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This past Sunday, I was scheduled to run 6.5 miles as part of my training for the Atlanta Half Marathon.  This would be the longest distance I have ever attempted.  The concierge at our hotel gave me a map of a couple of routes on the Mount Vernon Trail along the Potomac.  Each route was a 7 mile round trip so I figured I would just do the whole 7.  What’s another half a mile, right?  So I chose to follow the path that would take me the The Jefferson Memorial.

I got myself ready to go, strapped on my Camelback with a couple of bottles of Smartwater, and I headed out of the hotel.  It was several block to the entrance to the trail and then down a path to the trail, right by Reagan National.  It was exciting to see the planes from that close up as they made their way to the runway for takeoff.  Then the trail follows the Potomac River, with the monuments of DC just across the river.  No matter what your political views or your attitude about our government, the view of these splendid historical buildings is pretty cool.  I was so happy to be out there on a nice, but humid morning and I said hello to every runner, walker, and biker that I saw.  I felt so great, so alive, so healthy.

I could see The Jefferson Memorial off to my right and my directions said to take a right turn at the George Mason Bridge.  There was only one problem.  I ran under the bridge but I saw no way to turn right without going into the water!  If I had been in a car on the road, I could have turned on the bridge but not from down on trail.  So I kept going, thinking that there is probably some way to get to the Jefferson.  Eventually, I came upon a bridge so I went part way onto it where I could see the monuments far behind me.  Ummm, this can’t be right.  Now I know I missed it and I am wondering where I am and how far away I am from the hotel.  I am actually getting a bit nervous.

So I turn around to go back on the trail and I see a sign that it is 4.5 miles back to Crystal City.  If I add in the distance back to the hotel, which is at least a half a mile, that means this 7 miler is actually going to be a 10 miler!  I am thinking to myself that this is going to be really hard but I did the best I could and walked when I had to.  It felt really good to see the familiar sights as I got closer to the hotel.  The Jefferson Memorial was there, right where I had left it.  Then the airport came into view and the planes landing were almost close enough to touch them.  What an amazing sight!

I got back to the hotel and stopped my timer at 2:18.50.  I had done 10 miles at almost the same pace at which I had done 5 miles just two weeks ago.  I was thrilled and now I am absolutely positive that I can do 13.1 in November.  Bring it on!

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