoods. Roads are blocked; traffic lights are dark. After a few minutes of waiting and texting I set off eastward through the tunnel under Wisconsin Av. I pause to take photos of deadfalls. V overtakes me and at Jones Mill Rd we look ahead and see the trail blocked before us.

We turn north to join Rock Creek Trail via Susanna La, and the fat cat that was lying immobile in the street on my 2012-06-27 - Photo Ramble is ambling down the road this time. We crawl over or bushwhack around more fallen trees, then drink at the water fountain near Old Spring Rd. I take walk breaks while V runs in place. Cedar La gets us back to Old Georgetown Rd, and then we branch along the Bethesda Trolley Trail until I take a wrong turn and lead us back to Old Georgetown Rd again. Finally at Barnes & Noble in downtown Bethesda we bid each other good-bye. The Garmin GPS trackfile shows splits of 13:41 + 17:03 + 10:43 + 10:20 + 9:57 + 9:51 + 9:32 + 9:15 plus a 9:13 min/mi pace on the final 0.8 mile segment.

^z - 2012-07-25