Running (Street & Trail) 21:56 [3] 2.85 mi (7:42 / mi)
slept:5.3 weight:175lbs
From the Friendship Heights Metro Station, Western Ave. to Friendship Blvd. to Willard Ave. to N. Park Ave., through Somerset Park, to Warwick Pl. to Dorset Ave. to the Little Falls Trail, to Hillandale Rd. through the Bethesda Pool parking lot, to the Capital Crescent Trail to Bethesda Ave. to Woodmont Ave. to the Bethesda Metro Station. This was a slowish generally uphill run after work in the dark. I wasn't feeling used to running at night or running much at all. It took a long time to start feeling warm. It was supposed to be right around freezing but winds were reported to be 15mph. Though I was often sheltered, I was generally running into it.
I was going to run around The Mall at work but thought better of it. It was partly because I was feeling cold in my office and I knew it was coldish outside. I'd also walked around at lunch and saw lots of tourists moving around between the trucks doing clean-up of the Inaugural celebrations. I've seen the aftermath of many, many celebrations such as the big Forth of July's, the Million Man March, Pro Choice and Right-for-Life rallies (but not the farmer tractor protest). This one had the most impact on The Mall. I saw grass in all the usual places last week but mostly it was gone, not just flattened but with bare dirt visible over vast stretches. It was hard packed and flattened too so if you rolled a ball, it would go a long way. It was all the more remarkable since it was not muddy, the ground was a bit frozen and there was no summer heat to kill things. The dirt was visible as far as I could see from the Washington Monument to the Capital building. Some participants that I overheard talked about it being so packed with people that if you sneezed and moved your arms it would send waves through the crowd. They said there was a lot of pushing but that people didn't seem to mind.
