~20 miles @ ~12 min/mi
| High-flying airplane twinkles as it glides past Venus in the east. Microwave tower dish flanks Sirius. Orion bestrides the southern sky. A baby rabbit zig-zag-zigs back and forth along the trail in front of me before finally escaping to one side. In pre-dawn gloom the trek on the Capital Crescent Trail is quiet, with only a couple of bobbing headlights from runners heading the opposite way to greet. On the mental music player, Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" accompanies footfall beats. |
At 7am the Bethesda Row Arts Festival is just setting up. I crouch low and take photos of brass curves that catch the eye and echo musical, feminine forms. Streets are blocked by orange cones and parking is chaotic, but Gayatri Datta soon arrives, then Sara Crum. We run south along the trail for ~1.5 miles, then back to meet Rebecca Rosenberg and Barry Smith. Both are delayed by the Arts Festival which has blocked more lanes. Gayatri and Sara's arms are strikingly thin, sharp-edged compared to mine.
Once the gang's all here we proceed south again, this time ~4 miles (to milepost 7.5) and return. Sara startles at what she thinks is a snake on the path. A black bike-lock cable is lying by the trail; I pick it up and wave it at her, but she isn't fooled. We discuss movies we've seen recently: Rebecca recommends Argo, Gayatri and her husband Atin saw The Master, and I put in a plug for Battleship. Gayatri chats about sociology, her graduate school topic, and mentions that comrade Dr. Stephanie Fonda is the only other person she knows with a degree in that discipline. We talk about juvenile delinquency, income inequality, and the Bengali-born Nobel-laureate economist Amartya Sen.
My foot slips on the wet leaves at the edge of the CCT asphalt. Sara recalls a training run long ago together when I fell in the snow here. Later I look it up in my log and confirm her recollection — see 2011-01-08 - CCT Rock Creek Park Loop Plus. We talk about plans for next weekend's Marine Corps Marathon. I laugh at Rebecca and Barry's jokes. In Bethesda we bid Gayatri and Barry farewell, refuel, visit facilities, then proceed east on the CCT. Rebecca and Sara turn back at Connecticut Av and I dash home, managing a final pair of brisk miles at ~9:20 pace.
Tunnels along the CCT cause significant glitches in the GPS trackfiles and likely exaggerate the distance measured. Mile splits from the Garmin GPS are 10:49 + 10:26 + 10:28 + 8:54 (possible GPS error) + 17:35 (waiting and photographing) + 10:59 + 11:01 + 20:01 (more waiting) + 11:03 + 10:56 + 11:44 + 11:57 + 13:00 + 11:18 + 11:09 + 14:30 (final break) + 13:29 + 11:05 + 9:20 + 9:16 as Runkeeper registers 20.80 miles.
^z - 2012-11-05