A snow shower greeted me when I started my Saturday morning run. Cold overnight temperatures allowed the snow to stick to the grass as well as the paved Mount Vernon trail. I made my way along the Potomac River and crossed the Francis Scott Key Bridge into Georgetown as the snow continued to fall. Turning north from the bridge, I encountered the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) canal trail which sits atop a berm next to the narrow canal that borders northwest DC. Georgetown University, with its signature Healy Hall clock tower rising toward the sky, passed by on my right. The frigid, but still liquid Potomac meandered southerly on my left. The C&O canal trail is a runner’s nirvana; miles (about 180 of them according to another runner that I asked) of soft crushed pebble surface along with great scenery. The surface was even softer on the knees on this morning because of the inch of snow underfoot. A surprising number of runners were out enjoying the snow that morning including two couples with baby strollers. I applaud couples who manage to exercise together, but was it really necessary to take the babies out on a cold snowy morning?
Afternoon sunshine melted all of the snow by the time I exited the Verizon Center after watching a close Big East basketball game between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the host Georgetown Hoyas. There’s a great choice of college basketball in DC with Georgetown, George Washington, and American University all located in the district and George Mason and the University of Maryland located just outside the beltway. The Verizon Center rocked with about 10 minutes to go as the teams sank 4 three pointers in a row to maintain a tie score. The Mountaineers made fewer mistakes down the stretch however, and turned two late Hoya turnovers into buckets to seal a 65-59 victory.
It’s fun for an SEC sports fan like me to experience Big East basketball and more games will follow this winter. Georgetown provided me with great views during my morning run, but couldn’t provide a hometown basketball win in the afternoon.
I was thinking about soft surfaces yesterday morning as my feet and lower back began to ache a little toward the end of my mostly-asphalt 8-miler.
ReplyDeleteI imagined I would be a lot better off at this point had I lived my life in Eugene, OR with all those cushy, flat, rock-free running trails they have up there. Or, as it turns out, DC would have probably have been just as good.
Happy trails, C!
Another memorable DC run. Haven't seen a post from the Eyeguy in awhile. How was the Capital One Bowl?
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