Woolley Half Marathon

I ran the Woolley Half Marathon today.  It was a start and stop affair for me, as I couldn’t really get a steady run going.  Tightness in my stomach, shortness of breath, and inflexible muscles pretty much set that scene. Happy to have ran it, just the same.

The course is a flat out and back, with half, full and 50k options. As Sedro-Woolley is 15 minutes from my doorstep, it’s an obvious Saturday morning workout, and I’m thankful to Terry, Delores, the Krells, and everyone else for putting it on. Great to see Stan out there on the course at Mile 4.  Good to see Kevin, Heather, Ras and many others too. Great hot dogs and chilli afterwards. 

There was a pretty stiff headwind going out, but we managed to avoid any rain. 40 or so degrees. I enjoy the course a lot—there are farm animals on either side of the trail, views of the North Cascades in the distance, and an occasional creek crossing. Lots of birds in the Skagit right now, including swans, eagles, ducks, and gyrfalcons. Everything looks a little wet and brown.

There are a lot of events this weekend. I wanted to do something, but struggled a bit in choosing between Ebey, Fragrance Lake, and doing my own thing. In the end, I kept it close to home, with a simple course. Hopefully I’ll inject a bit more discipline in my life, and start picking things up. Regardless, running is so personal for me. I’m happy to limp along, lost in my thoughts and music, looking at trees, birds, whatever. Saturday morning restoration after a long week.

I ran with music today. This was a first in quite a long time, for what used to be standard operating procedure. (Still no watch though.)  I got one of those Apple devices for X-mas—what are they called?--and finally I gave it a play.  I had a big smile when Jackson Browne’s “These Days” came on. “Don’t confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them.” One of my very favorite songs, checking in randomly via shuffle. Nice to be plugged in again on the trail.

Now, a little bit of House of Cards, Season 2.  Recommend.