Running (Street & Trail Commute) 1:01:41 [3] 6.86 mi (9:00 / mi) +152m 8:25 / mi
slept:6.2 weight:176.5lbs
From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. Independence Ave. to the Reflecting Pool, to the Lincoln Memorial, to the Rock Creek Trail, through the tunnel near the zoo, to Tilden St., to Connecticutt Ave. to the Van Ness/UDC Metro Station. I had hopes of running back to Bethesda today but still feeling weak (rare sinus pain all morning today) and with difficult weather outside, I knew before starting that I'd need to do something else. My legs were tired and sore from the run on Sunday. However the wind was the bigger impediment. It was steadily blowing from the NW (a headwind) at 20mph with more intense blow up to 30mph. I fel like I was running up a steep hill. It was cold too--28 F by the time I was done. I'm glad I had my Goretex jacket but even that wasn't necessarily enough. My pace was slow right from the beginning. One guy went crusing ahead of me after starting together at the traffic light at 17th Street. He was wearing shorts and got to the Lincoln Memorial a full minute ahead of me (only about half a mile) I figured he was doing intervals because he stopped. I was still a minute slower than usual after the first mile. The next mile was perhaps worse with stronger winds and little protection along the Potomac River. People running the other direction seemed lightly dressed and were flying along with a tailwind. Commuting cyclists going my way put their heads down. After passing the Kennedy Center, one young woman going the other direction rather surprised me. Not only was she in shorts but had on just a tank top and shear nylon stockings. She was running well. Well enough to have blown past me after she turned around probably at the Kennedy Center--that was deflating but then again, she hadn't struggled going into the wind for the 2 miles that I had. As I got into the shelter of the Rock Creek stream valley, my pace improved and I kept a closer pace to the woman who I could see far ahead. The rest was mostly a slog; a struggle to keep moving and not slow too much. The car lights were distracting but I did see my moon shadow some more. I was somewhat cold by the time I made it up the steep hill to UDC. I did some stretching but I was getting too cold in the wind (renewed once out of the valley) to do it well or for very long.
