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The Phoenix in Phine Phorm

March 11, 2017 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: upper 20s

Comments:
A cold snap arrived along with Leah Snider's marathon debut, but she wasn't deterred and nor were the dozen current hoppers who joined her for portions of the course. I jogged to Friendship Heights, metro-ed to Woodley Park and jogged past Ellie Sapiro as I ran down the parkway nearly to mile 5 near the Mass Ave spur. Turned when I saw Leah, India, and Isabel K. Pace dropped a bit drastically to low 8s, but stomach rebelled and we took our first pit stop at Ellington Bridge. The next few miles had a couple more delays, but eventually a great rhythm was established with running in the 8:40s and brief stops for water, gu, or bathrooms as needed. Hoppers came and went and came again. I paused for two miles south of the Anacostia bridges during an out-and-back portion and again I stepped out of a mile-long loop and struggled in the wind to put the "20" mile sign back where it could be seen. The race finished off splendidly with an exhilarating surge from Leah over the last quarter mile and 8 or so Hoppers bounding through the crowds in an effort to keep up. My legs were very heavy in the final miles but my energy level was good and I even jogged home from Friendship Heights Metro. I'd lost 7 or so pounds over the morning and made a concerted effort to re-hydrate, massage, and elevate my feet before settling down to report cards. Quite an exciting way to cap off 8 months or so of hard training and so glad to witness it first hand. I ran 3:05 on the course with the two long pauses and about 10 minutes of cumulative short pauses mixed in. I ran another 5+ minutes to and from the Metro and home. I can't recall ever running over three consecutive hours, but I suppose the all-day cc meets rival this. Mileage along the course was around 19, but I'll add .5 for the jogs to and from the metro. A good day's work, all in all.