Inching closer

I would like to start off this post by saying how thankful I am for getting to week 16 of training very healthy. The last time I ran the marathon, I had a lot of knee issues. I only ended up running a couple of times a week. My body also had been a wild card. I felt scared to run because I never knew how my body would react. Let's hope these next two weeks go great!

9/24/13

This is the first run I did after the 20-miler. The XC kids and I did what we call the Hazel route;it is about a six mile route that we do as our long run of the week. Not having run for a few days, I figured I would take it slow because I did not know how I would do. The run ended up going much better than expected.

My legs slowly started to warm up after the first mile and things felt good after that. The splits do not reflect that, but I am ok with that because I felt good. Runners can be a little too hard on themselves if they look at splits and it does not reflect what they think it would be. We just have to realize that this is going go happen and deal with it. If our body feels good, we should feel good.

With the Marathon coming, that is something I thought I should mention. The boys and have started this thing where we finish the run as hard as possible. It all started on accident one day when I challenged one of them to finish strong ad I ran as has hard as I could to finish off our 40 minute run. Since that day, we' have done it on  very run and continued it on this run.  Not all of them think it' is fun, but I think it will help them develop a strong kick. I am glad I got this run in because I knew I would have a busy weekend.

9/27-9/28/13

I have been fortunate enough to do some traveling this summer. On what may be my last trip of the year, I went to Seattle/Redmond for a wedding. Seeing as Seattle would be my first west coast trip of any kind, I had been really excited about it.

Space Needle

The next time I fly out west, I may try and get direct flights. The four hour layover is had in Denver is not something I would really care to do again. I made it out there last Thursday night and stayed in an interesting hostel . As I have wondered on other trips, I wondered how much running I would get in.

Running would not happen Friday. All of my Seattle friends were at work and I had no place to put my things. Not running that day probably ended up being a good thing. It gave me a chance to walk around and explore the city. Despite being cloudy and gray all day, I had an awesome time.

Hendrix exhibit at EMP

The EMP museum is one of the cooler museums I have ever been to. I spent at least two hours seeing exhibits and messing around on various instruments. They also had an exhibit on horror films. Even after two hours at the museum, I did not make it to that side of it. I needed all day to spend at that museum.

9/28/13

I woke up way to early due to my body adjusting to west coast time. Seattle had been living up to its dreary, rainy reputation. I went downstairs to check out how heavy the rain had been. It had not been too bad but I waited a little bit for a friend who said they might run with me. 

A couple of hours went by and the rain got heavier. I decided to put on my rain jacket, new shoes and got out of the hotel. I did not know if I would do 12, but I knew would do something. "Here we go," I said to myself.

The run went really well for the most part. I can only say the only annoying thing about the run is the heavy rain and wind that accompanied it. The other thing that amazed is the amount of people I saw running and walking out there! It just made me think that people that area are not afraid of the rain at all. What I heard from people is that you just learn to deal with it or you do not get anything done. The other thing that surprised during the run is the number of people that either said good morning or waved. That rarely happens when running in Chicago. I think it had something to do with the solidarity of being out in the rain together. I ended completing the whole 12 mile run. Who knows what the weather could be like on the day of the marathon. Part of the reason I decided to run is because I want to ready for anything. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I had my phone in a plastic bag due to the heavy rain. Oh! The one lesson that I did learn is that if you are using SaltSticks, put them in case of some sorts. I should have realized they would have eventually dissolved. 

9/29/13

I had a great time at the wedding on Saturday night. Instead of running on Sunday, I took some time to explore Seattle with some new friends I made at the wedding. We started off at the day by getting breakfast at a place called Couzin's. I had their version of pigs in a blanket. The result= so good! I would definitely recommend this to anyone. It might be the first time I looked at a plate of food and worried that I would not finish it. 

I did end up finishing in case anyone in wondering. We finished up with breakfast, packed up and headed back to Seattle to do some touristy things. Despite it raining all day, we had a great time. I wuld love to make a trip back at some point. 

Gum Wall

In front of the original Starbucks

That is just some of my trip to the Pacific Northwest. I can not believe that we are 10 days from the marathon! I'm ready and crossing my fingers I do not get hurt!

P.S.- I failed to mention I am now running in the Brooks Ravenna 4's. I decided to move from the Adrenalines. As much as I liked them, they ended up not being a good fit for my foot. Maybe the new version will be better for me. Until these running shoes die on me, I am loving them.

Run happy!