~20.2 miles @ ~14.5 min/mi

"Of course, we have to take it to extremes!" Is Dr K talking about people in general, the nation, our company, or some subset thereof? She can't mean the Dawn Patrol itself! What's extreme about taking off on a quiet workday morning just to run 20+ miles?

The eastern sky glows lavender to match Kerry's singlet, cloud bands like an overcompressed digital image. As we cross the Beltway a rising sun glints gold on a mirrorshade Tysons office building. We debate whether dressage is edgier than steeplechase, then turn to musings on "Simplicity" in the organizational context. Kristin suggests key themes: consistency, stability, shared vision. Acronym-overload and business jargon-du-jour risk losing one's audience. Good communications needs to maximize signal-to-noise ratio by not overloading the receiver.

A big deer prances across the path ahead. At Vienna we pause to refill bottles at a water fountain, then pose for photos in front of the huge train mural. A crowd fills the CrossFit gym, apparently preparing to pump iron. Cyclist commuters, uniformly polite, swoop past. Cloud cover keeps summer temperatures down, though humidity is high.

Then comes Reston, terra nova for Drs K&K. I recall kind Kate's gift of cheese curls and Dr Pepper here many years ago (cf. 2009-10-10 - Andiamo 2009). Kerry cautions against opening a flask of champagne during a foxhunt. At Sunset Hills a lovely lily pond demands a stop to admire. Could they be lotus blossoms? The Flower Sermon comes to mind: {}

Charming downtown Herndon features a multi-level water fountain where we again refill. A young, newly-adopted rescue greyhound out for a walk gets bonus love and petting overload. A biker wearing a bright green helmet greets me: it's Steve, decades-ago office comrade on his way to Leesburg. Kerry and Kristin share small-world stories of similar surprise encounters.

Approaching Sterling we text Kerry's husband Clay, who has kindly volunteered to give us a ride back to work. At the parking lot by Pacific Blvd I send him our GPS coordinates. We continue onward to tag the W&OD Trail milepost 25, then hook back. Perfect timing: Clay arrives just as we do. The return drive to the office feels ridiculously long. Thanks be to best friends for a wonderful run today!

(trackfile) - ^z - 2016-08-28