~11.5 miles @ ~12.3 min/mi

(click for larger map; see Garmin and iPhone Runkeeper GPS trackfiles)

A contrail bisects the sky as I come outside to meet Stephanie Fonda and hitch a ride to Candy Cane City. Our run begins at sunrise, 7:21am on this the first day of Daylight Saving Time. The trackfile makes a mutant-butterfly pattern, as we head first down Rock Creek into DC, then branch into Silver Spring to visit McDonalds where I snag a senior-discount coffee. Back along East-West Hwy I insist on a detour to visit the original boundary stone set in place in 1792 [1] to mark the northernmost point of DC. After a swerve north along Rock Creek we return to Stephanie's car for a shoe change, then add another five miles from Meadowbrook Stables via the Capital Crescent Trail to Bethesda and return along über-hilly Leland St. As we arrive at Candy Cane City Stephanie greets "Santa Steve" Schreuers. We cooldown-chat with him about training and upcoming races.

Along the way is the usual superb conversation about friends, frustrations, families, and life. Stephanie tells me of a new self-experiment she's beginning: intermittent fasting. She knows before she mentions the topic that it will captivate me, since it combines: (1) the potential to run faster without extra effort (see Weight Management, etc.); (2) self-experimentation, my second-favorite activity; (3) evidence-based medicine; and (4) mindfulness, an increased awareness of what otherwise is often, for me a thoughtless grazing (especially when I get home). Stephanie suggests that rather than fasting two entire days per week, perhaps more rational is to undertake 14-16 hours of non-eating most days — not including running race day, of course.

^z - 2013-03-27