A good day for a walk

Outside? Inside? Outside? Inside?

I get an hour for lunch at work and I hate to waste it by surfing the internet the entire time (which is what I did at my last job with my 30 minute break). Lately, I've been eating lunch at my desk around noon and not actually taking my break until 2. I've been trying to take advantage of the gym in the office building; however, today wasn't a scheduled strength training day. When I pack my work bag this morning, I threw in some gym clothes, just in case.

All morning I was having an inner debate - should I stay inside and go to the gym or take a walk outside? On the one hand, the gym would probably provide a better workout but I was only going to do light cardio and I could just as easily do that outside, right? When it came down to it, I decided to brave the cold and wind and took a walk. As I headed down 7th Street toward the National Mall, I decided to head toward the Smithsonian American History Museum (SAHM). It has recently reopened after a 2 year internal renovation and, although I didn't have to time to check out the changes inside, I was curious to see what had changed on the outside.

I walked down to Independence Ave. and turned right, walking past the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, shaking my head and remembering the triceratops that used to sit outside the museum but was removed for safety reasons, looking across the Mall toward the the merry-go-round and the red Smithsonian Castle, and gazing off in the distance toward the Washington Monument as Marine One flew in for a landing, or at least, one of the helicopters that could have potentially been Marine One. I walked along with the large schoolg groups and the families who were braving the cold to see the Nation's Capital.

I finally got to the American History Museum, and as I circled the building, there weren't too many differences to make note of from the outside. I hope to make it inside one of these weekends soon to see all changes. It is my favorite museum in DC and I'm glad it is available again.

Unlike my path to the SAHM was direct - down 7th, right on Independence - I took a meandering path back to the office. I let the lights and walk/don't walk signs lead me back and along the way, I realized just how much history is within such a small space. I passed by the FBI, Department of Commerce, and EPA buildings, the Ronald Reagan Center for International Development, the National Theatre, Ford's Theater and the house Lincoln died in, the Spy Museum, and several other museums.

Although I never broke a sweat and it was colder and windier than I would have preferred, it was a lunch hour well spent even though it wasn't in the gym.

Today's daily dozen:
30 mins. recumbent bike
10 mins. stretching
10 mins. elliptical
1 hour walk
It was a good XT day but tomorrow, I work: Hill Intervals to the Max - 12% incline at a 4.0 pace with 2-3 minutes walk in between.