Snowy Run Commute

DC received its first semi-decent snowfall late last night/early this morning. It was only about an inch, but it was light, fluffy, and enough to pretty up the trees and the ground. I had a run on my schedule this morning and decided to use it as an excuse to run commute into work. I didn't have a whole lot of faith in Metro delivering trouble-free transportation in the snow and figured running would be the fastest way into the office.

While I'm not a huge fan of the cold weather or running in it, this morning's run commute was fantastic.  The sidewalks were a little slippery, but nothing that slowing down a little couldn't fix. I initially thought that I would just run to the metro station three miles away, but as I got close, I decided I'd just run all the way to work and take in the sights along the National Mall.  Much more scenic than the Metro tunnels.

Best decision ever. As I crossed over the Memorial Bridge, I could see that the sun was trying to shine over the DC side of the Potomac and the clouds and snow were still hovering over the Virginia side. When I arrived in front of the Lincoln Memorial, I tried to take a photo with the morning light hitting the memorial that was surrounded by snow.  Sadly, my iPhone doesn't like the cold and the battery had run out, shutting it down. No photos, womp womp. Now that the construction around the Reflecting Pool is done, the pathways alongside the Pool have reopened and I ran along those, down to the WWII Memorial. This part of the Mall is my favorite - in the summer it is shrouded by trees and the views of the monuments can't be beat. And this morning it was really quiet, you couldn't really hear the traffic in the distance, just the snow crunching underfoot. I passed by the WWII Memorial and then up the slight incline to the Washington Monument. Then I continued past the Smithsonian Museums and where crews were dismantling all of the set-ups from the Inauguration. I swung by the Capitol and then up Louisiana Ave to Union Station before cooling down on the last quarter mile to the office.

There were times during this commute that I temporarily forgot that I was even on my way to work - much of my route was where I typically run during a weekend long run. This was absolutely one of my favorite AM commutes and I hope DC gets more snow this winter so I can do it again. It was totally worth the freezing cold legs (even with long pants on) and the 5 cups of tea I needed to drink to warm up post-run.