David's Trial of Miles...and Miles of Trials: Mount Vernon Trail

Monday, December 17, 2012

The Calm Before the Storm

I took it easy last week, following the Gar Williams Half Marathon. I took Monday off after the half marathon, and then tried to run on Tuesday but I was hurting. Not like an injured hurting, but more like an "I just ran 13.1 miles faster than I ever have before" kind of hurting. I called it quits 2 miles into my run on Tuesday and figured I'd just sort of run for fun for the week. No pace or mileage goals. I'd just run to run. I think I earned that.

The one longer run I did on Saturday was 8 miles, and it was absolutely beautiful. I ran along the Potomac River on the Mount Vernon Trail. It was slightly breezy, incredibly sunny, and a cool 50-ish degrees. I love running past Gravelly Point Park (here are some pictures) where planes take-off and land literally right over your head. You can also look across the water at the monuments in DC, and on a clear, sunny day the colors are so vibrant. The contrast between the dark blue water and the sparkling white monuments, with trees intermixed, can be quite a scene.

I plan to approach this week with a little more intensity. I don't have anymore races lined up before we leave for India in January, but I am going to attempt the "12 Runs of Christmas" challenge. That will be some big volume for me and I'm a tad bit nervous about it. I figure that I can have one more tough week, and the first week of the challenge will almost be like a recovery week; however, the second week of the challenge will be tough. Oh well, here's to trying new things!

Training Summary for Last Week:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 2.00 miles; 20:00; avg. pace 10:00/mi
Wednesday: 4.06 miles; 36:05; avg. pace 8:53/mi
Thursday: Off
Friday: 4.00 miles; 34:15; avg. pace 8:33/mi
Saturday: 8.02 miles; 1:11:10; avg. pace 8:52/mi
Sunday: Off

Total Mileage: 18.08 miles
Total Time: 2:41:30
Average Pace: 8:56/mi

Happy Running!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Thank You Daylight Savings

Holy cow it feels nice to run in the morning and see the sunrise again! I have to run early on weekday mornings because I need to be back before my wife leaves for work, and for the last few months those runs have been entirely in the dark. Now that we set the clocks forward, it's amazing to watch the sunrise over the nation's capitol across the Potomac, and to feel the warmth on my body through the chilly morning air. I've felt energized and excited on my runs lately.

I did my first group run, and it was a Brooks Light Up the Night Fun Run at Pacers in Arlington. A Brooks representative gave out jackets, vests, hats, and a bunch of other nightlife gear to try out on the night run. All of the gear was extremely bright yellow or orange, and very reflective. I think the 30 or so of us looked a little goofy trotting through Arlington at night as a glowing neon sea of runners. The Brooks rep also gave out long sleeve running shirts after the run, which are actually awesome shirts, and also raffled off a few prizes. Best of all though, she brought beer! The Thursday night fun run at Pacers proved to be a wonderful experience, and I plan to make it a regular part of my training.

I'm not exactly sure what happened but my Saturday run was supposed to be an easy jog, and it turned into a 10K PR. I only planned to run 6 miles, but after feeling great running the first two miles around 8:00-8:30/mi I decided to bump it up to a 10K and see what I could do. I ended up blazing through the next few miles at 7:47, 7:42, 7:10, and a 6:40/mi pace on the last 0.2 miles. I ran a 48:45 10K giving me an average pace of 7:52/mi. That time actually beat my current 6-mile PR! I'm excited to see what I can do at the DCRR 10K Bread Run on December 2, 2012 now that I'm focusing more on speed work rather than mileage volume.

Sunday was also kind of a fun run. I packed the camera (Nikon D3200 SLR) and went out for a slow 10-miler, stopping to take pictures whenever the mood struck. It was a gorgeous day, and there were a ton of people out at the parks along the Mount Vernon Trail. Here are some of the pics that came from my meandering: