Sunday, November 26, 2017

Seattle Half Marathon

It's been a terrific Thanksgiving weekend, with family and friends, capped by the Seattle Half Marathon.

I met up with one of my oldest running buddies, over from Spokane, and we toed the half at 7:30 AM.  Hard to recall the last time we ran a race together, but if I had to guess I'd say it was a Bloomsday in the mid-2000s. Always in touch over the years, and many trail runs, but our first race in while. I was going to do the full, but stepped down, when he stepped up. Probably for the best, since I would've taken forever on the full. Surely for the best, since we were able to get breakfast afterwards.

The Seattle Marathon has a new course. It is hillier. The course starts down by the Space Needle, and finishes at Memorial Stadium, as has been the case for many years. In between, it re-routes through the International District, avoiding I-5, and then takes some trails and streets above Lake Washington, before eventually picking up at the Arboretum, as in the past. It is harder, though still a road race.

This was another one of those days where the stomach didn't cooperate. I walked a bunch. We were fortunate to miss the worst of the rain, in a day full of gullywashers. I have a better sense of what I need to do for race prep, besides preparing for the race, but my execution is not excellent.

Good to chat with Brad beforehand, as he headed out on page 4 of Quadzilla. Good to head down to the expo with Mike, despite dropping a bit of money on this and that there. Last year I missed this race, and I realized during the nice weekend at home that I really like this routine on Thanksgiving weekend. I'm not sure how many offhand, but I've done a lot of these.

When I got home, Deb and her son had the Christmas tree up in the living room. That time of year again, ready, set, go.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Fowl Run

Once again, I was a Fowl Runner. I feel so fortunate year in and year out to be able to toe the line at some of my favorite events. It's been a while since I last ran fast, but only a few days since I last ran happy.

This year's race had a touch of rain. So many familiar faces volunteering in the gym and around the start line. Then, my colleague Carin came running by me around mile two--a great surprise! I was able to keep a slow jog the whole way. I was a little off, overall, but I had enough to do the race.

Pumpkin pie at the end. Deb wanted me to bring a home a turkey, but I never seem to get so lucky. One of these years...

Thank you Skagit Runners. You make a difference.