Blue flowers.
Purple flowers.
Red flowers. I don't know what these flowers are called but they're striking and beautiful.
Showing posts with label Capitol Hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Capitol Hill. Show all posts
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Springing forth
In addition to the splendor of the flowering Cherry Blossoms trees in the District this fortnight, there are many other flowers starting to burst forth this spring. I have recently noted that the bulbs at the neatly tended beds at the National Tulip Library are poking their heads up; there are also a profusion of colorful and interesting looking flowers emerging around the grounds of the National Botanical Garden at the foot of Capital Hill.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Visitors
Visitors came to town over the weekend to attend a wedding last Saturday, and I spent an enjoyable few hours on Sunday wandering on the Mall with my nephew John while his girlfriend, Gudrun, went to a brunch with the happy couple after she had met me at a restaurant. It's been rumored to me that I'll be seeing these two again next summer in Chicago. (In from Chicago.)
Me and John took a Lyft cab (are they called cabs?) to the eastern end of the Mall so I could show him the Library of Congress with its underground tunnel to the Visitor Center at the Capitol. That was the first time I ever took a Lyft, or an Uber (is that how you term it?), so progress is being made on my part as I claw my way into the 21st century. (Garfield statue at the base of Capital Hill.)
Since it was Sunday, both buildings were closed, so we ambled down Capital Hill to the National Museum of Art. There my visitor showed me something that I didn't know was there, the 15 foot blue rooster on its roof. Cool! (But is it art?)
I know art when I see it. We saw Monets, Van Goghs and beautiful statues in there. (Walkin' the dog.)
We walked through my favorite little garden on the Mall, which I call the Pocket Park but is actually the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, which had Allium 'Pinball Wizard' Flowering Onions in bloom. I love these globular flowers that appear for only a fortnight each year. (It's a Pinball Wizard, got such supple wrists.)
From there we walked through the nearby Enid A. Haupt Garden, which I know as Katie's Park. I used to run through there with a friend named Katie, who subsequently moved away, whose favorite route to the Mall was through there, just like my favorite route to the Mall is through the Pocket Park. The entrance to the African Museum is off Katie's Park and we toured the museum, filled with beautiful nailless woodwork and carved ivory, a mostly subterranean venue I had never been in before. (A fifteenth century hunting horn.)
We walked from there past the Washington Monument, viewing the kites flying overhead there and ended up at the World War II memorial. John noticed my favorite part of of that monument, the "Kilroy Was Here" :> graffiti. I explained to John from whence the slogan came and why it was inscribed on that monument. (Kite chasing kite.)
Then it was time to go and I started giving John detailed directions on how to return directly to his hotel so he could check out on time. He stopped me, telling me it was a "generational" thing, but whenever he heard directions from anyone he zoned out and as soon as the directions were over, he just switched on his I-phone to its GPS app. I smacked my head, saying "Duh."
Me and John took a Lyft cab (are they called cabs?) to the eastern end of the Mall so I could show him the Library of Congress with its underground tunnel to the Visitor Center at the Capitol. That was the first time I ever took a Lyft, or an Uber (is that how you term it?), so progress is being made on my part as I claw my way into the 21st century. (Garfield statue at the base of Capital Hill.)
Since it was Sunday, both buildings were closed, so we ambled down Capital Hill to the National Museum of Art. There my visitor showed me something that I didn't know was there, the 15 foot blue rooster on its roof. Cool! (But is it art?)
I know art when I see it. We saw Monets, Van Goghs and beautiful statues in there. (Walkin' the dog.)
We walked through my favorite little garden on the Mall, which I call the Pocket Park but is actually the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, which had Allium 'Pinball Wizard' Flowering Onions in bloom. I love these globular flowers that appear for only a fortnight each year. (It's a Pinball Wizard, got such supple wrists.)
From there we walked through the nearby Enid A. Haupt Garden, which I know as Katie's Park. I used to run through there with a friend named Katie, who subsequently moved away, whose favorite route to the Mall was through there, just like my favorite route to the Mall is through the Pocket Park. The entrance to the African Museum is off Katie's Park and we toured the museum, filled with beautiful nailless woodwork and carved ivory, a mostly subterranean venue I had never been in before. (A fifteenth century hunting horn.)
We walked from there past the Washington Monument, viewing the kites flying overhead there and ended up at the World War II memorial. John noticed my favorite part of of that monument, the "Kilroy Was Here" :> graffiti. I explained to John from whence the slogan came and why it was inscribed on that monument. (Kite chasing kite.)
Then it was time to go and I started giving John detailed directions on how to return directly to his hotel so he could check out on time. He stopped me, telling me it was a "generational" thing, but whenever he heard directions from anyone he zoned out and as soon as the directions were over, he just switched on his I-phone to its GPS app. I smacked my head, saying "Duh."
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
My running buddy puts me away
Yesterday was overcast and temperate but exceedingly humid. My running buddy and I started out our six-mile noontime run by going up Capital Hill and around the Capitol at the outset.
Since she's a busy professional and a mom as well, she doesn't have a lot of time to get ready for the MCM, which is next month, so she's been throwing down long runs in the teens mostly while I've been running alone mostly and doing 10Ks, feeling like I've been increasing my speed for the distance these past few weeks.
She's been complaining about how tired she is and how slow she's getting while she concentrates on LSDs, which she claims are killing her at the end. Indeed, we ran an eight-miler together about four weeks back and she was unable to finish it without a walking spell.
Come into my lair on this six-miler, I thought, and I'll show you the view from the back. An hour later it was I who had the view from the back mostly, especially on the Washington Monument hill, and, my clothes soaked and sopping through and through with sweat, I caught up with her at the end as she slowed and I was exceedingly glad to get this up-tempo run over with.
Since she's a busy professional and a mom as well, she doesn't have a lot of time to get ready for the MCM, which is next month, so she's been throwing down long runs in the teens mostly while I've been running alone mostly and doing 10Ks, feeling like I've been increasing my speed for the distance these past few weeks.
She's been complaining about how tired she is and how slow she's getting while she concentrates on LSDs, which she claims are killing her at the end. Indeed, we ran an eight-miler together about four weeks back and she was unable to finish it without a walking spell.
Come into my lair on this six-miler, I thought, and I'll show you the view from the back. An hour later it was I who had the view from the back mostly, especially on the Washington Monument hill, and, my clothes soaked and sopping through and through with sweat, I caught up with her at the end as she slowed and I was exceedingly glad to get this up-tempo run over with.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
A Little Noontime Run
I emerged from my work building near Union Station at noon in shorts, shoes and a long sleeve shirt under a wind shirt. It was cold going to work yesterday morning but the sun was out, the wind had died down and it was warming up. Three office mates joined me and we set off down New Jersey Avenue at a rapid pace. Everyone was running really well in this wonderful running weather.
Half a mile later we turned up Capital Hill and achieved its summit. We were only doing three miles since everyone was busy at work so we threw a large hill in early to get our juices flowing. As the sweat started to roll down my forehead and run into my eyes, midway up the incline I stopped to strip off my wind shirt, which I carried the rest of the run.
The buds were beginning to appear on trees, the tourists were out and we had to engage in a lot of defensive and darting running to get by the throngs of people on the broad sidewalks in the long block between the Capitol and the Supreme Court Building. The little decline and incline paths that lead down to the underground Capitol Visitor's Center were blocked off with police tape so we couldn't take those two little hills so we crossed over to the east sidewalk where there were less clumps of people. I wanted to do the stairs on the Library of Congress but a policeman waved us away. When pressed as to why we couldn't go up those stairs, he explained that the POTUS was having lunch in the Capitol and would be emerging soon and we had to keep moving and couldn't take our customary little diversions that day. The doomed charm offensive, you know?
We circled around the Capitol by pounding down the hill on Independence and ran by the Arboretum, the Indian Museum and past the Smithsonian buildings. We cut through the little pocket park between the African Museum and the Castle to the Mall and we circled the Carousel and started our return to work by cutting across the Mall diagonally towards the Statue Garden. Running along the backside of the FTC Building we achieved Pennsylvania Avenue and ran by the Meade statue by the federal courthouse. We ran over the little hill in front of Labor and we ran down the little restaurant row besides Labor.
A half mile down First Avenue completed our journey and we arrived back at our building across the street from Georgetown Law just as many of our other workmates were getting back from their lunches or carrying containers of food into the building to eat at their desks. The four of us did about three miles in about thirty two minutes, including stops at red lights at busy intersections and pace-killing interference from the crowds of people around the Capitol.
Half a mile later we turned up Capital Hill and achieved its summit. We were only doing three miles since everyone was busy at work so we threw a large hill in early to get our juices flowing. As the sweat started to roll down my forehead and run into my eyes, midway up the incline I stopped to strip off my wind shirt, which I carried the rest of the run.
The buds were beginning to appear on trees, the tourists were out and we had to engage in a lot of defensive and darting running to get by the throngs of people on the broad sidewalks in the long block between the Capitol and the Supreme Court Building. The little decline and incline paths that lead down to the underground Capitol Visitor's Center were blocked off with police tape so we couldn't take those two little hills so we crossed over to the east sidewalk where there were less clumps of people. I wanted to do the stairs on the Library of Congress but a policeman waved us away. When pressed as to why we couldn't go up those stairs, he explained that the POTUS was having lunch in the Capitol and would be emerging soon and we had to keep moving and couldn't take our customary little diversions that day. The doomed charm offensive, you know?
We circled around the Capitol by pounding down the hill on Independence and ran by the Arboretum, the Indian Museum and past the Smithsonian buildings. We cut through the little pocket park between the African Museum and the Castle to the Mall and we circled the Carousel and started our return to work by cutting across the Mall diagonally towards the Statue Garden. Running along the backside of the FTC Building we achieved Pennsylvania Avenue and ran by the Meade statue by the federal courthouse. We ran over the little hill in front of Labor and we ran down the little restaurant row besides Labor.
A half mile down First Avenue completed our journey and we arrived back at our building across the street from Georgetown Law just as many of our other workmates were getting back from their lunches or carrying containers of food into the building to eat at their desks. The four of us did about three miles in about thirty two minutes, including stops at red lights at busy intersections and pace-killing interference from the crowds of people around the Capitol.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Where I Run and Why
Where and when do you run? Do you run down the most famous eight acres of open space in the world (if you don't subscribe to the notion that New York City's Central Park is the focal point of the world)?
Three times a week I run four to five miles with my co-workers and friends Lola and Rhonda down the National Mall during our lunch break, urging each other on to break nine-minute miles. We come close usually, I'm always lagging, and I always pay homage to good fortune that I am running with smart and good looking athletes that hang with me and conduct interesting conversations even while I'm dragging because I'm so out of shape.
We run by the Capitol, the Carousel, Washington, World War Two, World War One and sometimes go all the way past Korea and around Lincoln when we're firing on all cylinders. Hallowed monuments all, we take them for granted as we dodge tourists galore and strain as we cap off our runs with a slog up the unrelenting third of a mile pitched incline of The Hill.
Crowning Capitol Hill each of those three lunch hours per week defines a successful work day for me (I do plenty of other stuff the rest of the work day). How about you?
Three times a week I run four to five miles with my co-workers and friends Lola and Rhonda down the National Mall during our lunch break, urging each other on to break nine-minute miles. We come close usually, I'm always lagging, and I always pay homage to good fortune that I am running with smart and good looking athletes that hang with me and conduct interesting conversations even while I'm dragging because I'm so out of shape.
Crowning Capitol Hill each of those three lunch hours per week defines a successful work day for me (I do plenty of other stuff the rest of the work day). How about you?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Who's Idea Was This?
I have been running with L two or three times a week at noon on the Mall since I returned to running in January. I used to be faster than her but I got slower, she got faster, she's smart and interesting to talk to and presto, running buddy.
I was coming back from injury and she was coming back from surgery and oh, we were pathetic back then. Three miles would leave us running ragged and sometimes walking, and we ran eleven minute miles, but by August we were up to five miles and down to ten minute miles.
Then in September we threw in running up Capitol Hill at the end to make it 5.5 miles and we got our pace down to 9:20s and we became full of ourselves. What is it that goeth before the fall?
It was L who invited R to run with us at noon. She came along today and to encourage her to continue, we cut our run down to 4 1/2 miles to see how she'd do.
Something was wrong from the outset of the run. R had lied to us and she didn't run "nine minute miles at best," oh no, we were running sub-nines from the start and trailing her.
I used to be able to do that, and L apparently can do that now, but my breathing was ragged and so was L's conversation and we were definitely out of our comfort zone. The beauty of running on the Mall however is that incessant traffic forces you to stop at the cross streets so you can catch a blow.
R did slow down in the latter half of the run. We also ran up Capitol Hill at the end, although I was DFL in that third of a mile uphill stretch.
Our pace for the 4.57 miles was 8:42.5. R is good for L and I, right?
I was coming back from injury and she was coming back from surgery and oh, we were pathetic back then. Three miles would leave us running ragged and sometimes walking, and we ran eleven minute miles, but by August we were up to five miles and down to ten minute miles.
Then in September we threw in running up Capitol Hill at the end to make it 5.5 miles and we got our pace down to 9:20s and we became full of ourselves. What is it that goeth before the fall?
It was L who invited R to run with us at noon. She came along today and to encourage her to continue, we cut our run down to 4 1/2 miles to see how she'd do.
Something was wrong from the outset of the run. R had lied to us and she didn't run "nine minute miles at best," oh no, we were running sub-nines from the start and trailing her.
I used to be able to do that, and L apparently can do that now, but my breathing was ragged and so was L's conversation and we were definitely out of our comfort zone. The beauty of running on the Mall however is that incessant traffic forces you to stop at the cross streets so you can catch a blow.
R did slow down in the latter half of the run. We also ran up Capitol Hill at the end, although I was DFL in that third of a mile uphill stretch.
Our pace for the 4.57 miles was 8:42.5. R is good for L and I, right?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Reversing course
When I want to run a hard, quick two miles downtown during the lunch hour, I run down NJ Avenue from Georgetown Law School to the bottom of Capitol Hill, turn left and run up the hill on Constitution Avenue to Maryland Avenue, down Maryland to and around Stanton Park, and then return to my starting point via Mass Avenue. As I finally try to come back to running after my ankle injury, yesterday I decided to reverse this course to make it easier by reducing the severity of the hill climb.
Of course elevation gain is the same on a circular course no matter which direction you run it. By reversing course I was trading the severe third of a mile climb on Constitution a mile into the run for a more gradual but longer and immediate climb on Mass Avenue.
I set off at an easy lope and passed by Union Station, where it became clear to me that something was terribly wrong. Only five minutes into the run, I was totally fagged and wanting to stop and walk.
I obviously have no conditioning left. But I persevered and finished the run in 19:30, a leisurely pace indeed (9:45), a satisfactory start to my return.
Of course elevation gain is the same on a circular course no matter which direction you run it. By reversing course I was trading the severe third of a mile climb on Constitution a mile into the run for a more gradual but longer and immediate climb on Mass Avenue.
I set off at an easy lope and passed by Union Station, where it became clear to me that something was terribly wrong. Only five minutes into the run, I was totally fagged and wanting to stop and walk.
I obviously have no conditioning left. But I persevered and finished the run in 19:30, a leisurely pace indeed (9:45), a satisfactory start to my return.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Caught On Camera
I went running with a workmate at lunchtime in the District. Since she is pregnant and I am returning from an injury, we were the perfect match as we did a leisurely 2.1 mile crawl up and around Capitol Hill in a little under 29 minutes, including stops.
The interesting thing was we got waylaid by a TV crew around the Japanese-American Internment Park near the Capitol. Recently there was a spate of hit-and-runs in the me
tro area which caused two pedestrian deaths, including a runner struck and killed near the White House. (Right: A crane struggles to be free at the memorial park on Louisiana Avenue.)
Newscaster: "Sir, as a runner, do you always obey all the traffic laws whenever you jog in the District?"
Me: "[Extended laughter.] I always run with full awareness of my surroundings, including auditory, no headphones see, and am always constantly looking around and exercising all due care with regard to the traffic around me."
Newscaster: "I'll take your laugh to indicate, 'No.'"
Me: "I didn't say, 'No.' I said that as most runners do, I am always fully cognizant of my surroundings as I run. I appreciate the fact that all vehicles are potentially lethal to runners and exercise appropriate caution, especially at intersections."
As we ran away, my companion complimented me on not blatantly admitting to any law violations on camera. Laughing, she described my running style. "Because you're a darter."
The interesting thing was we got waylaid by a TV crew around the Japanese-American Internment Park near the Capitol. Recently there was a spate of hit-and-runs in the me
tro area which caused two pedestrian deaths, including a runner struck and killed near the White House. (Right: A crane struggles to be free at the memorial park on Louisiana Avenue.)Newscaster: "Sir, as a runner, do you always obey all the traffic laws whenever you jog in the District?"
Me: "[Extended laughter.] I always run with full awareness of my surroundings, including auditory, no headphones see, and am always constantly looking around and exercising all due care with regard to the traffic around me."
Newscaster: "I'll take your laugh to indicate, 'No.'"
Me: "I didn't say, 'No.' I said that as most runners do, I am always fully cognizant of my surroundings as I run. I appreciate the fact that all vehicles are potentially lethal to runners and exercise appropriate caution, especially at intersections."
As we ran away, my companion complimented me on not blatantly admitting to any law violations on camera. Laughing, she described my running style. "Because you're a darter."
Monday, August 31, 2009
Garmin Tales
I have no patience. Because of this, maybe me and the Garmin aren't going to get along.
Tonight I went on my club's Monday Night FootMall Run, which starts near the Watergate and essentially runs around the Capitol and back again. It's a bit longer than a 10K with a nice hill in the middle.
I ran over to the starting point from my office over near Union Station since I had to return to the office to work afterwards. That way when I ran to the top of Capitol Hill with the group I could cut over to my office from there and still get a 10K in, with the last half of the run being with company.
Except my Garmin wouldn't cooperate. I'm discovering its personality. It's temperamental.
When it spent more than a minute locating satellites, I took off while it was still searching. (They're in the sky, dummy!) It searched for a while more, then it asked me if I was indoors.
I started pushing buttons as I ran, trying to answer the question. There are seven buttons to choose from, none of them very well marked.
Finally the screen displayed big zeros across the display, 00:00:00. That looked like time, so I pushed the button labeled "Start/Stop."
It gave me time alright, but no pace or, more frustrating, distance. Those two display boxes stayed at zero as the blocks passed by.
The Garmin is in effect a very big wristwatch, so I thought that maybe it's sort of like a TV set. I gave it a good slap trying to free up those frozen boxes. No effect. I pushed more buttons. I reset the display. I cursed at it. Nothing worked. I had my Timex Ironman wristwatch on my other wrist so I already knew the time. I paid over a hundred dollars so I would get distance!
I ran by the White House mumbling imprecations against GPS. I passed through GW (George Washington University) muttering about technology, dodging hordes of freshmen clogging the sidewalks in their first week away from home.
I arrived at the Watergate without any information on distance. It was frustrating. I turned my Garmin off and turned it back on. It started looking for satellites again. This time I waited, stationary, while it "worked." Finally it gave me a display screen, after a few minutes.
The group was there and we took off. I hit the start button and the display screen on the Garmin jumped to life in all its functions. I had time, distance and pace readings.
It obviously doesn't like to be rushed. If you hurry a Garmin, it will mess you over. It will get in a snit and never show you distance. The thing is moody.
I practiced 9-minute miles running down the Mall with the front runner, Jay, while trying to get ready to be the 1:30:00 pace-runner at the Army Ten-Miler Race in five weeks. It was a cool evening, with the sky starting to darken. Fall is coming.
I said my goodbyes and cut off from the group early so I could run up Capitol Hill alone and really work it. My pace for the run up to that point was 8:51, but now it was too dark to see the unlit watch face. I pushed the pace up the hill and then the rest of the way back to the office. I finished the 3.82 mile run with the group (the last mile and a half was solo) at an 8:31 pace.
I'm going to have to get used to the Garmin. I'm certainly not in love with it.
Tonight I went on my club's Monday Night FootMall Run, which starts near the Watergate and essentially runs around the Capitol and back again. It's a bit longer than a 10K with a nice hill in the middle.
I ran over to the starting point from my office over near Union Station since I had to return to the office to work afterwards. That way when I ran to the top of Capitol Hill with the group I could cut over to my office from there and still get a 10K in, with the last half of the run being with company.
Except my Garmin wouldn't cooperate. I'm discovering its personality. It's temperamental.
When it spent more than a minute locating satellites, I took off while it was still searching. (They're in the sky, dummy!) It searched for a while more, then it asked me if I was indoors.
I started pushing buttons as I ran, trying to answer the question. There are seven buttons to choose from, none of them very well marked.
Finally the screen displayed big zeros across the display, 00:00:00. That looked like time, so I pushed the button labeled "Start/Stop."
It gave me time alright, but no pace or, more frustrating, distance. Those two display boxes stayed at zero as the blocks passed by.
The Garmin is in effect a very big wristwatch, so I thought that maybe it's sort of like a TV set. I gave it a good slap trying to free up those frozen boxes. No effect. I pushed more buttons. I reset the display. I cursed at it. Nothing worked. I had my Timex Ironman wristwatch on my other wrist so I already knew the time. I paid over a hundred dollars so I would get distance!
I ran by the White House mumbling imprecations against GPS. I passed through GW (George Washington University) muttering about technology, dodging hordes of freshmen clogging the sidewalks in their first week away from home.
I arrived at the Watergate without any information on distance. It was frustrating. I turned my Garmin off and turned it back on. It started looking for satellites again. This time I waited, stationary, while it "worked." Finally it gave me a display screen, after a few minutes.
The group was there and we took off. I hit the start button and the display screen on the Garmin jumped to life in all its functions. I had time, distance and pace readings.
It obviously doesn't like to be rushed. If you hurry a Garmin, it will mess you over. It will get in a snit and never show you distance. The thing is moody.
I practiced 9-minute miles running down the Mall with the front runner, Jay, while trying to get ready to be the 1:30:00 pace-runner at the Army Ten-Miler Race in five weeks. It was a cool evening, with the sky starting to darken. Fall is coming.
I said my goodbyes and cut off from the group early so I could run up Capitol Hill alone and really work it. My pace for the run up to that point was 8:51, but now it was too dark to see the unlit watch face. I pushed the pace up the hill and then the rest of the way back to the office. I finished the 3.82 mile run with the group (the last mile and a half was solo) at an 8:31 pace.
I'm going to have to get used to the Garmin. I'm certainly not in love with it.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Ils ne passeront pas!
Capitol Hill Classic 10K: Last year the hill ate me up. I was having a pretty good 10K til I hit the race's namesake hill in the sixth mile and it chewed me up and spit me out. My early sub-eight miles z
oomed to a post-nine final mile. I felt lucky to finish in 48:44 (7:51) last year. (Left: The hill wasn't kind to me last year.)
This year I ran up the hill after every Mall run. I worked it. It's .35 mile and it's steep. It's three minutes of hard work.
Today was a perfect day to run, cool and overcast with a very slight breeze. As soon as I lined up at the start, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was H. Oh, hi.
H was a 10K student of mine two years ago. She has never beaten me. I used to think I could jump in on her races, pace her a bit and help her out. Then she got a personal trainer and started training relentlessly. I ran the last six miles of the MCM with her in October, her first marathon. She did a 4:07. My first marathon was a 5:05.
I was extremely happy with my 1:45 at the National Half-Marathon in March. Then H went down to hilly Nashville last month and threw down a 1:47 at the Half Mary there. Yikes.
I ran with H yesterday for the first time since December, four easy miles on the W&OD. She told me she was running today, so I went after a little intel. I asked her what her goal was on the morrow. Break 48, she said. Yikes. Not PR, or break 50 for the first time, no, break 48. Personally, I just was hoping I could break fifty.
When the gun sounded, I went out fast to put as much distance on H as I could in the hope that she wouldn't overhaul me later. Running eastbound on E. Capitol Street, I turned the first mile at 7:00. Running around RFK, I clocked the second mile at 7:25. Westbound on E. Capitol Street I passed by the third marker at 7:40. I was definitely slowing down. I kept mentally checking my stored minutes in the bank, knowing that the looming signature hill would slow me up.
Milepost Four was way off. I passed it going down Capitol Hill on Independence Avenue at 9:32. I was momentarily fearful that I had just run a 9:30 flat mile in a non-marathon race but then I knew that there was no way I had slowed down that much. Still, I was too tired to make full use of "letting it flow" as I ran downhill.
On the bottomland below the hill, I got mesmerized by how long an out-and-back it was on Independence Avenue before we rounded a cone and came back for the fearsome climb up Capitol Hill. Suddenly in my reverie I saw H off to the side thirty yards ahead. Oh, had she been quiet going by me.
Decision time. Do I let her go, or do I HTFU? I found a reserve and powered up beside her. I looked at her and she looked at me. I can tell the look from a woman that says, Not now! I passed by her without a word.
But when you're ahead, you can't keep track of where anyone is who is behind you. Although I was worried about what finishing strategy H might have, all I could do was keep moving. I hit the hill.
Unlike last year, I handled it. I powered up half of it before it wore me out and the rest of the climb turned into a slog. But even during the late going I wasn't tottering along in a faltering shuffle like last year.
Hill surmounted, I tried to push the last mile in. Finally I saw Milepost Six. I got spooked that I would get caught in that last quarter mile and I passed the last .2 mile in 1:28 (7:20 pace). A friend watching the race from the finish line later said I was really flying at the end. She had no idea of what was driving me.
I finished in 47:41 (7:40) by my watch, over a full minute faster than last year. H broke 48 minutes, just as she had set out to do. She did a great job. But her beating my a**, probably badly, will have to wait til next time.
As I trudged off to the start line of the accompanying 3K race, I was really happy with my time and effort in the 10K.
oomed to a post-nine final mile. I felt lucky to finish in 48:44 (7:51) last year. (Left: The hill wasn't kind to me last year.)This year I ran up the hill after every Mall run. I worked it. It's .35 mile and it's steep. It's three minutes of hard work.
Today was a perfect day to run, cool and overcast with a very slight breeze. As soon as I lined up at the start, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was H. Oh, hi.
H was a 10K student of mine two years ago. She has never beaten me. I used to think I could jump in on her races, pace her a bit and help her out. Then she got a personal trainer and started training relentlessly. I ran the last six miles of the MCM with her in October, her first marathon. She did a 4:07. My first marathon was a 5:05.
I was extremely happy with my 1:45 at the National Half-Marathon in March. Then H went down to hilly Nashville last month and threw down a 1:47 at the Half Mary there. Yikes.
I ran with H yesterday for the first time since December, four easy miles on the W&OD. She told me she was running today, so I went after a little intel. I asked her what her goal was on the morrow. Break 48, she said. Yikes. Not PR, or break 50 for the first time, no, break 48. Personally, I just was hoping I could break fifty.
When the gun sounded, I went out fast to put as much distance on H as I could in the hope that she wouldn't overhaul me later. Running eastbound on E. Capitol Street, I turned the first mile at 7:00. Running around RFK, I clocked the second mile at 7:25. Westbound on E. Capitol Street I passed by the third marker at 7:40. I was definitely slowing down. I kept mentally checking my stored minutes in the bank, knowing that the looming signature hill would slow me up.
Milepost Four was way off. I passed it going down Capitol Hill on Independence Avenue at 9:32. I was momentarily fearful that I had just run a 9:30 flat mile in a non-marathon race but then I knew that there was no way I had slowed down that much. Still, I was too tired to make full use of "letting it flow" as I ran downhill.
On the bottomland below the hill, I got mesmerized by how long an out-and-back it was on Independence Avenue before we rounded a cone and came back for the fearsome climb up Capitol Hill. Suddenly in my reverie I saw H off to the side thirty yards ahead. Oh, had she been quiet going by me.
Decision time. Do I let her go, or do I HTFU? I found a reserve and powered up beside her. I looked at her and she looked at me. I can tell the look from a woman that says, Not now! I passed by her without a word.
But when you're ahead, you can't keep track of where anyone is who is behind you. Although I was worried about what finishing strategy H might have, all I could do was keep moving. I hit the hill.
Unlike last year, I handled it. I powered up half of it before it wore me out and the rest of the climb turned into a slog. But even during the late going I wasn't tottering along in a faltering shuffle like last year.
Hill surmounted, I tried to push the last mile in. Finally I saw Milepost Six. I got spooked that I would get caught in that last quarter mile and I passed the last .2 mile in 1:28 (7:20 pace). A friend watching the race from the finish line later said I was really flying at the end. She had no idea of what was driving me.
I finished in 47:41 (7:40) by my watch, over a full minute faster than last year. H broke 48 minutes, just as she had set out to do. She did a great job. But her beating my a**, probably badly, will have to wait til next time.
As I trudged off to the start line of the accompanying 3K race, I was really happy with my time and effort in the 10K.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Changes
The Capitol Hill Classic 10K is one of DC's most hallowed races. Its 28th running was Sunday. The race is a journey around Capitol Hill, a trip where runners casually pass by several American icons.
Runners set off from Stanton Square near Union Station and bolt out past L
incoln Park to RFK. There they circle that multipurpose refuge from the seventies and return to Lincoln Park before running down to Pennsylvania Avenue near Eastern Market, the city's oldest continuously operating mercantile space. Then it's back to East Capitol Street where the runners take aim at the ba
ck of the Capitol, running past the Supreme Court Building on the right. A left turn takes them past the front of the Folger Shakespeare Library and a sharp right on Independence takes them down steep Capitol Hill alongside the Capitol.
With the Mall laying out in front of them, at the bottom of the hill the racers turn right at the U.S. Botanic Garden and r
un past a statue of the martyred president James A. Garfield. They pass below and in front of the Capitol with its innumerable stairs where, to their left, the busy Civil War statue with Grant bestriding his horse dominates the east end of the Mall. As the runners approach the Robert A. Taft statue they turn right one last time and come upon merciless Capitol Hill on the uptake in the sixth mile. After laboring up its quarter-mile length, runners enter Stanton Square from the opposite direction and cross the finish line.
Running up that long hill last Sunday in my first Capitol Hill Classic 10K was the toughest hill mount I have ever done during a race, bar none. (I am not counting a few spectacular hills I have walked up during races, like the Calvert Climb at National. The nineteenth mile of the first Baltimore Marathon also springs to mind, as does the 26th mile at Washington's Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt.)
Capitol Hill sucked all the energy out of my body on Sunday. Those two or three or four minutes I toiled up it are still vivid in my memory.
My splits dropped from the mid-sevens for the entire race up to that point to over nine in the sixth mile. Depleted, I ran the last quarter-mile on level ground to the finish at a pace of well over eight.
I have run up Capitol Hill plenty of other times and it has not bothered me before. I ran up it in the 2002 Marine Corps Marathon, the last of my five-hour marathons. The hill didn't seem so noticeable then, but I was five years younger and I also expended considerably less energy in marathons in those days.
At the tail end of a fast 10K, the hill is brutal. But that's all about to change.
Reporter and local running legend Jim Hage aptly calls it a "gut-check climb" in his post about Sunday's race. He also reported that this year's run up Capitol Hill could be its "last rites." Security, you know. (Don't you feel so much safer now than you did when the Decider declared war on shapeless amorphous terror oh so long ago?)
The course will be moved to eliminate its charge down and then back up The Hill. What?
That is the race's signature moment, it's defining experience. When you turn right and start ascending The Hill, you encounter the exquisite feeling of being so close and yet so far. Also, there is plenty of time to brood about the hill lying in wait as you first go flying down its other side, knowing that soon payment will be extracted for your freewheeling flight downhill in the fifth mile.
Here's what the race director told me about the impending course change. "The course will change next year. The Capitol Hill Police has a long standing rule preventing races from running entirely around the Capitol. For 28 years we've been exempted from that. However, I was told in late April that we were not going to be allowed to run this course. I argued that it was too late to change this year, and they relented, on the condition that we change it next year. I don't know what the course will be at this point, although we might be able to work out something that involves the Hill, just not around it."
The older I get the more I hate change. I am so glad I ran the 10K on Sunday so I could experience the hill's soul-sucking effect during an otherwise fast race. If I had not done the race this year despite some nagging injuries, I would have lost my chance at experiencing The Hill in its full form, possibly forever.
May the Capitol Hill Classic stay true to its origins.
Runners set off from Stanton Square near Union Station and bolt out past L
incoln Park to RFK. There they circle that multipurpose refuge from the seventies and return to Lincoln Park before running down to Pennsylvania Avenue near Eastern Market, the city's oldest continuously operating mercantile space. Then it's back to East Capitol Street where the runners take aim at the ba
ck of the Capitol, running past the Supreme Court Building on the right. A left turn takes them past the front of the Folger Shakespeare Library and a sharp right on Independence takes them down steep Capitol Hill alongside the Capitol.With the Mall laying out in front of them, at the bottom of the hill the racers turn right at the U.S. Botanic Garden and r
un past a statue of the martyred president James A. Garfield. They pass below and in front of the Capitol with its innumerable stairs where, to their left, the busy Civil War statue with Grant bestriding his horse dominates the east end of the Mall. As the runners approach the Robert A. Taft statue they turn right one last time and come upon merciless Capitol Hill on the uptake in the sixth mile. After laboring up its quarter-mile length, runners enter Stanton Square from the opposite direction and cross the finish line.Running up that long hill last Sunday in my first Capitol Hill Classic 10K was the toughest hill mount I have ever done during a race, bar none. (I am not counting a few spectacular hills I have walked up during races, like the Calvert Climb at National. The nineteenth mile of the first Baltimore Marathon also springs to mind, as does the 26th mile at Washington's Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt.)
Capitol Hill sucked all the energy out of my body on Sunday. Those two or three or four minutes I toiled up it are still vivid in my memory.
My splits dropped from the mid-sevens for the entire race up to that point to over nine in the sixth mile. Depleted, I ran the last quarter-mile on level ground to the finish at a pace of well over eight.
I have run up Capitol Hill plenty of other times and it has not bothered me before. I ran up it in the 2002 Marine Corps Marathon, the last of my five-hour marathons. The hill didn't seem so noticeable then, but I was five years younger and I also expended considerably less energy in marathons in those days.
At the tail end of a fast 10K, the hill is brutal. But that's all about to change.
Reporter and local running legend Jim Hage aptly calls it a "gut-check climb" in his post about Sunday's race. He also reported that this year's run up Capitol Hill could be its "last rites." Security, you know. (Don't you feel so much safer now than you did when the Decider declared war on shapeless amorphous terror oh so long ago?)
The course will be moved to eliminate its charge down and then back up The Hill. What?
That is the race's signature moment, it's defining experience. When you turn right and start ascending The Hill, you encounter the exquisite feeling of being so close and yet so far. Also, there is plenty of time to brood about the hill lying in wait as you first go flying down its other side, knowing that soon payment will be extracted for your freewheeling flight downhill in the fifth mile.
Here's what the race director told me about the impending course change. "The course will change next year. The Capitol Hill Police has a long standing rule preventing races from running entirely around the Capitol. For 28 years we've been exempted from that. However, I was told in late April that we were not going to be allowed to run this course. I argued that it was too late to change this year, and they relented, on the condition that we change it next year. I don't know what the course will be at this point, although we might be able to work out something that involves the Hill, just not around it."
The older I get the more I hate change. I am so glad I ran the 10K on Sunday so I could experience the hill's soul-sucking effect during an otherwise fast race. If I had not done the race this year despite some nagging injuries, I would have lost my chance at experiencing The Hill in its full form, possibly forever.
May the Capitol Hill Classic stay true to its origins.
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