Change of pace today, running the Capital Crescent Trail. As I drove down to Bethesda I was tired and grumpy but glad that I no longer had to suffer through that commute 5 days a week. As usual I was early enough to get a good spot and enjoy a drink and a gel but I know this trail and I knew there would be no portapotty at the starting line. I could only hope that there would be some along the way, I'd not been down farther than maybe a mile so I wasn't entirely sure. I considered using the restroom at the Dunkin Donuts but since I had no money to buy anything I felt bad about it.
With the exception of the different scenery this run started pretty much like last week's. Very hot, very sticky, but very strong. Coach Carol took the lead and we were dead on pace for most of the run. All of the groups were running a bit on the slow side just so we didn't kill ourselves in the heat, we all took breaks at the water fountains and restroom (apparently there are real, honest to goodness bathrooms but they were under constructions). The run took us from Maryland down into DC and it's a beautiful and extraordinarily popular trail. There were a few overpasses, one of which bounced terribly as we all stormed across it, and one which was some kind of old railroad bridge. I should mention that I am deathly afraid of suspension bridges or any kind of bridge with stuff on the top of it. I made it across but there was some hyperventilating and a few tears. On the way back I just asked the guy next to me to tell me if I was going to run into anything and closed my eyes.
This time I made it to about 10.27 because I started dragging, just a little. By this time I was hanging solely with Coach Carol who was in worse shape than I was and we slowed considerably. I felt I had a little more left than I was giving but figured there was no point in killing myself getting there faster. Within distance of the finishing point I turned on just a little speed to finish strong. I fueled better this time, taking a gel at the turn-around but I probably could have used a second around mile 8. I hadn't realized, until I just looked at the Garmin map, that the first 4.4 miles were steadily downhill. It flattened out for the next mile before we turned around and headed back up. That makes me feel better about the second half of the run being slower than the first. Another drippy double-digit run in the books.
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