5.02 miles, 41:52
My pal Space gave me the Washington, DC Running Guide before I left the west coast and I’ve been meaning to start working through the runs. Today was my first run post-marathon in downtown DC after 10 days off. I did do some swimming and kayaking over the last ten days so it wasn’t entirely sloth. Unfortunately, I managed to lose my glasses in the Atlantic Ocean when a wave crashed over my kayak as I was trying to come into shore. So I’m running a bit blind until I can get a replacement pair of eyephorics which will stay on my head and not bounce around.
It is still deceptively hot outside. Despite being only 82 degrees I still end up sweating buckets. There just isn’t any wind here at all compared to San Francisco where you are pretty much constantly cooled by either an ocean or bay breeze. I thought I could take the Green Metro line down from Georgia Ave near my house to the Navy Archives just north of the Mall without drawing too much attention to myself. But when sweat is pouring off of you people tend to notice and move away. Which a fine and appropriate reaction but, I hate to be conspicuous so I may curtail the Metro riding post-run until the arrival of cool Fall weather. I did relearn that soggy Metro cards do function however.
At any rate, the run around the Tidal Basin was pretty and relaxing. There was a concert of some sort on the Mall so it was very crowded but, once I got down to the basin path it was easy to get around folks. This will be a more interesting run in the Spring as it is prime Cherry Blossom real estate. It is a gateway run according to the book because it can turn into several longer routes which is why it is the first run in the book. I don’t know if I’ll do them all in order but, I need some motivation these days with a busy work schedule so perhaps the book is the key.
Update: just got around to posting the map. No, I did not swim through the tidal basin. I guess the GPS is off by more than a few feet. See how many monuments you can spot!