Do the Hula Hoop

I sort of feel like I should take a little teeny camera with me on my runs and rides. I’d love for you to see the gnarly old man scooter rider with the crazy skateboarder helmet. And I’d love to show you the chick I saw today on my ride into work doing a hula hoop work out. She was standing at a light waiting to cross, hooping away, and then when the cross walk light turned, she kept hooping (hulaing?) her way across the street. Pretty much awesome.

In any case, yesterday I ran from the office south, instead of north. I was trying to get back on the river trail off the GW Parkway but in my effort to find it, I ended up running the loop on Jones Point Park. It was intensely hot and humid, I’d forgotten my camelbak and I had eaten two cup cakes later in the day so that I burned through sugar too quickly. (Moral of the story: plan well so you don’t forget stuff and don’t eat cupcakes before your runs.) I didn’t have my pack, so I didn’t have my distance tracker on my phone with me. I’m estimating the run was a little over 5 miles based on the time I was gone. The trail itself was quite nice…ran south on the river front past King street, then weaved in and out of the neighborhood and onto GW. The park was kind of neat, but I had the same dilemma of running down the 4 mile run toward Arlington: it’s nice and secluded, but at the same time it’s nice and secluded. There are hardly any people on the trail and that makes my imagination run a bit – if I fell in a hole, or got pulled off the trail by a hairy beast, no one would know and that would pretty much be a bummer. The trail was good, although I feel the need to buy some trail running shoes now, to give me a little extra ankle support. It was convenient because my knees were a bit sore and the trail was pretty soft. Headed back to the office was probably the closest I’ve ever come to walking while on a run, but I managed to push through it.

This morning I rode into work and it was the first time I’d seen the kamikaze bike rider trait in myself. I hadn’t ridden into work at rush hour before, and I left home just after 9 AM today, so it was still right in the thick of everything. I was riding between buses and scrambling between cars riding into oncoming traffic – it was all very complicated! I didn’t feel unsafe at any point, but it was the sort of thing where if my mother were watching, her heart would be in her chest. A cab driver almost backed into me through an intersection…I was NOT impressed with that. I now have a rear and front light on my bike, as well as a mini-pump plugged right onto my frame. Still missing is carrying replacements for a flat, and, what I need to address most importantly: squishy butt pants. I hoped my hind quarters would get used to it by now, but it doesn’t seem so.

Tonight is climbing, maybe riding back home if I feel up to it. Tomorrow I’ll be running an 8 miler in DC. It's been a long time since I ran in DC - hopefully I can make it to Rock Creek Park before night fall.

This weekend, I’ve either got some plans to do NYC in one day or do some climbing at Great Falls/potentially ride out to Mt. Vernon to check out Washington’s mansion.