Thursday, October 28, 2010

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?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Park at the Fred Meyer in Ballard and head East and do an out and back on the Burke Gilman Trail, an old rails to trails turned paved bike path.

I will give you a good tour of the city. My 2 cents.

Kerrie said...

I think Jill (Running to Sanity) ran the Burke Gilman and enjoyed the scenery. :)

I noticed, driving by, that the CRT had some trail closed signs, but this was a few days ago. I'll be driving by tomorrow and will let you know. I think they are doing some bank work on the river or something. Not sure what's going on.

BTW: I'm sick -- hopefully it's a quick one.

Tales from the Back of the Pack said...

I'm JEALOUS! I'd love to be planning a run right now in a destination location. I totally need the motivation.

Unfortunately the only place I get to run when I'm traveling on business is the hotel gym.

HAVE FUN!

Angelina said...

Have fun!

Jill said...

You're making me sad when you teased me about coming to Colorado to run with me and now talking about bloggers in Seattle - whaaa! Ok ok, I understand. Hope you're having a good time and getting in a great run, whatever you decide. And btw, it's sunny and 70 here...not rain (or snow) at all!! Ha.