Back In The Swing of Things... For Real This Time

Yesterday I wrote that taking the metro to work from Jon's apartment in Van Ness and then taking it back cost over nine dollars.  While I was grateful for the extra time to sleep in that taking the metro afforded me in the morning, that kind of cost just isn't sustainable.

Today's running route

So this morning I woke up at 6:20 (OK, maybe 6:30 - as Jon describes it, I have a "fluid relationship with time"), brushed my teeth, and ran from Jon's apartment near the Van Ness metro to the Medical Center metro in Bethesda, about four and a half miles.  I headed north on Connecticut Avenue and crossed into Maryland at Chevy Chase Circle, then cut over to Wisconsin Avenue on Bradley Boulevard.  It was a great morning for a run: 55º, and I badly needed some exercise after a week of excess on The Cruisical.  The crisp air was like fuel for the engine of my legs, and I got to the RideOn Route 46 stop at Medical Center in about 43 minutes - and that included a bathroom stop at a Starbucks in DC.  (On this particular morning, I was not a paying customer using the restroom.  However, there have been plenty of paying customer mornings and afternoons for me lately, so my Starbucks conscious is clear.  Oh, and did you know they're offering a bunch of free shit over Wi-Fi now?) 

After just missing the 7:11 46 bus, I had to wait a boring 25 minutes for the 7:36. But I knew my co-worker Beth rode that 46, so at least I would have a bus buddy. I got to work feeling great about the fact that two days after returning from the Bahamas I ran 4+ miles at a sub-10 minute/mile pace.  In fact, I was in a good mood all day.

After work, during another abysmal offensive effort from the Phillies in support of Cole Hamels, I rode my bike from my office in Rockville the 3.4 miles down to the White Flint metro and picked up RideOn Route 5 to Silver Spring.  The Route 5 originates at Twinbrook and then winds through Garrett Park before ending up at Second Avenue and Colesville Road, about five blocks from my apartment.  It was the first time since I started riding my bike to work three weeks ago that there was already one bike on the rack when the bus pulled up.  I got home around 6:20 - and would have gotten home sooner, had I not narrowly missed the 5:33 5 bus.  But it's not like the Phillies had even shown up to play today anyway, so there wouldn't have been much to watch.