View Workout (Matthew Simonson)

Return to Log

Hey Katherine, want to go for a 3 mile run this afternoon once the temperature reaches 100 just to say we’ve done it and have perpetual bragging rights?

July 19, 2020 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
...that's the text I sent Katherine Treanor ('16) around noon today, upon learning that "other people" considered it too hot even sit or walk outside, let alone run. I decided this was simply an opportunity to achieve a new level of awesomeness and Katherine struck me as the perfect partner-in-crime (like me, she is averse to running during hours where human beings should naturally be asleep--i.e. times with an A and an M attached). After posing for masked photos in my neighbor's driveway holding my parents' giant outdoor clock thermometer (we got it to display 110 by letting it sit in the sun a few minutes), we set out more a publically verified temperature reading. Anthony, of course, knew just where to find one when I asked a few hours earlier: a digital clock thermometer on the side of a former bank at Connecticut and Livington (just down the street from Parthenon Restaurant). That one said it was 100, so we felt very pleased with ourselves. Katherine claimed this was a "dry heat" and "not too bad" and for the time being, I was inclined to agree. We stopped again 2 blocks later to say hi to Anthony who was playing croquet with some guests in his side lawn.

We didn't really have a plan for where to go after that, so we just headed up 41st street until we were approaching Tenleytown. Then, a brilliant idea struck. Wanna do Ft. Reno hill to become living legends? Of course, she did. And she has an even better idea: let's get as close to the sun as possible! Since the top of that hill is the closest one can get to outer space in DC without climbing the National Cathedral, we were in luck. And of course, it wasn't a jog---we just cruised along at our existing 8-minute pace (7:30 effort). The topmost section of the hill elicited a lot of griping from both of us, but after that, we got to sit for a while and enjoy the refreshing high altitude breezes which were pretty nice.

After sitting and chatting for a while, we decided that we might as well be running and chatting. Neither of us felt like turning back yet, despite having already passed the turn-around point for a 3-mile run. We never really made any decisions after that about just how far we would go--we just ran from one water/cool air source to the next. Our next stop was the fountain outside the AU Art Museum just below Ward Circle on Mass. We splashed around for a few minutes (the temperature was almost like bath water), getting fully immersed until we heard sirens at which point we fled into a nearby parking garage. Never have I so enjoyed running around an underground parking structure. No cars, no fumes, no sun. We ran down three levels and back up again, savoring every moment for the shade, while telling ourselves that it was really too big a space to count as "indoors" for COVID purposes. We began heading down the hill, recalling the days of hot 3:30 pre-season track workouts at AU. Just as we passed the driveway of the seminary parking lot, I got up the courage to hazard a rather risky question: wanna check out the track? Of course, she did. We had to hop a rather hot metal fence to get there, but once we were down at the track no security guards appeared to enforced its closure. Let's do a lap, Katherine suggested, so we did, though it was rather warm in the sunny parts. I suggested we give the drinking fountain a try, but Katherine had a far better idea: the pump hose. We pumped and sprayed each other for about five minutes and then drank as much water as our stomachs could hold by aiming the hose into mouths and pumping it full blast (socially distantly). I actually drank more than I ought to and felt rather bloated for the rest of the run but hey we were pretty thirsty. On the way out of AU, we discovered a secret trail Anthony doesn't know about. Thank you rouge AU students with wirecutters who've blazed this path for generations of scoundrels to come! Maybe I .should make my Marauder's Map of DC. We solemnly swear we were up to no good.

I remembered there was a fountain at the bottom of Mass that I discovered on a scavenger hunt from St. Alban's Running last summer, so we headed for that. It was disappointingly small, meaning that we couldn't swim in it, but Katherine at least managed to stick her face in that part in the center where it bubbles up. There was some sketchy foam around the edges. Downright warm this time, not even luke. We headed up 49th street and this is where my body really started to exact revenge for the decisions I had made in the preceding hour. Not so much feelings of hot as just feeling like my cardiovascularneuromuscularregulartory system rapidly following the U.S. economy into the pits of despair. Stopping without an excuse was out of the question. At the same time, I couldn't think of any bodies of water or fun adventures we might encounter between 49th street and home. It was going to be a long 3 miles. I feared I wasn't being a very good conversationalist or fun running companion, but at the same time, I knew I had to keep the conversation going or I would melt in my own self-pity. Just at that moment, we spotted a sprinkler and shamelessly trespassed onto someone's front lawn to regale ourselves of its services.

Western Avenue was rough. We ran up past John Biersteker ('05)'s parents' house and I told Katherine about his semi-secret wedding that neither his parents nor best friends (e.g., me) were permitted to come to (thanks coronavirus). Mazza's little fountain was both foamy and green, so we instead sought relief by descending into the Friendship Heights Metro station and riding the escalator back up the other side. Luckily it was pretty empty of people (and presumably germs) on a late Sunday afternoon. I was still tottering on the edge of self-doubt, but fortunately, Katherine has enough optimism for the both of us. This will fly by! she said. And at an 8 to 8-1/2 minutes pace packed with 8 to 8-1/2 minutes of delightful conversation, it did. I really need my own personal Katherine Trainer/Treanor with me whenever the going gets tough.

The final hill of Rittenhouse was sunny and challenging but we more or less charged it in our eagerness to be done. After leaning on my knees gasping for a minute, I looked at Strava and saw we were only at 7.8 miles (Katherine's Strava is more optimistic, naturally) so we jogged down 33rd street and came through the backyard where a garden hose was waiting. After getting her fill of hose water, Katherine bravely hopped on her bike to head home. She said it would cool her off. I headed over to the Belbers' house, in the hopes of homemade ice cream.
Also a good way to cool off.

All in all, it was a terrific run. Now that we've run 100-degree heat, I can honestly say it ain't so bad! (Just be sure you hydrate and find a random excuse to take a break every mile or so.)