My morning started early, 7 am, with a firm hand on my shoulder. It was my husband telling me it was time to wake up to run. I put my hand up to say five more minutes but knew that was a lie the moment I did it so I pried my eyes open and sat up.

I grabbed my running clothes and as I staggered to the bathroom, he told me we were going to run at the Tidal Basin. Yay! It’s always a bit more fun to leave the confines of our building’s tiny gym and not having to see any of my neighbors is a bonus.

We parked and started the run along the sidewalk, dodging cherry tree limbs and stupid tourists. There are few at this time of day but they still manage to act as if they own the sidewalk.

It is a beautiful view from every point of the 2 mile trail. There are trees everywhere and the water is always to the left (or right, if running in the other direction). The best part are the glimpses of historic monuments throughout.

We accidentally ran up to a goose nursery at the edge of the water. Several adults were tending to many babies right on the sidewalk. They ranged from tiny, fuzzy goslings to gangly teenagers not quite ready to leave their parents. All of their heads turned in unison to gape at us in alarm. The adults, with their added height, made it clear with glares and one honk that we should reconsider our route. We did.

We stopped at our starting point and I rested at the rails and watched as some geese and a solitary duck swam in my direction. They were trying to look nonchalant but I could tell they were hoping I had some bread. When they saw that I didn’t , they just kind of swerved off like that’s what they had intended to do from the beginning.

As we made our way out of the parking lot, more people were showing up. A few of them were GW graduates, in their caps and gowns, walking towards their picture perfect spot with proud parents already holding their cameras at the ready.

It was a beautiful morning and I’m glad I dragged my unwilling ass out of bed.