Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Live from D.C.

Hello all! I’m coming to you today not from my humble abode in NYC, but from Obama’s backyard in our nation’s capital! Okay, not exactly his backyard, but since his front gate is only a block away from my hotel, I think that’s close enough! I’m here all this week on a semi-work basis enjoying the view and checking out the sights. I’m considering it only semi-work because the conference I’m supposedly attending isn’t really mandatory, so I’ve been attending only half the sessions. Hey, don’t judge, that’s more than what a lot of my other colleagues are doing. At least I don’t take day trips to Baltimore or Virginia when the conference is right here in D.C.!

One of the surprising things I noticed as soon as I arrived in town was the number of people I saw running on the streets. Out on the sidewalks, in the parks, people were out and about more than I remember in other cities. The most impressive thing about it is that there’s been a thunderstorm watch here for the past few days and the weather has been very erratic. Yet, these people were running with their Ipods and Garmins as oblivious to the heat and humidity as they are to me gawking at them. Needless to say, I was rather impressed.

As for my own run, I finally got one in today after conference before it got dark. A couple of days ago, Betsy recommended that I "run the monuments". So I took her up on her suggestion and circled the track from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building and back, bypassing the Washington Monument in the middle. It turned out to be a fun and glorious run! In between the national landmarks, I passed by high school teams playing baseball on the lawns and younger girls playing kickball and older teens tossing a Frisbee around. I also saw many runners both young and old taking the same path that I was. I didn’t run too hard, but took care to enjoy the summertime sights all around me. In the end, the 9.4 miles that I ran (at 7:14 avg pace) felt more like 2.4. If it hadn’t gotten completely dark by the time I was done I would have gone back and ran some more.

The only drawback to all of this running is that I was actually banking on being busy with conference and easing up on my miles this week. Unfortunately, it looks like that’s not going to happen now as I’ve already planned on another 6 mile run tomorrow and a 10K race on Saturday before heading back. Oops! But as long as I hold myself to keeping my pace at a recovery effort, I think the extra miles won’t bother me. I’m hoping anyway as I’m about to start marathon training again in another couple of weeks and I want to be as fresh as possible heading in.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's fun that you found a race to do while you are down there. When I was chaperoning our students in DC, I couldn't help but notice all the runners myself. I had the stomach bug the whole week though and found them to be mocking me :)

nwgdc said...

I'm jealous!
Any time I'm out of town I'm always looking for new places to run, but I've never found a race to run. Great Idea!
Is the entry fee a biz expense? :)

sneakersister said...

Oh, I did the monument run last January. Pretty cool, huh?

J said...

DC sounds wonderful! it is so exciting to see ppl out running and your runs sounds awesome! Your whole trip sounds fun and relaxing! Enjoy your time in DC and the 10k this weekend!

B.o.B. said...

Very nice! I am doing Marine Corps. Marathon and can't wait to "run the monuments." Now if only I could get a conference somewhere cool....

Lindsay said...

can't blame you on skipping a few sessions... :)

love that you are hopping in a race while traveling. i mean, gotta take advantage! plus it's been what, a week since you last raced? getting out of form ;)

Mike G said...

Oh I'm envious. The mall is such a grand setting in which to run and observe. Go by the WW II memorial, I remember checking that out a few years ago and it was beautiful.

Good luck on your 10k!

Jamie said...

I definitely can't blame you on skipping some sessions! Sounds like a great run, glad to hear you took it easy to enjoy your surroundings. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

X-Country2 said...

Props to DC for their active showing. Makes up for all the moral corruption and hotel room hookers usually going on. :o)

Irish Cream said...

How great that you found a race to participate in while in DC! That should be really fun . . . and as Lindsay mentioned, we wouldn't want you to get rusty ;)

Have fun, Lam!! :)

Midwest said...

Cool! I'm glad you had fun.

Aron said...

I am so jealous!!! I want to go to DC (well all of the east coast actually). I would totally be skipping sessions that weren't mandatory too :)

Robert James Reese said...

D.C. is a cool running town. I really enjoyed it when I was down there in April. You should try to do Cherry Blossom next year, you'll enjoy it.

JB said...

Run the Monuments is probably second to only Cherry Blossom. I commute between DC and NYC a lot and each has it's goodness. Keep up the blog!

www.runopolis.blogspot.com

Run For Life said...

Nice, enjoy the rest of your trip!

Susan said...

I didn't run much in DC when I went to school in Maryland, but I did run around the mall once or twice. There were always tons of people running when I doing touristy stuff, which I thought was cool. I ran the Marine Corps Marathon and really don't remember much about running around the monuments except when we turned around at the Capitol Building...I need to pay more attention to the scenery during my races!

I think DC was just ranked "#1 Fittest City" by some company that does random rankings like that. Sounds like all the runners contribute to that!

Enjoy the rest of your time in DC, it's a fantastic city!

Annnnd because this comment isn't long enough yet, I'm considering the Philadelphia Marathon either has my "target" fall marathon...or maybe I'll just do it "for fun." Or maybe just be a spectator? We should definitely meet up either way!

runner26 said...

DC rocks!

Anonymous said...

Good luck tomorrow! Have lots of fun. Hope you are enjoying your trip.

Rachael said...

Oh how I love DC! ( and your blog!) I'm a new runner and follower but I do have "fond" memories of running monuments in college. On your next trip, you should try the Exorcist stairs at Georgetown; they're creepy and a killer for the quads!

sRod said...

The couple of times I visited DC I stayed way out in VA, so I really couldn't run the city. But I bet it was amazing! DC is such a pedestrian friendly city.

 
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