Rainy Days in Seattle

I’ve been away from the blog for a few days, having fun and being very busy on a little vacation!  I know I have a ton of people to catch up with and race reports to read…with just a little over 400 unread posts in my Google Reader.  Thanks again for all the congratulations on my race last weekend.  It was a fun one!  After the race I took off on a little road trip to Seattle for a few days.

I stayed at the 11th Avenue Inn, a really great place in Capitol Hill, a mile or two away from downtown.  The rooms were quaint and charming, with an amazing breakfast in the morning.  The hospitality was second to none and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend staying here.  Monday was mostly about driving down to Seattle from Kelowna, popping in for lunch with my grandmother along the way, and then hitting up a few shops.  On Tuesday, May 18th, it was the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens.  I’ve always wanted to visit, so this seemed like the right time.  I hit the road for a 2+ hour drive each way to see the sights.  Unfortunately it was rainy, cloudy, windy and pretty cold so the views of the volcano were not the best.  There were all kinds of television crews out there for the anniversary. On Wednesday it was time to get back in the swing of things as I had a one hour run to take care of.  I thought about running around Lake Union, but I needed to run fairly early and I wasn’t sure what the route was like.  Instead I opted to drive up to Green Lake.  I’ve run there before, in fact it was the site where I first broke 60 minutes in a 10K at the Iron Girl race a few years back.  There is a 2.8 mile path around the river and it was busy with runners, cyclists, roller bladers and people walking their dogs at 6:30 in the morning.  The run felt great – nice and speedy – and the scenery was beautiful.  Unfortunately I didn’t take my camera with me though!

In the afternoon it was time to explore Seattle a bit and I stopped in at the Columbia Center.  It is an office tower downtown, but they have an observation level on the 73rd floor.  It isn’t a 360 deg view of Seattle, but you do get to see quite a bit.  Plus, is is only $5 and you get to see the Space Needle!  Unfortunately rain was pouring down when I went so I couldn’t see the mountains. From there I hopped in a cab to check out the happy hour at Elliot’s Oyster House.  Starting at 3 pm they have a progressive happy hour.  Oysters start at $0.50 a piece, and every half hour they go up $0.25.  I got there just in time, grabbed a dozen oysters and a beer and hung out to enjoy my last night in Seattle.It was a great few days, but I had to head back to the Okanagan in time for the weekend…  

Seattle Pictures

Indulging my Chipotle craving...the first order of business.Some seriously good yam fries at the Kingfish Cafe.One of the motivational signs at the race expo that would also be displayed throughout the course.D and I in front of Pike Place Market.Pre-race dinner at Mama Melina's.Getting ready to start...All done...with our medals!Celebrating at Pike Brewing Co. Double fisting it with an almost empty Pike Pale Ale and a brand new Kilt Lifter Ruby Ale.Checking out the crabs at the Pike Place Fish Market. D told me to make sure I stood on the "non-rag side" of the fish throwing guy. This guy was a total hit with the ladies.Inside the first ever Starbucks store.Enjoying my Starbucks outside.With the Marathon Pig in Post Alley. He comes complete with a race bib on his back, an iPod, and some sneakers.

The Seattle trip, CONT.

Saturday morning D and I headed out to the race site to pick up our race packets for the Iron Girl 10K. It was a pretty small expo, but we were able to pick up our tech shirts and create our own goody bag with a Her Fitness magazine, some more Goody Stayput elastics, some individual packets of Propel drink mix and some mini Luna bars. They were offering free back and foot massages to I decided to let someone give my feet a little rub. Ahh, that was nice. From there it was on to downtown. The first thing we noticed as we exited the freeway was the massive REI store and since D was searching for some hiking clothes we stopped in. The REI store in Seattle is amazing....talk about a money and a time suck. They have a special trail around the outside of the store so you can test mountain bikes out before buying one. I found Injinji socks and cola Clif Shot Bloks that I was hoping to pick up. From there we went downtown and ate near Pike Place Market at a restaurant that offered a good view of watching fish fly at the Pike Place Fish Market. The rest of the afternoon was lost to shopping and more shopping....kind of embarrassing to travel all that way and all you do is shop...but D and I were on a mission. I wasn't kidding when I said I needed new pants thanks to the running benefits and my old ones not fitting anymore so I still needed to find another pair or two. We finally called it a night and went to an Italian restaurant near our hotel that had been recommended - Mama Melina's. It was terrific food (I would definitely recommend it) and we finished up early enough that we were able to get a good night's sleep before the race.
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As I've already mentioned before...the race was terrific. I couldn't have been happier with my time. After we chowed down at the breakfast cafe it was back to the hotel for a nap (wow...I conked out) and a shower. We checked out and made our way back downtown. We hit the Pike Place Market and the first order of business was lunch. We ate at the Pike Brewing Company and it was delish. A pint of their pale ale and their crab and artichoke dip helped to quell the growing rumblings in my stomach. After a round of fish and chips we were good to go to explore the Market a bit closer. We hung out and watched the guys at the fish market throw some good looking fish and crabs around....what a hoot. We wound our way through and found the very first Starbucks location...ever... We grabbed a beverage from there and sat outside and enjoyed the sun and the sights. Pretty soon it was time to head back to the car and make our way to the airport. All in all, a fun weekend.

Ryka Iron Girl 10K Race Report - PR!

The Ryka Iron Girl race was held yesterday in Seattle at Green Lake. The race was only open to women, and they had 434 finishers in the 10K, 775 finishers in the 5K. I was originally going to run the race on my own, but my friend D decided to try her hand at her first ever race, so it was great having company. We left the hotel in good time and found a parking spot with no issues along the lake. We walked over to the start area and opted to go for a short, slow jog just to warm up. As soon as we finished the jog I knew I needed to hit the porta potty line. I tried to catch a signal on my Garmin while standing in line, but it was taking forever.... As the time to start was getting closer and closer I started to worry that I would be Garminless on this race as it seemed so stubborn on catching that signal. I was maybe even starting to panic a little. Really...I swear...I'm not too attached to my Garmin..! Finally when we were waiting in the starting area...success! D didn't want to go out too fast, so we talked about running the first two miles together so I could keep her in check. We chatted with the runners around us, took a couple of pictures, then it was time to start. For the 10K we would be doing two loops around Green Lake. D and I hung out together as planned and pretty early on we were able to get into a good rhythm. We didn't talk too much as D was into her iPod, but it was nice having the company. After a mile in we hit the first water stop and I mentioned to D that I was going to walk through (because running seems to really complicate the whole drinking thing for me). D kept going, so I was on my own from there on out. I kept her in my sight for awhile, but I didn't want to blow all my energy trying to catch up with her, especially since I knew she was planning on ramping up the pace 2 miles in. I was wearing my "Run Calgary" - Calgary Half Marathon shirt. At one point a girl ran up to me and asked me if I was from Calgary. Yup, I sure am! She was originally from Edmonton, but now lives in Seattle. We chit chatted then went on our merry ways. I was astounded when I hit the halfway mark before 30 mins....I have never run a sub 30 min 5K before. I was keeping a really even average pace throughout the entire race (despite slowing down somewhat in mile 4...not sure what happened there....) When I hit the last 1.2 miles I knew I had a pretty good shot of going sub 60:00 for this race unless I spontaneously combusted in the final mile. I kept going, and the only walking I did was through the two water stops to down my beverage of choice. At the final turn to the finish D was waiting and cheering for me (she finished a few minutes ahead of me at 54:22) and my rubber legs found something within to go for a sprint into the finish. Not only did I go sub 60:00...I even beat that by a couple of minutes. I have never run that fast...ever. A 9:21/mi pace. 57:56 was my final official time and I honestly almost cried after I crossed the finish line. I got my medal and D and I high fived and congratulated each other. We hit the post race breakfast cafe for some bread, muffins, fruit, and yogurt and sat in the sun and watched the awards ceremony.

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I have to say a big thanks to everyone for the encouragement - those who know me personally, and those who wrote it on the blog. Apparently a bunch of people knew that I could do this, except for me until mile 5. And I don't mean to get all sappy on everyone...I know it is just a 10K, but a sub 60:00 10K was my first ever running goal...and to finally have it happen after a big hiatus - and then an injury related hiatus - some 7 years down the road feels pretty good. So thanks everyone. Pictures and more trip details to come later.

Greetings from Seattle

Okay, okay....I know....I'm on vacation and I'm blogging. But I had a spare moment and I realized that I didn't have a chance to blog for a couple of days thanks to a serious case of life and work taking over.
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On Thursday I managed to get a quick 3 miles in over lunch just to make sure I hit that 10 miles of midweek mileage before I took off for Seattle. It is funny how inclement weather affects your pace during a run. It started off nice and sunny, but after stopping to tighten my shoe laces 1.2 miles in I looked up and some crazy clouds had rolled in and the wind really picked up. I was worried that thunder and lightning might be imminent, so rather than continuing on my loop I took a short cut back into downtown to quickly make my way back to the office. I kept running through the streets of downtown, and by the time I made it back to my building rain hadn't started yet so I took a quick zip around the block to finish out the 3 miles. The splits on those miles were great..! I grabbed lunch and as soon as I was back in my office it started hailing. Good thing I hadn't left for my run any later...
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Thursday afternoon was a crazy rush back home all the way on the north side of town...grab the dogs and drive all the way south of town to drop them at the kennel...then drive all the way north for my fitness assessment for BBC. The fitness assessment went really well - yay, I lost some inches and my upper body strength has improved! Instructor S also talked to me about some stretches for my hip flexors and kept on about strengthening my lower back to help keep injuries at bay.
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Yesterday DGB and I hopped a flight nice and early to the Emerald City of Seattle. After grabbing the rental car the first order of business was lunch. D was nice enough to indulge my serious craving for Chipotle... Not sure why I love that place so much, but I do know that I'm sad we don't have them in Canada. A chicken burrito bowl later and we were ready to hit the town. Hit the stores in the town that is. I found a pair of orange and silver Asics Gel-Kayano 13s in a size 10 so shoe shopping mission was accomplished. If nothing else happens this weekend at least I got new kicks. Alrighty....there is a college football game going on here soon - University of Washington vs. Boise and our hotel is right by the stadium. We'd better get out of here soon and on to the important stuff before we get caught up in a sea of purple vs orange and blue.

Seattle Ryka Iron Girl 10K

I love to travel, and I have a flex day coming up that I'm just not sure what to do with. I dislike the idea of sitting at home when I could be going someplace... I looked to see where airfares were cheap to - Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seattle. Coincidentally I found a neat 5K and 10K event in Seattle in September so that sealed the deal - The Ryka Iron Girl. So look at me go, I have another 10K coming up. This is perfect since I feel like I have some unfinished business on a 10K course, and it fits in well with my training schedule. Plus it is a weekend away in Seattle...

It sounds like a great event though: a women's only event, a double loop around Green Lake, a post race Breakfast Cafe, tech shirts, a personalized racing bib, and a finisher medal. I'm looking forward to it!