With today's humidity, it definitely felt more like July or August! I met the Marathon Charity Partners group for a 7-mile training run at 7 a.m. We started at Columbia Island Marina, just behind the Pentagon North parking lot, and headed across Memorial Bridge and around the Mall. For someone who is used to running the suburban streets of Manassas, this was a beautifully scenic run!! There are plenty of cars on the roads and the Park Service hadn't yet emptied most of the overflowing trash cans, but running between the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool, past the Washington Monument, in view of the U.S. Capitol, across the Tidal Basin from the Jefferson Memorial, alongside the World War II Memorial.... it was beautiful! Which was good, because the run was tough for me. I started off faster than I should have, having a nice conversation with a fellow charity runner. When I looked at my watch just before the 3-mile mark, though, I realized that I was running a full minute per mile faster than I had intended to so I dropped back. Yep, I told the 65 year old man I was running with that I couldn't keep up with him anymore. ugh.
So it goes with running. What matters to me isn't who I can keep up with, it's that I'm running the right pace and the right distance and the right run for me that day. The down side was that I never did find that "right run" for me today; it was a bit of a struggle the whole way. But I finished and am the better for it. I still have 133 days (and 10 hours, 08 minutes, and 54 seconds, according to the Marine Corps Marathon website!) until the marathon and have no doubts that I will be more ready that day than I have been for my 2 previous marathons. Having the feeling of responsibility to the memory of my mom and my father-in-law, along with everyone who has so generously donated to Capital Hospice, is going to be a hugely motivating factor for me!!
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