Rest Stops Suck

We wrapped up 5 miles today --- I ended up unintentionally doing a little more...but more on that later.

It was a HOT one today...sunny and humid.

Our goal was to head out of Georgetown, along the Potomac, past the Lincoln Memorial, along the Reflecting Pool, out around the Washington Monument and back. Seemed easy enough...unless you drank too much water earlier in the morning and now desperately have to go to the bathroom. Definitely not a good position to be in so early in the run!

Unfortunately, Max didn't open the running store before we left Georgetown so I was left to my own devices. Instead of ducking behind a building in G-town or rolling the dice of getting poison ivy on the Canal Trail, I made a detour to the Boat House --- which is located about a half mile out from the store. Though a welcome relief, I ended up losing my pace group! It completely sucked to be running already at a deficient at the very beginning of the run....plus I miss the company of my fellow runners.

There were lots of folks out running today along the same route --- including the Road Runners marathon training group and a huge group from Team In Training. The Team In Training folks all had their uniforms on and they even had volunteers out along the route serving up drinks and orange slices!

I had to increase my speed substantially the second mile in order to catch up with my group. I finally caught up with the tail end of my group as we headed toward the Monument. Let's just say...the slight (and long) incline up and around the Monument and the lack of shade had an impact on my spirits. By now I was running between two pace groups and again was a bit lonely...having no one to talk to at moments like this really sucks.

I didn't think things could get worse...but if you are me...they sure can. As I headed back down along the Reflecting Pool and past the Lincoln Memorial, I made a wrong turn!

I ended up seeing my group in the distance --- going the OTHER direction!!! I had to turn around and again catch back up. Coach Katie turned around and was surprised to see me. She asked how the heck I got BEHIND them! Basically, I caught back up with the pace group that I had passed about a mile earlier!!!

It totally SUCKED to have run further and little harder toward the end. I was definitely sucking wind when I finished up in G-town and I can't rely on my time since my distance was off.

All in all, another long run down. On to next week. I think the total mileage is 15.