A Rainy Sunny Saturday

This morning, once again, was rainy and chilly, for the third Saturday in a row. I find I'm much more attuned to the weather now than I was before I started these long training walks! My wonderful friend, Lynn, and I had made plans earlier in the week to meet downtown at 10:00 today, so in spite of the cold rain, I bundled up and hit the trail at 8:30 this morning. When all was said and done, to my surprise, I covered 17.3 miles!!! My goal was to at least match the 13.2 miles I walked last Saturday, but I didn't realize how far I'd walked until I mapped it out after returning home this afternoon. My feet were a bit achy, which led me to believe I'd walked a bit more than I had last Saturday, and I was thrilled when I realized how far I'd gone!!

It was a good day, as the pictures below indicate, and by the time I got back to Arlington, the rain had stopped, the sun had come out, and it was 30 degrees warmer than when I'd left home this morning!

I began my walk on the Custis Trail, heading east toward DC. As I walked, I took a number of pictures. The trail was wet, but thankfully, not too slippery.

As I entered Rosslyn, I parted ways with the Custis Trail and walked across the Key Bridge into Georgetown. The weather was cloudy enough at this point that the top of the Washington Monument was partially obscured. I played tourist for a moment and stopped to take a picture of the White House, then dropped by the office (but didn't go in!) and took a picture there, too.

Lynn and I met across the street from Freedom Plaza, where she had just completed the Race to Stop the Silence. This is just one of several races Lynn is participating in this year; she has already completed four half-marathons, has plans to run in nine others, and she is also going to race in the New York City Marathon in November!!

Although she's a runner, she's a good enough friend that she slows down to my pace, and we had a nice walk up to Café St. Ex on T Street. We had fun catching up and eating lots of yummy food. We shared a plate of delicious donuts, and Lynn ordered Fried Green Tomato Benedict and I ate a green salad and strata with egg, ham, and cheese.

After lunch, Lynn went home, and I continued my walk, going west on P Street over Rock Creek, then taking a brief detour north to a pet store in Glover Park, where I picked up some Easter treats for Eli. The streets in Georgetown were bursting with lovely spring flowers.

From Georgetown, I retraced my steps across the Key Bridge, happy to see the top of the Washington Monument this time around. Just before getting back home, I treated myself to a delicious coffee milkshake at Potbelly, which was the perfect way to celebrate the completion of more than 17 miles. Yum!