"Old Route"

This weekend’s long run went so well! If I’m honest, I ran it faster than I should have but it felt wonderful to be out there Saturday morning.

I fell asleep Friday night, thinking about the different routes I could take and how to get in 10 miles. Just before I nodded off, I thought, “why not take the old route?”

My “old route” is the along the Custis Bike Trail to the W&OD south toward Alexandria and the airport. It is 10 miles from my usual starting spot to National Airport along the bike trails and I ran this out-and-back route for varying lengths every weekend as I trained for my first marathon. It was comforting during that initial training to become so familiar with the route that I knew exactly what mile I was at and how long it would take me to get home. It was the equivalent of running the “back of my hand” and I credit it with getting me through some tough and anxious moments during my training.

In fact, it wasn’t until the weekend AFTER my first marathon that I made the novel decision to turn east on the bike path and run toward Rosslyn.

Two years later and I’m still exploring the area’s running routes, rarely running that “old route” because it was so familiar. I’ve found a perfect 8 miler that incorporates Roosevelt Island and a hilly but invigorating route that takes me through Arlington National Cemetery. I’ve run to other neighborhoods – Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax. I’ve run home from work and discovered that I love to run commute. I’ve run trails and run to trails to meet up with Mike for a hike. I’ve run in DC as the early morning sun baths the monuments, memorials and museums of our nation’s capitol in soft, peaceful light – the calm before the storm of tourists who descend each weekend.

I’ve run all of these places and hardly given a thought to my old route, the one that got me to the starting line of my first marathon. It hardly seemed fair and as I got ready to run my 10-miler Saturday morning, I decided to give that old route another chance.

I know each turn and hill along the route. I know that the overpass means 1 mile down (or 1 mile to go), the straightaway allows for a speedier end to mile 2, the tennis courts mark 3 miles, mile 4 is hillier with rolling ups and down and the 5 mile turn around spot is just after I pass under that nice stone bridge. Then, I know that all I have to do is follow these spots, tick them off one by one and I’ll be home in no time.

I was relieved that all of this familiarity was still there Saturday morning, almost 2 years since I ran the same route for that last 10 mile long run before my first marathon. And I felt great!

Even as I told myself to slow down and take it easy, the “old route” had energized me more than I expected and I was running fast. I averaged 10:00 miles throughout the run when I should have been closer to 10:30, and I even ran the final mile in 9:05!

I’m still not going to running my old route as regularly and faithfully as I used to, and I am already planning a new 12 mile route for my long run in two weeks, but I know that the “old” and the “familiar” aren’t always a bad thing. In fact, they can sometimes be just the thing to reenergize my runs.