15 minute rule

I've instituted a 15 minute rule for this post.  More on that in a minute (or 13).

Late night yesterday, and I didn't sleep very well (humidity does that to me) so it was a little tougher than usual to pop out of bed early this morning.  Met Rob down in RCP for some company on my long run.  This is somewhat of a weekend routine now, and it's nice to have someone to consistently run with.

Started out on what we call the Zoo Loop, which heads down Beach Drive (Rock Creek Trail) and cuts out of the valley through the zoo.  That means the zoo path (which is conveniently open beginning pretty early in the morning, when there's no crowd) is uphill the whole way.  The hill doesn't stop there, but continues up Connecticut Ave up to Chevy Chase Circle.  At that point it becomes a rolling course until you ultimately drop back downhill into the park and back to the start.

It's exactly 10 miles, which is great because you can do a loop during the week and be satisfied.  Or, like I did back in May, you could string two of the loops together for a Double Zoo Loop and get all you ever wanted out of a long run.

Today I peeled off as Rob called it a day at 10 miles.  That's where his training runs end these days, on account of not really needing to run any further and also some knee issues.  The stretch went by at about a 7:40 clip, which was tough to start but felt great after a couple miles.

I half-heartedly said before the 10-mile loop ended that I would "see how fast I could cruise the last 8 miles."  I'm not really one to go back on a dare, so of course I picked up the pace a little for the rest of the run.  Started the same zoo loop, but turned back at Connecticut Ave and retraced my steps.

I lost a little bit of momentum with a couple miles left to go, but I solidly maintained my pace and feel pretty good about the way the run turned out.  I guess it was one of those "fast finish long runs" I read about.  Covered the final 8.8 miles at a 7:12 clip.

All in all, 18.8 miles in 2:19:56.  Great long run, definitely a harder effort, but feeling good.

And now I'm left with one minute to explain my first sentence.  Sometimes I feel like I take too much time and filter too many of my thoughts before getting them out here.  It's easy to spend needless time pondering what to write when really I should just be reflecting, or that's what I want anyway.  So now it'll be a race against the clock, as my running, to lay it down.  Gotta go, outta time.