A Carless Weekend

I didn't have any plans for Friday night, but I was looking forward to spending a relaxing night with Jon.  It had been a busy week - dogsitting in Gaithersburg, fundraisers, etc, so a night of catching up on Glee sounded perfect.  (I admit - up until two weeks ago, I had never seen an episode of Glee in my life.  I can now say that I'm hooked, my favorite character is Rachel, and that I intend to watch the Rocky Horror episode next week even though I'm only half way through the first season.)

I took RideOn Route 47 from my office in Rockville to Bethesda.  Route 47 winds south past Montgomery Mall before hooking back east to the Bethesda Metro.  It was a great evening for a run, and after another unsanctioned pitstop at Starbucks, I took off for Van Ness.  I was pumped for the new running playlist that I had put together on the bus ride down to Bethesda.  I like routines (more on that in a later post) and I've got a running playlist of about 40 songs that I usually listen to in the exact same order.  In fact, on my normal run on the Sligo Creek Trail near my apartment in Silver Spring, I know exactly where I should be when a certain song comes on if I'm maintaining the pace I want.  (Of Montreal's "The Party's Crashing Us" comes on when I turn around at University Boulevard if I'm maintaining a 9:30/mile pace, for example.)  But it was time to change things up, so I rearranged and added some songs and put together the playlist to the right.


I was so zoned out that when I got to Chevy Chase Circle and crossed into the District, I exited the Circle too soon and took Western Avenue out instead of following Connecticut Avenue out.  I realized this... eventually... and checked the map on my phone to right my course back to Jon's apartment.  I ended up taking Reno Drive most of the way, which is a nice quiet street that I'll probably use in the future.  It's definitely less busy and I also found it to be a little less hilly than Connecticut.  It took me about 33 minutes to get down to Jon's.

Saturday morning I got picked up by Roger's campaign manager Heather to meet everyone in Potomac for the Potomac Day Parade.  It was a beautiful day, and the parade had a great turnout.  It marked one year since our first real campaign event, and I feel just as good now about being part of Roger's campaign as I did then.  I was grateful that Heather was able to pick me up and give me a ride back to Silver Spring - I could have ridden my bike but given that I had to get several things done that afternoon I was appreciative of the ride.

Saturday night Jon had box tickets to the Capitals game against the Atlanta Thrashers.  I was psyched, since I'd never been to an NHL game before.  It ended up being a great game:  Alexander Semin recorded his fourth career hat trick and the Capitals won 4-3 in overtime.  We took the metro both there and back - I forget that sometimes the metro actually is affordable.  Since for once I found myself actually riding the metro during "reduced fare" hours, it only cost $1.60 each way.

The coming week is my last week of carlessness.  Can't believe how quickly it's gone by.

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.

"A Run to White Flint" or "Thoughts on Running Songs"

Having so much fun biking everywhere I go, it's been a while since I've run somewhere.  I know tomorrow I'll be biking here there and everywhere to get to an event with Roger at the Davis Library, so after work today I decided to run from the office down to the Twinbrook metro (about 2.4 miles) and take the Route 5 home to Silver Spring.  I was sort of grumpy when it came time to leave work... my office had been cold all day and I was worried that it was - again - going to be raining.  Not the best mood for a run, but I was rolling with it.

Have you ever had one of those runs where starting out you weren't really feeling it, but the further you went the more you couldn't get enough of it?  That was me, today.  Not sure if it was the perfect temperature for running, or if it was the awesome music selection my iPhone was choosing for me on shuffle.  I have about 40 songs on a "running playlist" but today all of the best were shuffling one after another.  Boom, Matt & Kim "Good Old Fashioned Nightmare".  Boom, Jay-Z "Off That".  Boom, Taking Back Sunday "MakeDamnSure".

My all time favorite running song isn't a likely one: "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers from their album Hot Fuss.  It's not particularly upbeat.  It's not high energy.  But this past May when I ran the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia, I was really dragging around Mile 6 as the course takes you over a slight hill and past City Hall.  Just as the song was getting to the crescendo of the "I got soul but I'm not a soldier" part, City Hall came into view, and something about how the song built to the final chorus proved to be such a pick-me-up, my whole energy changed.  So when that song came on just as I would have been pulling into Twinbrook, I knew that I had to extend my run down to White Flint.  I ended with a great time:  I ran the distance of 3.3 miles in 29:55, just in time for the 5:45 Route 5 bus.  I didn't have much time to stretch out before I got on, but it wasn't a big deal.  The 5 got me home to Silver Spring by 6:30, per usual, and the bus driver recognized me from yesterday (SWEET!).

Some other music I've had in the earbuds (running or riding on the bus) this week:

Ben Folds, Lonely Avenue.  Just released September 28, graciously came my way from Roger's awesome Chief of Staff, Cindy.  There are some duds, but overall the album is what you'd expect from him.  "Claire's Ninth" is Ben Folds does the Beach Boys, "Levi Johnston's Blues" is standard Ben fun, and "Practical Amanda" is as close to "Fred Jones Part II" as you'll get on this album.  "Picture Window" is probably the favorite for me.

 Avett Brothers, I and Love and You.  This album is so good.  I've been playing it constantly since I saw them at Bonnaroo in June.  "January Wedding" and "And It Spread" are two great songs about being in love, "I and Love and You" is the fantastic title track, and "The Perfect Space" seems to touch on everything I've wanted before and everything I want in the future.  "Slight Figure of Speech" and "It Goes On and On" are Avett appalachian fun.

Dashboard Confessional, Swiss Army Romance.  I pulled this one out from the archives when Chris announced he'd be going on tour to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the release of Swiss Army Romance, performing the album in its entirety at 17 tour dates.  After I told Jon about the show at Towson on December 3 and how excited I was for it, he went and got tickets for it, because, well, he's the best boyfriend ever in the history of boyfriends.  But seriously - this album, I think, will go down alongside Weezer's Pinkerton as a favorite of people my age.  Does angst get better than the 1-2 of "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" and "Again I Go Unnoticed"?  No, it does not.

Days Eight and Nine: Keeping It Going

I have to say, now that I'm over a week into my carless adventure, I expected by now to be sick of it.  I expected to be longing for a shorter trip to work, more time to sleep in in the mornings, more time to do whatever I want in the evenings.

But I'm not.

This despite the fact that yesterday's travels involved two missed busses and rain in both directions.  I woke up early at Jon's apartment in Van Ness, hoping to leave there at 6:45 for the bike ride up to the Bethesda metro.  I was planning on catching the Route 47 RideOn bus leaving for Rockville at 7:16.  Well I didn't leave the apartment as soon as I wanted, it was raining, and well... yeah.  No excuses - I didn't make it.  I pulled up to the 47 slot and asked two nice little old ladies if it had already left.  One exclaimed, "oh yes, it just left tee hee heee heeee!"  So, I sat on the bench and pouted for a hot second, until I remembered that Route 46 runs from Medical Center up the Pike (not the one in Columbia) to Rockville.  I pulled out my phone to check the 46 schedule and saw that I had 13 minutes to get up Wisconsin Avenue before the next bus got there - more than enough time.  I got there with a few minutes to spare, and was joined by my co-worker Beth, who got on at the next stop.  The best part of taking the 46 to work: there's a stop at Maryland and Jefferson, right in front of my building.  (That part took about 40 minutes.)

Heading home, it was still the same state of constant drizzle it had been all day, but I had all I needed to keep my phone safe in the ziplock bag Rebecca had given me last week.  I took off for the Twinbrook metro, planning to take Route 5 home to Silver Spring, and got to maybe Edmonston Drive (?) before I realized I left without my wallet, keys, and County ID... wtffff.  Seriously, Chad?

I had no choice but to turn around, as I needed the wallet to go grocery shopping later, keys to get into my apartment, and County ID so I could ride the bus for free.  I was pissed.  I almost made it back to Twinbrook in time for the next Route 5 bus, but once again arrived right after it had left.  I raced it down the Pike until I caught up with it at the White Flint metro finally.

I learned an important lesson.  (OK well two.  The obvious being make sure you take everything you need before you leave work, as it takes even longer to turn around when you're biking - duh).  It only takes a few minutes longer to bike the extra distance to the Medical Center Route 46 stop than it does the Route 47 Bethesda Metro stop, and it only takes a few minutes longer to bike the extra distance to the Route 5 White Flint stop than it does the Route 5 Twinbrook stop.  In both cases, it minimizes time spent on the bus and gives me a few extra minutes of exercise.

This morning I got lazy needed to carry some extra stuff to work with me so I took the Q2 all the way from Silver Spring to Rockville.  Is there a line less reliable?  (The answer is probably yes, I admit).  But that bus never comes when the schedule says it's going to, plus it takes almost 55 minutes.  55 minutes with no exercise involved? Ugh. Today after work I'll redeem myself, running to the Twinbrook metro - or maybe White Flint, per yesterday's lesson - and take the Route 5 home.

PS - thank you to friend of One Month. One Guy. No Car. / former co-worker Dan Reed for the shout out on Just Up The Pike this morning.  Much appreciated.

Day Four: A Monsoon Will Not Deter Me

With Jon officially moving to Van Ness today, this morning was my last "easy" commute to work on RideOn Route 81 from his apartment across from the White Flint metro.  Turns out Route 46, the one I was looking for the other day when I stumbled on the 81 as it was pulling up, has its stop on Rockville Pike, not on Marinelli where I was looking.  (Thanks Alexis).  The 81 and I had some awesome times, but all good things must come to an end.

With Hurricane Snooki Nicole dumping cats and dogs on our region, today was the first time my commute really necessitated an umbrella.  It wasn't bad for just taking the RideOn in this morning, but I was really hoping that it wouldn't damper my plans for my PM commute: running to Twinbrook then transferring connecting to RideOn Route 5 from Twinbrook to Silver Spring.  I even walked over to the CVS in Rockville Town Center to pick up new insoles for my running shoes at lunch time.

As 5:00 approached, the skies turned more and more foreboding, but I was determined.  I don't mind running in the rain that much - my main concern is always being prepared so that my iPhone does not get wet.  (Because, let's be real, if something happened to my iPhone... well...)  I scoured the Sixth Floor for a ziplock bag to carry it in, and was beginning to think all was lost, until REBECCA came through with a gallon size ziplock.  I owe you one Rebecca.  Several co-workers warned me to "be careful out there" on my way out, but I wasn't worried.

When I got outside, however, it was drizzling and it did look like the end of days, so I thought I should try to get to the Twinbrook metro with a heightened sense of urgency.  (Taking the Q4 was an option this whole time - but I didn't want to wimp out).  Luckily for me, the Twinbrook metro is about 2.5 miles from my office, which is also the distance I can irresponsibly push the pace of a run without really feeling the consequences later.  Any further though, and my shins decide they hate me for several days.  So I took off on the southbound side of Rockville Pike.  The rain started to pick up a little just as a Route 46 bus pulled up to my left, which would have taken me as far down the Pike as I had needed - quite a temptation, but I resisted: so much so that I took the next opportunity to cross the Pike over to the northbound sidewalk, meaning a RideOn bus would not tempt me in such a way again.  The rain persisted and I pushed the pace a little more, realizing that I had left the office without being entirely sure of where the Twinbrook metro was... "Twinbrook Parkway?" I thought.  It felt like a trick.

AND IT WAS.  Good thing I was paying attention, and was on the lookout for the green Metro sign telling me to turn left on Halpine Road.  I wasn't sure what time it was, with my phone tucked away in the safety of the ziplock, but I was shooting for the 5:45 Route 5 bus.  Turns out I was so worried about getting caught in the rain, I booked it down to Twinbrook in time for the 5:33.

The Route 5 bus takes an interesting route to Silver Spring - passing through North Bethesda and Garrett Park before heading up 16th Street.  For a while I was on a street called Capitol View I think?  Definitely learning new ways of getting around Montgomery County everyday I undertake this adventure, which I love.

I walked in the door to my apartment at 6:29, one hour and 8 minutes after I left the office.  It took me 22 minutes to run to the metro at Twinbrook, then about 40 minutes on the bus, then about a 6 minute walk to my apartment from the bus stop (in the rain).  All in all, I thought it was a great way to get home and when I walked in the door, my workout was already done for the night.  I'm feeling pretty ballsy, so tomorrow I think for the first time in this endeavor, I'll break out the bike.  I'm eyeing a Sligo Creek Trail / RideOn Route 48 plan for getting to work, stay tuned...

What I Hope to Achieve, Part 1: The Fitness Factor

Crossing the finish line at the
St. Patrick's Day 8K in DC 
in March. Probably not
supposed to use this photo, 
huh?

I'm planning to run about 2-4 miles a day, depending on where I'm going, as part of giving up my car.  I may be filling in missing pieces of RideOn routes or running out of the District to get to a RideOn route, once Jon moves to Van Ness.  What's nice about incorporating a run into my work commute is that when I get home, I've already gotten my workout in and have the rest of the night to do whatever I need to do (read: hang out with Jon, watch my beloved Phillies dominate in the postseason after having won their fourth straight NL East championship). As I've already seen, it takes just about as much time to run down Rockville Pike during rush hour as it does for a RideOn bus to make the same trip.  It has its share of logistical problems, but I'm dealing with those.

This past spring I went to visit a friend living in Seoul, and then spent two weeks backpacking around Southeast Asia with her. It was a huge trip for me and I wanted to make a huge change accordingly beforehand. In anticipation of my travels, I lost about 20 pounds through changing up my diet, cutting out alcohol altogether (except for one grandfathered-in weekend with Millersville friends visiting), and exercising. After I got back I dropped another 10 pounds, meaning that I weighed 165 pounds for the first time since probably 6th or 7th grade. I had discovered that I actually loved running - something I hated having to do in gym class - and ran a 5K, 8K, and 10 miler in Charlotte, DC, and Philly, respectively.

In June I came down with a nasty case of shin splints, probably because I pushed my body too hard too soon after taking some time off (at least that's what Jon and U.S. Track Champion Lauren Fleshman, my favorite runner, would tell me). This required more time off to give my legs a rest. I also had to back out on a friend who I was going to run a 10 mile race in Baltimore with. To be honest, I'm still getting back to where I was.

I've also got the afforementioned cruise to the Bahamas coming up in 12 days, so if I could drop some pounds before that shitshow sets sail, that'd be hot. But it's really about getting back to where I was as a runner and maintaining my goal weight (ack, hate that term) the weight at which I feel my best.  So the goal is to get back to 165, which, at the beginning of this endeavor, was 12 pounds away.

Of course, fitness isn't the only factor involved in this decision, and I'll have more on the others in later posts.

Day One: This Was Actually Fun

After taking the Q2 in this morning, the plan for getting home (read: Jon's) after work today was running.  The rain held out and the conditions were actually perfect for it - I was pumped to change after work and get outside.  And I found that running is even more enjoyable when it means getting where you need to go without having to sit in traffic, or waste gas, or contribute to pollution, etc etc.  I knew it would be a good run: about three miles down the Pike to Harris Teeter where I was meeting Jon.

Running down the Pike isn't as bad as you would think, except in certain stretches.  There is a steady uphill grade starting at Congressional Mazda all the way until you get to Bloom, which is pretty miserable.  Navigating the intersection with Montrose Road (or is it Parkway there? who knows) is a little tricky too.  But I didn't have to stop at an intersection a single time - not sure if I just hit all the green lights exactly right or if it just takes a long time to turn onto the Pike no matter what.

Really, the worst part of running on the Pike are the drivers.  I got beeped at several times while people waited for me to make right turns off of the Pike, as if I were the one supposed to be yielding to them.  People seriously looked at me like I was crazy.  Running down Rockville Pike - I dunno, maybe I am?  Shout out to the lady in the black Camry that pulled out into a crosswalk to turn, saw me coming, and backed back out of the intersection.  You, are awesome, black Camry lady.

If you're a runner and you've never checked out http://www.mapmyrun.com/, you need to do so immediately.  They've got a really handy iPhone app that tracks your location with GPS, and measures your distance and speed.  If you close the app on your phone to do something else, like take a picture of how much running down Rockville Pike can suck in certain spots, it pauses the time - really it's the only downfall of the app.  I love it and use it almost everytime I run.

I was pretty happy with my time, too.  3.1 miles in 31:06.  Tomorrow I might run in the morning to work, or I may take RideOn.  We'll see what Carless Day #2 brings!