Rock Creek Park

Today I ran into Rock Creek Park without much of a plan, other than to run to the 3-mile point and then turn around. I did it and didn't even get lost. It was kind of fun to go on an exploratory run with no idea of what was around the next corner. I found myself running on blacktop poured along the side of the road with tree branches hanging low over it, down a sidewalk, striding on a thin dirt path perilously close to the road, through baseball/soccer fields on a hiking/bike path with a dotted dividing line, and finally to an equestrian center where a lady was riding her horse around some obstacles. There were times of shade and times of sun, but all the way was blanketed in humidity. This run was less hilly than yesterday, for which I was thankful. I could have continued past the horses to the highway, which I considered, to make a loop of it, but decided I'd rather run through the trees than alongside rush-hour traffic. It was a good 6 miles and maybe it was the fun of running someplace new, but I felt strong. My overall pace was 10:10, which was probably too fast considering the humidity and that several times I had to wait to cross a busy street. With an actual pace less than 10 minutes/mile I guess that makes it an even better run.