In my last post, I mentioned that I'm trying to establish a new running schedule. I moved to a new neighborhood in DC in the middle of August, and I'm still trying to figure out where the best running routes are here.


I don't really live by the Capitol, but I did run by it the other day. It was quite cloudy and moody out. 

In my old neighborhood, I lived a block away from one of the very popular running trails in the city. Within three minutes of leaving the apartment, I was on a miles-long trail without having to worry once about stopping at a bunch of traffic lights or worrying about running through sketchy parts of town.

My new apartment is more smack in the middle of things and kind of far from any ideal running options. It's sandwiched between a highway and several major roads. That means the two runs I've done outside since moving have been a lot of start and stopping.

Run a block, wait a while a traffic light, run another block, wait again. Rinse, repeat over and over.

Not ideal when I'm trying to fit in a quick run before work. Even a short three miler is taking me closer to 40 minutes lately. (I mean some of that is probably that I'm slower too).

I'm also struggling to find a running route where I feel as safe as I did in my old neighborhood. I'm sure with time I'll get more comfortable here, but I never had any safety concerns on my old running routes, and here, I do.

For now, I'm going to keep trying out some options and bug some of my runner friends to see where they run around these parts. And this week, I might just opt for the treadmill, since it's basically supposed to rain nonstop until next Monday.