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.
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.
