Training Log - Monday, October 1, 2012 (Washington, D.C.)

First stop, White House!

After having laid off from running for the last 8 days after completing the Georgia Jewel 100 Miler last weekend, it was finally time to get my legs moving again, even if ever so slowly. What better place to do so than the capital of the US of A, Washington, D.C.?

Second stop, The Capitol!

This run has to be my second most favorite big city run of all time. My favorite run of all time was a similar run in the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany, my home country. Yeah, I know, not really a fair comparison when you're biased like that. My third favorite city run of all time was a run through Central Park in the center of New York City.

Third stop, the Washington Monument!

Only the run in Berlin felt as awe-inspiring in a historical sense as the National Mall loop in Washington did. Every building and every site along this run was an important part of U.S. history in every sense of the word.

I had worked out a 10K loop that started at our hotel just one mile north of the White House and would lead past and around the Washington Monument as well as past multiple properties of the Smithsonian Institution (including the Museums of Natural History, American History and Air & Space and the Smithsonian Castle, to name a few). At one end of the loop, I stopped to take a picture of the US Capitol.

I continued my loop on the other side of the National Mall, this time passing the Washington Memorial, this time to my left. I stopped yet again to snap a picture. I had picked the perfect time for my run. At 7AM, almost all sites were still closed and there was very little traffic at any of the monuments, yet. I continued my run past the Word War II memorial and the reflecting pool until I reached the Lincoln Memorial. Again, it was time for a quick pic before moving on.

Final stop, the Lincoln Memorial!

On the way back to the hotel, I passed many other culturally historical sites, but rather than just continue to keep listing them here, I strongly encourage you to take this memorable trip to D.C. and to make time for a "once in a lifetime" run along the National Mall. It is well worth it as I am sure others that did this run before me can attest to. And one last thing, I have never in my life seen that many people out for a run, ever. Throughout the day, I would see a runner every few seconds. DC is definitely one of the more active cities I've ever been to. The one thing I wondered about the most: Are most of these runners visitors like me or are they locals that are lucky enough to get to do this every day, week in and week out...