On the Road Again

On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again.

It has been a 10 days of experiences. I grew up 65 miles from Washington DC and have never gotten to visit the city, the sights, the museums, memorials or the roads. The best way to visit a city and explore is to run it. It makes it much more worthwhile when you are finding your way running from one point to another. I was in Washington on business so my running was limited to the early morning. During this week, one needed to run in the morning anyway because of the thick, stifling heat and humidity. My first visit to the national mall took me up 12th street past the Department of Agriculture to the mall. I ran east to the Capitol and then back west past the museums and Smithsonian towards the Washington Monument. My Dad is registered at the World War II memorial so I found my way to the memorial. It is a very touching tribute to a generation of heroes. I walked around it in the ironic silence of waterfalls. I made my way past the reflecting pool to the Jefferson Memorial, around the memorial to the tidal basin and then out to the Lincoln Memorial before finding my way thought the Woodrow Wilson arches and back the my hotel, the Mandarin oriental. It was a 75 minute visit to the heart of DC. It was one of those runs that won't be forgotten, one that sticks in your mind along with so many other thoughts. I ran the mall the remaining days in Washington which never really got old.

Upon returning home, I decided to to make a 4-day 40 mile trek of hard running to determine where I was beginning my marathon training. Baltimore is in October and it is time to start easing into the long runs. I have done some good speedwork in the form of races but now I need to combine the speedwork with endurance training. My first day was a 13.5 miler in the middle of the day with the temperature approaching 82 degrees of heat and sun running from Belmar NJ to Manasquan, NJ and back. Much of it was on the boardwalk which provides a nice cushion for the legs. I made out fine and was happy with the run in general. The second day was a recovery 6.5 miler, easy with a measured stride just to clear some of the lactic acid. The third day was one of my favorite runs - a 14 mile run that combined road and trail. This run consisted of 5 miles to the trail, 4 miles on a rolling, quiet trail that I have written about before here (Sounds of Silence), and a 5 mile return trip. I felt great throughout although my goal was to remain on my feet as long as I could and get to 34 miles for 3 days. At the same time, I knew I had a race (10K) scheduled for the 4th day giving me my 40 miles in 4 days and a great start to my marathon training. I went into the race with few expectations. I had 34 miles on my legs and a few beers in me from a July 4th party. I started off slow with an 8 minute mile (always intending to do this) but I let the race come to me and ran a negative split and a very fast last mile. It appears when I have little expectations and go into a race relaxed finding a nice easy pace to start, I run a better race. There was more to this day than just the race but it was the race that lets one feel like they want to be On the Road Again.