Sunday, April 4, 2010

Goodbye Baltimore, Hello Winchester

I'm writing this from my new hangout in Winchester - Union Jack. Free Wi-fi and a good beer selection is an easy way to get my business. I've moved several times in my adult life - I grew up in Ann Arbor, MI - went to college in Chicago - grad school in San Diego - exchange program in Mannheim, Germany - back to San Diego - back to Chicago - back to Ann Arbor - and then Baltimore. Something feels different about this move. Maybe it's that I've never lived in a town as small as Winchester - maybe that although my wife's job is changing - mine is the same. Ok, it's probably the small town thing.
Not that there isn't "stuff" to do in Winchester. There's an interesting old town area with some decent restaurants and a great beer store. There is beer in grocery stores - on Sundays! They call Maryland the "free state", but they weren't talking about alcohol.
I ran on the Appalachian trail this morning in Sky Meadow State Park - it's as pretty as it sounds and only 25 minutes away. There is tons of history here - Winchester changed hands in the Civil War several dozen times - and George Washington landed his first gig here at the age of 16 years old (no, I wasn't here for that).
There are some cool events - like the upcoming Apple Blossom Festival with one of the fastest 10k's in VA, DC or MD. They have tons of wineries and Wine/Beer festivals (maybe I should stop talking about alcohol - my mother does read these). And it's only a 90 minutes to DC, less than 2 hours to Baltimore, 3.5 hours to Philly and 5 hours to NYC. The confederate flag is on the city seal, but I think it's more a history thing then any real sentiments on the part of most of the inhabitants.
I'm still searching for running routes that don't include me running on the shoulder of busy roads - but, they have a good running store here (Runner's Retreat) - so, I'm sure I'll learn all the good places to run soon enough. My running did suffer a little bit from the move this week, but it could have been worse. Cherry Blossom is next week - it will be interesting to see what I can do. I've got a lot of hay in the barn - I just need to be confident. I'll be looking to run something in the low 53's.
More than anything I think this move feels different because I'm leaving the most supportive running group that I've known - and more importantly some real good friendships. So, please everybody, stay in touch! And if you want to get out of the city this summer - we've got plenty of room for visitors!

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles 6X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest) (1:53.3, 74.2, 37.3; 1:51.5, 73.8, 36.6; 1:51.3, 73.1, 36.5; 1:51.2, 71.1, 35.3; 1:47.9, 72.1, 35.7; 1:46.9, 70.1, 35.5)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 11 miles
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 11 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 68.5 miles

Next Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday Morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 9 miles 4X(200m R pace with 200m jogs) + 3X(1k I pace with 2-min jogs) + 2X(400m R pace with 400m jogs)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday Morning: 4 miles
Thursday: 10 miles 3X2 mi @ T pace
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 15 miles Cherry Blossom 10 miler
Total: 75.5 miles

6 comments:

alyssa said...

what? no shout out to your true friend, the one who cared enough to see you off in your last minutes in baltimore? the one who came by to witness your last seconds in the greatest city in america?

RM said...

You visited by chance and only because I told you what time they were leaving

alyssa said...

ummm hello. you actually told me the wrong time. my intuition led me to their early departure!

Ben said...

actually the last words we heard someone say to us in Baltimore was when we were loading our cats into the car. Some random woman said - "wow, that's a big ass cat!". that made us laugh.

RM said...

I said that the truck was coming at 7am!

alyssa said...

no way you said 9!

Also, I think the woman said "damn that's a fine ass" not "that's a big ass cat."