This morning I left the house at 6:30 and headed to the Jefferson Memorial. I parked at the Tidal Basin just after sunrise. I set out with an iPhone, a goal of nine miles, and no time limit.
I reached my goal, and added an extra two miles just for the fun of it. It took me three hours, though! I stopped to take lots of photos, and even I took a leisurely stroll through Arlington Cemetery halfway through the run. I suppose in theory I am training for the Army 10-miler next month, but I’m using a pretty loose definition of “training”.
I might already be fit enough to run 10 slow miles in a race, but I’m too ADD to know for sure. Instead of focusing on pace and distance, I find myself focusing on sun beams, flowers, interesting people, and tourist landmarks. Oooh, look at that ray of light hitting that adorable bird on a statue! Must take a picture!
OK, so I’m not a hardcore runner by any definition. But I’m proud of the distance I covered today. And even better, my tourist jogging combines my three favorite hobbies: running, photography, and sightseeing. What’s better than that? I even get to listen to dancey pop music while doing it. Perfect.
When you arrive at sunrise, you get to park in really cool spots. This was the view from the parking lot. Not a bad way to start off today’s adventure.
I ran to the Washington Monument, and then through the WWII memorial along the reflecting pool.
Running through the shadows of the Washington Monument’s flags.
When I arrived at the Lincoln Memorial, a military group was training on the steps. They carried each other up the stairs as their sergeant barked orders at them. I took this picture at the start of their 20-minute break.
After running around the Lincoln, I crossed the Memorial Bridge toward Arlington Cemetery.
I decided to go into Arlington Cemetery. Even though I grew up in Northern Virginia, and lived in Arlington for four years, I don’t believe I’d ever been there before. I decided to stroll through the cemetery and climb the hill to Arlington House.
JFK gravesite
After I left the cemetery, I ran past the Netherlands Carillon to the Iwo Jima memorial.
By this point, I was starving! I stopped at Starbucks in Rosslyn and scarfed two vanilla mini scones. Clearly you must not think of me as a role model for health and fitness.
I ran across the Key Bridge, through Georgetown, and then along the Kennedy Center by the river. Finally crossed back over the Memorial Bridge, and this time I ran east on the GW Parkway trail toward the 14th Street bridge.
After running a big figure 8 through the DC and Arlington riverfronts, I ended up back at the Jefferson Memorial.
It was a thrilling feeling to get back to the Tidal Basin! I did a total of 11 miles, and I ran all but one of them (my walk at the cemetery). What a fun morning! I can’t wait to do it all again sometime.
Categories: All posts, DC area, Heathy Living, Photography - Places, USA
Tags: arlington, dc, iphone photos, running, weekend long run
