It occurred to me while running yesterday, that my favorite trail is amazing. No really, it is absolutely stunning. I take that for granted. I thought I would snap a few extra photos yesterday to show you some fun aspects of the Mt. Vernon Trail. I enter the trail at Crystal City near the Washington Reagan Airport and continue north toward Washington, DC.

Washington Reagan Airport

Next up is Gravelly Point Park, which is a great place to park and run the trail if you are not within metro or walking distance. This is also a very popular destination to watch airplanes land and take off directly above you.

Gravelly Point Park. Where to watch the airplanes land and take off.

After you pass the airport, the trail hugs the Potomac River for several miles. The best part of this portion is the ability to view the monuments almost the entire time. You see the Capitol Building, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial during different portions of the run.

Views across the Potomac

Washington Monument on the right

Pentagon on the left

Lincoln Memorial from a distance

Yesterday’s run on the trail took a new twist when I met up with my friend Justine on the Virginia side of the Arlington Memorial Bridge to head toward her home for post run stretching and coffee with our friend Christine.

Justine and I detoured around Arlington Memorial Cemetery, running along the outside through Rosslyn and past the Iwo Jima Memorial.

Iwo Jima Memorial

From here we headed to her home. I didn’t wear my Garmin for this run. I’ve been experimenting with finding my comfortable pace and speed.

According to the map function on dailymile I ran 7.25 miles. It was a solid long run, averaging 11 min miles.

How was your run this weekend? Do you ever go GPS free? How’s your training for spring races coming along?