Rush Hour

Tuesday, August 15th

I went to Washington Park today at around 7:00 p.m. for a longer-ish run. There must have been ~100 people running the outer loop. Molly and I ran here in April, on a Sunday, and it wasn't nearly this crowded. True to my form, I got passed by just about everyone, and only passed walkers. Women pushing baby strollers, middle-aged men about 20 pounds overweight, people that made running look so painful the way their body was contorted. Just about everyone passed me. I tried to convince myself that all of these people were probably only doing 1/2 of a lap, or maybe 1 lap at most. but sure enough, I saw several of the same people numerous times.

I parked at Center & Franklin and did my first lap counterclockwise. I settled in to a nice comfortable pace, and after being passed by everyone I figured I would finish the first lap in 31 or 32 minutes. I looked at my watch as I reached my car - 27:41 - whoa!! Little did I know I had set such a torrid pace. I eased up a little bit, and did the second lap in 29:40. I ran for another ~15 minutes, and at this point it was getting really dark (and I was tired), so I called it good. As I was leaving there were still lots of joggers - none of them with lights!

Total Mileage: ~6.2
Total Time: 1:11