City Slicker

Saturday I moved from the suburbs to the big city. No, not in DC, but close, Rosslyn (just over the Key Bridge from DC). Katie and I are getting married at the end of the month (WIN) and so we found an apartment we could live in after the wedding. While she isn't moving in until after the wedding, I moved in on Saturday. It's a small apartment with nothing extra. Main room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and plenty of windows. It's quaint and perfect for us.

I'm not going to lie, I kind of dreaded moving into the city. I think I was more nervous about moving into a city than I am about getting married (I'm just plain excited for that!). The last real city I lived in was Richmond, but Richmond has a sweet trail system and the James river to escape the skyscrapers and business people. Rosslyn has the Custis Trail, which leads to the W.O.&D. trail....but all 40 some miles of that are paved, and are FLOODED with high-speed bike commuters. It's pretty much like running on the road, except running the road is probably safer with some of the sound-barrier-breaking speeds these bikers are riding. I thought I was going to have to succumb to all roads until the weekends, when I could head out to the mountains.

Then I remembered a couple years ago I ran the Potomac Heritage 50k put on by the VHTRC. I didn't actually run the whole thing - a strange sharp pain in my foot scared me into dropping after 14 miles or so since I was leaving for my cross country trip two months later. But from what I did remember it was largely on a trail, so I looked up the route and saw that it crossed the Key Bridge (.9 miles from my new crib) and got on the Potomac Heritage Trail and stayed on it for 10 miles in one direction. Saturday was spent organizing stuff in the new place (and realizing I have way more crap than I thought I did). But Sunday, I decided I'd go out and explore this trail.

I ran down the .9 miles to the trail and have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. The beginning, and parts of the trail are pancake flat and smooth as butter, all while cruising right along the Potomac River. These parts are aesthetically pleasing, and mentally rejuvenating, but about as physically demanding as watching TV. Though other parts of it beg for slightly more attention while picking your way through large rocks and roots, at times seeming a lot like the Massanutten course in terms of the amount of rocks. There are even some pretty steep hills. I decided to run the whole trail end to end and back to my new place while adding in some of the little side trails and it made for a good day exploring. It put my mind at ease in terms of living in the city knowing this little gem is close by.