Washington, D.C. From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, down The Mall along Independence Ave. and the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Calvert St., to the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro Station. It was again rather pleasant out and in the low 70s F.
As I ran down along the south side of the Reflecting Pool, I saw the same field stripped of grass that was striped with dark patches of dirt that I had the previous week. I'd wondered about the stripes then and figured they were just from a landscaper wanting to appear to be doing a good job laying out topsoil that would be spread over the bare ground to improve the soil. In fact, I read an
article in the Washington Post about just this kind of soil work going on as I came to work on Monday, earlier this week. That work is going to stop people from crossing a portion of the Mall nearer to where I work for 18 months. However I was surprised to read this morning, again in The Washington Post, about what the soil work going on near the Reflecting Pool--the lines of darker dirt--really is. The lines were a
gigantic face portrait! Once at the Lincoln Memorial, I saw the 3 Presidential helicopters flying--they didn't head straight to the White House as they usually do when I see them. The did a slow circle over the Reflecting Pool area and were probably looking at the same portrait. I wonder whom it is?
On the last 2 miles of this run, I was catching up to a stretched-out group of runners and eventually I passed them. The one in front started pacing behind me and this helped me to keep up my pace rather than slow down as much as I probably would have. I held the other runner off kind of running my pace until hitting the climb up to Woodley Park.