Arlington, VA - Steady

A steady, but chilly, run through North Arlington, Virginia on the snowy and icy bike paths, sidewalks and roads, plus a few laps on a local track.


Time:  1:06
Distance: 8.53 miles
Effort:  Moderate
Body:  Fair

Moderate-effort run from my hotel in the Rosslyn 'hood up the Curtiss Trail bike path to Washington & Lee High School.  Was prepared to do a series of mile repeats. Unfortunately, track was covered in a layer of snow and ice. There were a handful of runners making the best of the conditions, so I joined in.

I managed to eek out a mile in 5:51 and an 800m interval in 2:50 before throwing in the towel. It was just too much work with the feet slipping a bit with each foot lift-off and running from lane to lane to try and find the most reasonable amount of traction.

Cruised back to the hotel through the Clarendon and Court House 'hoods, marveling at how much the commercial areas along Wilson Boulevard have been spruced up since I moved away from this town. Everything that was old then is new today. Vibrant restaurant blocks, a Whole Foods Market, tons of new apartment buildings, a fine bike shop, an Apple store...  That said, I miss the funky, hole-in-the-wall hipster bars that used to be the draw.  Most of them have been squeezed out.

Other stuff:

Got an e-mail confirmation from the Wasatch 100 folks that they had received my entry fee check. Next up...February 5th lottery.  I gotta say, this whole lottery thing sucks. I totally get that races have to limit the number of runners...and the number of runners hoping to run many races is growing steadily. It's just frustrating that you have to wait for lottery results to know what you'll be doing next summer. (I know...it is what it is...and there's a lot of reasons why it is what it is.). Plus, for many folks, it means they have to develop contingency plans in the event that their number doesn't come up in lottery X or lottery Y.  For exhibit #1, see Tony's latest post.  I guess there's some solace to be had in the fact that for some races, even the top elite guys have to wait for lottery results with the rest of us.

I'm scratching the Moab Red Hot 50K off my 2011 race schedule. Work travel intervened and forced a change of plans. Plus, with recent injury issues, I haven't done a run of more than 13 miles since November.  That issue, plus a family trip with out-of-town friends next weekend up to Breckenridge, will keep me away from the Ponderous Posterior 50K, as well.  Sigh.

Really eager to watch what this guy does in 2011.

Decent article in Running Times on what new(ish) Boulder resident Scott Jurek is up to.

Another Running Times article...this one on Roes.