I had the most fun night last night – my friend Sokphal and I decided to do a running tour of the DC Christmas trees – because what better way to see them than on foot, right?!
I’ve been wanting to do a Christmas tree run around DC, and great minds think alike because when I was texting with Sokphal earlier this week about having a run date, she suggested an evening run so we could check out the trees/holiday lights. Perfect!
Last night was the only night that worked this week before the holiday madness began. I asked Sokphal if she thought it was crazy to do a track workout in the morning and a Christmas tree run at night, and, being a crazy runner herself, she said no way. We can go slow, she promised. Deal! I didn’t want to skip my track workout and I don’t think I’ll be running again until the weekend, so sure, why not?!
I hadn’t done an evening run in FOREVER – I find it much harder to motivate for a workout (unless it’s yoga) after work. We made plans to meet up in Rosslyn at 6:45, and by the time I got home from work I was like ughhhhhhhhhhh can’t I just sit on the couch?! But, I hate when people are flaky and I was like, nope, I said I’d be there, so I will be. And, as expected, I’m SO glad we did this – it ended up being such a blast once we were out there! Sometimes just getting out the door is the hardest part, don’t you think?
It was pitch black but not all that cold (awesome) when we started out a little before 7 p.m. My legs felt surprisingly fresh considering I did a track workout that morning, and it was great to see Sokphal – she was injured for a little while and I’d missed our run dates!
We ran over Memorial Bridge and past Lincoln, as usual. It was weird but cool to be out there in the dark knowing that the sun wasn’t about to rise!
Our first stop on the DC Christmas tree/lights tour was the Botanic Garden, down by the US Capitol! We assumed it would already be closed by the time we got down there, but to our delight, it was still open for another 15 minutes – perfect! If you’re in the area, this is worth checking out – so cool, especially during the holidays!
They had all sorts of cool displays set up.
I loved the mini replicas of the monuments, too!
But the highlight, of course, was their huge Christmas tree!
It had a little Thomas the Train going around on tracks below it which made me think of my nephew. 🙂
Our next stop was the nearby tree outside the US Capitol! I loved this one – probably my favorite of the evening. 🙂
From there, we ran over to the Canadian Embassy, which had a nice tree set up.
Weeeee!
Then it was on to the famous National Christmas Tree, over by the White House! We ran by the Willard hotel on the way – loved their holiday decorations.
Hello, National Christmas Tree!
Each U.S. state/territory also had their own mini tree circling the big National tree. Beautiful – especially with views of the White House behind them!
We were planning to stop our running tour there, but we spotted another tree nearby at Constitution Hall and couldn’t pass up one last stop. I didn’t want the fun to end – love running dates like this that feel more like an adventure than a workout. 🙂
We ended our adventure over by the White House and hopped in an Uber back to Rosslyn from there. We were hoping they’d have more decorations at the White House, but there were just two trees on the front porch that were a little hard to see from the street. Oh well!
What a fun night! We actually saw a fair amount of other runners out doing the same thing. Perfect way to see the sights without spending a billion dollars on cabs! I might do another night run around the neighborhoods to see some of the Christmas decorations on houses… we’ll see.
We ended up covering almost 6 miles. Wow! (Watch doesn’t include all the stops we made for photos, walking through the Botanic Garden, etc.) Thanks for the great night, Sokphal!
Also amazing: I got home around 8:45 and Matt had dinner waiting (a Blue Apron pork with sweet potatoes and a fun Mexican inspired apple slaw) – what a guy, right?! This HIT. THE. SPOT. after all those miles. It was pretty sweet to be able to eat dinner, relax, and then go to bed a little while after the run… maybe there’s something to this whole evening workout thing!
Are you a morning or evening runner? Why?
Anyone else do a Christmas tree or holiday light run around DC or your town? If not, it might be something fun to consider doing with friends/family! 🙂
