Friday, December 5, 2008

The Weekly Wrap


I ran a very slow 9.5 last night in the rain with Gentleman Jim Hage. I inquired why people called him "Gentleman Jim" and he responded that they don't...only I did. He went on -"that sounds like the name of a murderer". So, from now on it's simply Jim Hage.

This morning I felt groggy and slugged my way through another 9 miles or so. I dogged the pace and it wasn't until 45 minutes in that I began to feel spry. The hip also felt "dull" early on (likely from the back-to-back runs ~ 18 miles in 12 hours) but it warmed up as I warmed up. 52 miles for the work week. I am really looking forward to my long run tomorrow and an "exploration run" while I am away on Sunday.

I am getting sorta pumped for the race next Sunday. GRC will have an army of 19 runners out in force. I am going to try and take a more cautious approach and run the race as a hard workout. Haines Point is a ridiculously fast course and it's very easy to go out hard. It's also a great course to eat up the dead and dying as they break apart on the home stretch. Never underestimate how tough a 10K is. I think it's one of the hardest, most painful, distances to race.

A week from Monday I will start a new job. Thankfully my new job is also very close to where I live. I've been very spoiled over the past two years and due to my proximity from work I have been able to get in both ample rest and solid training. The affects of a 2.7 mile commute have really paid off with respect to my training (compare that to an hour train ride/walk to SE DC twice a day).

RED FOX SITING!
A beautiful specimen was seen staring at me from the opposite side of Rock Creek around 7:45am today. I had just chased a buck out from the brush when I glanced over and spied the healthy dog crouched in a thicket. I stopped, whistled and then I spoke to the fox. "Come, here you fox, I am but a fox too". The fox looked at me, tilted it's head then turned and ran. "Come back you fox, I will not hurt..." I turned around and noticed a morning walker had stopped and was looking mysteriously at me. Embarrassed, I coughed then continued on my run.

Note - only sections from the above story are actually true.

2 comments:

RM said...

Dude that WHOLE red section is definitely true, and I can see you tiptoeing through the brush to try and coax this fox to come to your hand...

RM said...

And now that I looked at your picture I realize I play basketball at that playground.