~11.4 miles @ ~10 min/mi

"2:53!" Scott Koonce admits as he jogs alongside me, cooling down at the end of a dozen fast miles. I'm sprinting at race pace to keep up, and manage to pant out admiration for his marathon PB. Scott has also run Seneca Creek and other local races, all far faster than I can envision. "I think we're in different age groups!" I joke. He mentions reading about DC Boundary Stones in Zhurnaly; I tell him about The Ring, commiserate with his recent injuries, and after half a mile send him on ahead as I slow to a sustainable trot on the way to a downtown Bethesda meet-up with Barry Smith, Ken Swab, and Rebecca Rosenberg. The morning is delightfully cool and low-humidity, in bold contrast to yesterday's pre-cold-front conditions that they ran in. Groups of First Time Marathon folks are doing 20 mile treks. "Jackie" chats with me, and I wish her luck as we go through the tunnel under Wisconsin Av.

After a pause for all of the Usual Suspects to arrive, the Gang of Four heads east along the Capital Crescent Trail into the rising sun. Banter ensues, including debates over inspirational Teddy Roosevelt quotations, the 1912 Presidential campaign, and proper usage of Comparative vs Superlative ("So what do you call the Middle Child?"). There's also commentary on yesterday's birthday (RR), wedding anniversary (^z), and Tom Green's sad DNF at Wasatch. During the return trek I branch off to take a slightly roundabout way home via Rock Creek Trail, pushing hard to get nicer splits for the GPS trackfile and thinking about next Sunday's half marathon down this path. Runkeeper captures the data.

^z - 2014-09-25