Heading North

Guess where I'm going this weekend? You'll never guess. Okay, maybe you will...

I'll give you a hint: I ran my first-ever 18-mile run there, alone, on a very cold and very wet day. It perpetually rains there but has some of the most beautiful scenery you could ask for. It's nicknamed the Emerald City.

If you said Seattle, you'd be correct!

Yes, I am going back to Seattle, and like last year I'm going there on business. That doesn't mean I'll be working the whole time I'm there. No, in fact I'll be working just part of the time I'm there. I will have some free time on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. One of those days, I am going to knock out a run, for old time's sake.

Now, I don't have a crazy 18-mile run to attempt. Part of me actually wishes I did, though. No, I've only got like 10-12 miles on my plate. I think the Lopers are running 10 miles this week but I think I'll want to run more just because I'll be in Seattle, and how often do I get to go there?

My only question is, do I re-visit the scene of the crime? I ran along the Cedar River Trail when I went there last year, and it was a nice run. Well, I'll take that back. The scenery was nice, and it was nice having a paved path that's off the road to run on. And it was also very nice to run into two awesome Seattle bloggers, Zoë of Run, Zoë, Run (who should temporarily change her blog title to Push, Zoe, Push because she's going to give birth to her first baby any day now) and Kerrie T. of Mom vs. Marathon. But the run itself was very difficult because of the rain and the cold and the distance (read about it here).

That was such a fantastic experience and I may have the chance to meet up once more. While that story will unfold over the weekend as well, I'm going to have to plan a run somewhere. And I'm back in sort of the same predicament as I had last year. Where do I run?

That's what led me to discover a slew of awesome Seattle-area bloggers. I figured, search for running bloggers from Seattle and they'll point me in the right direction. Sure enough, they did. But should I follow their advice once more? Will running the same trail make me feel as if I've got 18 miles on tap?

I'm a creature of habit though. Once I've figured something out, I like to keep things that way. So since I've already run on the Cedar River Trail, I think I'm going to hit it up once more, for old time's sake.

The forecast is (you'll also never guess) a chance of rain (surprise!) on Saturday. I don't care if it rains, though. Last year I was a bit apprehensive because of the rain and I figure, it can't get any worse than last year.

Plus I'm a much stronger runner this year and running 10-12 miles will be quite manageable, not borderline dreadful as it was a year ago. Compared to that 18-mile beast, this weekend will be a walk in the park.

Anyway, I'll fill you in on the details as I make them and will probably blog some about... well, I guess I can call it LB vs. Cedar River Trail, Part II. It will certainly be a memorable run and a memorable weekend, and who knows who or what I might run into while I'm there?