A Running Tour of Washington, DC [Entered 6/29]

Today, Saturday morning, I got out early for a long running tour of the nation's capitol. We've been doing tons of walking around the various museums and monuments in town, but I haven't gotten out for a run since Tuesday in Austin. I sneaked out the hotel room early to keep from waking the family, and then stretched a little in the hotel parking deck while my GPS synched up with its new location. At about 6:30 am, all systems were "go," and I took off.

We were staying just across the Potomac in Arlington, VA, so I started off by going nice and relaxed to and across the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the edge of Georgetown. I was making up the route as I went, but I wanted to get somewhere around 10 miles in, and I wanted to get up to the Capitol during the run. From the end of the Key Bridge, I wound down to the C&O Canal and the towpath alongside it for a while. It ran out fairly soon going towards Washington, so I meandered through some side streets until I found my way to the running trail alongside the Potomac. I just ran as I felt, enjoying the sights and sounds of a new city. I passed the Watergate office complex and the Kennedy Center, and after a while longer, wound my way past some sand volleyball courts in a park, then past the side of the Lincoln Memorial, and headed north towards the Capitol. I was having fun, even though I was running alone on a long run for the first time in a while.

I dodged various "Road Closed" barriers and other "Under Construction" fences, and went up Constitution Avenue alongside the Mall, where I noticed the Vietnam Memorial to my right. It's very hard to see from that direction, as it is cut into the ground, but I did catch it as I ran by. I started passing various groups of folks on their first or second marathon training runs around this time (training for Marine Corps, of course). By the end of the run, I had probably passed 300 people in their pace groups going up and down the mall and around the Capitol, or across the Potomac along the George Washington Parkway. How cool would that be to have those sights as your regular running routes?!

The Reflecting Pool went by, then I ran closer to the WW II Memorial, which is relatively new, and checked it out as I rolled along. Crossing the street to run around the Washington Monument, which is surrounded by construction fencing on all sides, I was having a great day. It was reasonably cool, or at least not hot, probably 68-70 degrees, and not incredibly humid. I was probably four miles into the run around here, going along at about 9:05 pace, feeling good.

After the Washington Monument, I cut over to the Mall, and joined the wide crushed rock path that goes up each side of that huge expanse of grass. It was a little like running on the Austin hike and bike trail, only with monstrous buildings of marble and sandstone on either side of the open space. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was encamped on this portion of the Mall, and I ran through the exhibit tents on my way up the Capitol. The road finally took a slight turn upwards here, as I negotiated Capitol Hill up and around that huge building, passing several more running groups, including a couple of Galloway groups (I know this because the group leader was barking out "Walk!" and then, a minute later "3-2-1, Go!" when the break was over). The Supreme Court went by on my left, along with the Library of Congress, and then it was down the other side of the Capitol and back to the Mall.

After this slight hill, the rest of the journey back down the Mall was even more restful than before. When I reached the Washington Monument again, I took a quick stop for a GU and the rest of my Accelerade that I was carrying along. A minute later, I was off again for the rest of the trip. I was 7.3 miles into the journey, average pace almost exactly 9:00/mile. Still, I felt really good, but I needed to get back to the hotel so we could start our day of tourism.

Down past the Washington Monument, I turned towards the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin. I ran by the Bureau of Engraving, where they make the paper money, and then into West Potomac Park, and a running path again. I ran by the Jefferson Memorial, very near it, through the parking lot there, and then up to the George Mason Bridge and back across the Potomac again. I checked out the Pentagon and the tons of rowers on the Potomac as I crossed the long bridge, and remembered a similar trip over that bridge a long time ago when I ran the Marine Corps Marathon. I was a lot happier today than I was during that final stage of that race, that's for sure.

Coming off the bridge, I joined the nice running path that goes alongside the Potomac, heading towards Arlington Cemetery. This path actually was paved, and had a yellow line running down the middle of it, to make bikers stay right on the path. Tons of runners were on this section of the trail, and I made my way through them, more or less pushing the pace to get finished with the run. I did some guesswork and wound my way across towards Arlington Cemetery, where I caught up with a group of four local runners. I asked them if I was headed towards the Iwo Jima Memorial, and they said if I slowed down, I could join them and they'd take me there. That sounded like a kind offer, so I eased back just a bit and joined them. We curved along the side of the Cemetery, and the woman I was running with told me that they were adventure racers. We exchanged pleasantries, and then I noticed that she was picking up the pace for the end of their 7 miler, leaving her companions behind. "Slow down," indeed! We pushed on up the curving road to the Iwo Jima Memorial, which wasn't as steep as I remembered it from my marathon there years ago, but it was still a nice little hill.

I thanked her for getting me to the Memorial, which is still amazingly huge and impressive, and continued my run up and out of the park, through a couple of turns, and I was finally back at the hotel. A really good long run! 11.33 miles, average pace 8:54/mile, and my last several miles were at around 8:41/mile pace.

I did most of the usual stretching routine, and got cleaned up while the kids and Mary Anne went down to breakfast. The rest of the day was heavy-duty tourism and lots of walking, which probably did me some good.

The run was a great way to start my day, and it was just one of those things that you've got to do if you're in a city like that. It would have been disgraceful if I had decided not to run and see those sights in that way.