A Wet One

A warm steady rain greeted the GRC this morning in Georgetown. We shrugged it off - in fact, we reveled in it since it's been so hot here - and then hit the towpath for a 2 hour run. The rain had turned the limestone path into slop and in no time we were covered in a dark tan filth. We looped over the Chain Bridge and then climbed up a hill that took us out to Glebe Road. From here the pace picked up to a steady 6:30/mile and we bounded our way down to the Custis Trail. Once on the trail, we stopped for some water and a gu (if you brought one) and then began the workout - 5 miles at marathon pace. We were about 8 miles into the run and felt this was a good time to open up the valves. Karl and Wiggy pressed the pace and we hit our first mile in 5:30. Fast. But it felt fairly easy. Chrises Raabe and Bain as well as Pmurph and Ian tucked in behind and together in a pack cruised down the trail back towards the Key Bridge. From here we hooked a right onto the Mt Vernon Trail and continued our workout down to the 14th Street Bridge. I ended up averaging about 5:30-35 miles throughout (or 27:30 for 5). We cooled down past the Lincoln, the Watergate and the Georgetown Watefront before finding our way back to the Store. 17.5 for the day.

LESSONS LEARNED: For me it was a great workout and a bit of a confidence boost. It was far easier (obviously) to run HARD in this cooler weather...but I often forget that and it helps to be reminded on days like today. Great team workout today. I must carry sports beans on these runs. I took a gu, but I threw it away after taking just a small slurp from it. Beans are better for me. I bonked pretty bad once I had finished and this is a result of not having enough sugar. Use plenty of Body Glide on wet, rainy days - go overboard!