Overwhelmed During a Warm-up Jog

Most runners find themselves overwhelmed during a race or near the end. Weather, injury, a near-win, an unexpected win or some other unanticipated factor combined with pouring everything into a race leads often to unfettered emotional release. But I found myself overwhelmed during a pre-race warm-up through Washington D.C. last week. We had just walked through FDR's memorial, jogged around the Tidal Basin and come upon the Reflecting Pool (above). There is the WWI memorial, Jefferson's Memorial, Washington's Monument and the Capitol. On the other side of Pool, outside of the camera's "eye", is Lincoln's Memorial. I'm old enough now that a series of television news images, and historic photos and stories flashed through my brain in rapid succession -- a line of historic presidents, VPs, and leaders who actually lived and worked right here; Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, marches on Washington, September 11, 2001, just to name a few. Combine all that history with the realization that I now stood in a place I never thought I'd ever see.
"I'm going to cry," I said.
A more accurate statement would have been, "I NEED to cry." The onslaught of unexpected emotion demanded that I just stop, breathe deep and release.

The Pacific side of the World War II memorial.

The Atlantic side of the World War II Memorial. Each smaller column has a wreath on top; and the name of one of the states and Puerto Rico are listed at random on the column below the wreath.