Monday, August 17, 2009

The Weekend Report: The Best Feeling In the World


I had a very eventful weekend. There are many things I could blog about today – the Zoo, the Renwick Gallery, the Corcoran Art Museum, Farmers Markets, Eastern Market, Moroccan Ethiopian and Middle Eastern food – I’ll probably write about those things later, but right now I just want the world to know about my run last night.

I have tried to explain why I love running to many people. But it’s hard to make people who have never experienced a true “runner’s high” understand. I tell my out-of-the-loop friends that most of the time running is a lot of hard work. But every so often, you have an AMAZING run that makes it all worth it. Last night was one of those runs for me. And it came out of nowhere. I should have been tired – I spent all day in high-90s heat, walking through two huge outdoor markets, plus the National Conservatory. I went out Saturday night, so I was operating on very little sleep.

After this adventurous day I had to get some work done, so I spent an unsuccessful 2.5 hours on the phone with tech support (yeah, that’s right, just take a moment for how that feels). (Sidenote – anyone in the DC area who is good at computers/Quicken: HELP I will pay you in cake.)

By the time I gave up on my technology disasters, it was 8pm and I NEEDED a run like a druggie needs her crack.



I threw on some running clothes and headed out into the twilight. I started out feeling good, and things just got better from there. I ran down Rock Creek Park from the P Street entrance, around the Mall, and back. The sun had already set, but the sky was still light with some beautiful clouds framing the Washington Monument. And the Lincoln Memorial lit up at night is a pretty awesome spectacle (despite the ridiculous tourists milling about). 


I had my ipod, but I wasn’t even paying attention to the music. It was like flying – that feeling when your legs run without thinking about it – like your body is in perpetual motion because that’s its natural state – cruising forward through the darkness as if tired never existed.

And that, my friends, is the best feeling in the world. That is why I love to run.


I started without a plan and ended up running over an hour. I felt like I could have kept going forever, but in the interest of feeling good on my next run, I decided to cap it at 65 minutes. Because maybe, just maybe, I will have another amazing run tonight.