Long Run. In Pictures.

I am starting to get a wee bit bored with my long run routes. So last week, I decided to run along the waterfront instead of my usual Madison St./Lake/I-90 bridge loop. And the whole time I was running, I was wishing I'd had my camera. There were so many interesting things to see. So for yesterdays long run, I brought the camera. I felt kind of weird carrying it. And I certainly felt like a tourist taking pictures in my own city. But you know, what? It was kind of fun! So without further ado-I present to you: My 11 mile run along Seattle's waterfront.

Mile 1 - Looking over Downtown from the south. Took the heretofore unseen END of the Mt. to Sound trail. I usually go right at this point and head east. Today, I went west.

Still in the first 2 miles. This part of the trail sort of loops down by the freeway. Where you can see our lovely stadiums in the background- Safeco Field to the left, where our notsogreat Mariners play; Century Link Field on the right, where our notsogreat Seahawks and our Super Awesome Sounders play. A little Seattle locals humor: Century Link field is known as the Clink around here. For the record, we are really bad at naming stuff here. 

Around Mile 3-ish. Pier 54. Classic Seattle Waterfront, as in, this is where the tourists all go. Ivars is THE place to get some of the best seafood in the NW. And after stuffing yourself, you can head next door to do some shopping at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, which, as the name suggests, sells weird sh*t. 

 So, there's this now. I'm not sure what to make of it, except that I am slightly embarrassed by it.

Some interesting public art. I like that the cans say PURGE....

Around Mile 5

Here it is folks: the scene of the crime. If the crime is the filming of MTV's The Real World in 1998. Apparently, it's been remodeled a bunch since they filmed so it doesn't really resemble how it appeared on the show. Am I dating myself if I reveal that I actually still watched The Real World when it aired in the late 90's? 

 Around Mile 6-At the beginning of Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park, at Myrtle Edwards Park. On the left is the old Seattle PI globe, on the right is the Space Needle peeking up over the hill.

Some tug boats and a cruise ship....at the end of the trail. Mile 7. 

Ran all the way to the Magnolia Bridge!

Looking back towards the city...

So, we used to be a 2 paper town....but a few years ago, the Seattle PI closed down it's print publication. They are still online with a super trimmed down staff and we are stuck with the Seattle Times, that has an editorial board I frequently want to throw a brick at. But I digress....I've always loved the PI Globe. It's a true landmark here in Sea-town and thank Jebus, some Historic Preservation board or other had it designated as a landmark. 

Mortified, I tell you. 

Headed home. At Mile 11-- I made it back to the Stadiums and caught the train home. 

Hope you enjoyed your tour of the Seattle Waterfront! I had a good time taking pictures...it gave me something to focus on....

Light Week

I was tired this week. Like really tired. I took two days off after the half on Sunday and headed out for a little shortie on Wednesday. Thursday I had a migraine and came home from work mid-morning to sleep it off. Friday was too crazy, what with partying with the Ragnar Crew at our first meeting  and all (in a bar, no less!)...so I ended up taking more rest days this week than I had planned to.

So that leaves today...for the short long run. Had planned to run only 5 today but since I didn't get much mileage in this week, I've bumped it up to 8-ish. Gonna do the shorter run down to the Lake and loop back on the I-90 bike trail to get home. Should be a nice easy run...

And it's not too hot yet so that's good. I'm sort of dreading the summer training in the heat. I had such a fierce headache after last week's race. It was definitely in the high 60's and really sunny by the time the race finished. Will have to switch back to early morning runs soon. Especially since I'll be adding some back to backs to my next training cycle for Ragnar.

Weekend agenda doesn't include much...planning to (finally) get my Kirkland race recap up and start plotting out my post Rock and Roll training schedule which will include Ragnar training and starting to build the mileage up past 13.1 as part of the Full training that will commence soon. 

Ready to get out there now....time to get off the couch and get dressed!

Long Run Saturday

12 Miles....Here we go!

Week 16 in Review --7 Days until Heroes Half

It's here. One week away. And I'm nursing a weird foot injury. I honestly have no idea what I did to it. If I strained it somehow during my speed workout on Wednesday, it didn't start hurting right away, since I felt fine on my run Thursday. A mystery indeed.

I also got my Wear Blue shirt in the  mail this week. Just in time to wear on my run Saturday!

Monday
A nice and easy 4 miler to start off the week....
 4.15 mi; 41:30; 10:00

Tuesday 
A rainy 3 miler after work. Did the regular loop at an easy pace...
3.48 mi; 34:44; 9:59

Wednesday
Killer speed workout at the park near my house. Kept all three mile repeats at pace and it was a toughie....was sore for a couple days after this one.
6.2 mi; 59:58; 9:41

 View from my "track" tonight

Thursday

Easy 3 mile loop around the hood. Felt good the whole time and the foot didn't hurt at all....

3.48 mi; 35:16; 10:08

Friday

Rest day. Foot started to hurt for real....limped around until I could ice when I got home. Elevated it and did a few more ice treatments.

Saturday

Based on how the foot was feeling, I knew that I wasn't going to get the full 12 miles in. I set out to see how I felt and stuck close to home so it would be easy to get home if it started hurting too much. Made it 5 miles and decided to call it a day. No biggie...just starting the taper a bit early.

12 mile long run

5.11 mi; 55:18; 10:50 

Sunday

Ice, rest, elevate and more ice. We shall see how it feels. Fingers crossed it will be better soon.

Week 15 in Review --13 Days until Heroes Half

 

There was some serious plague-like germs around me this week....but I didn't get sick! Two co-workers had pneumonia, strep and influenza B in their homes; my kid was down and missed school for three days of cold complete with a fever. Knock on wood, I didn't/haven't yet gotten it.

Monday 
I felt kind of nasty and came home early to keep an eye on the Girl, since her fever was pretty high. Missed my run but was able to make up the mileage so all was not lost.
3 miles easy
Rest

Tuesday
Doubled up today to get nearly 6 in to make up for Monday's missed run. Felt better, although the Girl was not....she actually didn't have a fever all day until the late afternoon when it started creeping up again.
5.4 mi; 47:21; 8:46

Wednesday
Tempo run...nailed it. Felt good too. This week was muggy though. Went out in a tank every day.
5.86 mi; 57:05; 9:45

Thursday
Nice easy 3 miler to round out the week.
3.46mi; 33:08; 9:34

Friday
Rest day.

Saturday
Long run...got out early to enjoy the sunshine and was down to my tank top by mile 1.5. Beautiful day and a very nice run. Ice bath after felt good too.
11.01 mi; 1:55:47; 10:31

Sunday
Rest day....still pretty sore from yesterday. Two weeks until my next race! Got to stay healthy so I can keep up the training level...28 miles planned for next week!

Week 9 in Review - 21 Days until MI Half

 

Not bad. Not quite the 27 on the plan but I'll take it. Missed one planned day. It's really tough for me to run 4 days in a row. My body gets too tired and I inevitably skip one. But I am going to make sure that I keep myself accountable and keep ramping up. I'll be designing my next phases soon that will take me through the next three half marathons April-June. Can't wait till it starts to warm up!

Monday - The plan calls for a lot of 3 milers from now until the race. Two tough workouts (Tempo or Speed and Long Run) tempered with 3 easy short ones.

3.47; 34:09; 9:51

Tuesday - Was supposed to run today but decided to take a rest day. 

3 miles

Rest

Wednesday - Long tempo run. This is usually a tough one for me. This one was no exception. Have been running at night after work and have been having a hard time figuring out what kind of lunch to eat that I can digest quickly and not feel like I am going to throw up the whole time.

7.23 mi; 1:14:03; 10:14

Thursday - Another nice easy 3 miler. Was glad because I was a little sore from the tempo run the day before.

3.38 mi; 34:01; 10:04

Friday - Rest day. Felt good.

Saturday - Long run. Had 11 on the books and tried to map out a new route on Map My Run but got so frustrated. Thought I ended up doing an ok enough job and was just going to fudge the rest. But I ran what I thought would be the majority and was only at 6 miles. I was at the I-90 bridge anyway so I just headed across and back to add a couple miles on. When I finally got home, I was well over 11 miles. Was very sore though. Like completely wiped for the rest of the day. Crashed out for a nap-hard.

11.17 mi; 1:59:44; 10:43

Getting so close- 3 weeks out!

 

Week 7 in Review - 35 Days Until MI Half

                                  Much better week..

This week was...normal. The most normal in a few weeks it felt like. Got that mileage back up and did a long run in the double digits. First one since the half and I was pretty nervous. Especially after the shoe debacle of this week. But I plotted out a new route and had a pretty great run.

Monday - Nice easy run to start off the week. 4 easy miles.
4.09 mi; 40:32; 9:54

Tuesday - This is the week that I added a short easy run on Tuesdays...Did it after work since I thought my new shoes might arrive and they did. So I most definitely had to take them on a test run. Thought about turning back after 1 mile or so but kept telling myself the shoes didn't hurt that bad. So I did the full loop but paid for it later. More on that later....
3.18 mi; 32:26; 10:12

Wednesday - Really didn't want to miss the tempo run this week and I was really looking forward to running in comfy shoes again. Pretty good one. Stayed within range for most of it.
5.9 mi; 57:01; 9:40

Thursday - Planned to get in the short 3 miler today but didn't end up doing it. Just wasn't feeling it and my knees were still sore from the bad shoe run.
3 miles
Rest

Friday - Was thinking about trying to get in the missed run from yesterday but it Rained. All.Day.Long.
Rest

Saturday - Long run! Was feeling a little nervous for this one. 10 miles on the plan. Decided I really  needed to do a new route. Kind of sick of doing out and backs on my long runs anyway so I created a new loop...ended up being a little longer than 10 and there were some killer hills and stairs. So was very sore the rest of the day....but it felt good.
10.79 mi; 1:58:29; 10:59

Sunday - Rest. Felt good today too....very little soreness. Ready to tackle next week. Supposed to be a light week keeping it regular since last week ended up being really light.

Long Run Saturday - New Route

Tried something new today. Instead of the out and backs I typically do, I did a big loop. Mapped out a nice 10 mile loop from my house to Capitol Hill, down Madison to the Lake all the way to I-90 and back to the house. Turned out to be closer to 11 but that could have been because I got a tiny bit lost  in one part...

                                         Mile 1- Downtown Seattle

                                   Mile 5- Madison Park on the lake

                        Really windy today...whitecaps on Lake Washington

                                             Almost home....Mile 8.5


A pretty good run. I really need new shoes.....hopefully later this week. So I was definitely feeling it in the ankle and knee by the end, even with new inserts to hold me over. Pretty sore still and fixing to ice both knees now. I definitely need to do a better job of switching up the routine and do new routes. I think I'm definitely feeling a little burned out and bored. Good splits on this route, especially since it included both killer hills and a bunch of a$$ kicking stairs.

10.79 miles; 1:58:29; 10:59

Splits
1 - 10:01
2 - 10:38
3 - 10:12
4 -11:16
5 - 10:16
6 - 10:13
7 - 10:23
8 -10:31
9 - 14:41
10 - 11:33
Last .79 - 11:07

Week 5 in Review - 49 Days Until MI Half

Still slogging through. Looking forward to getting my groove back. I've decided instead of waiting for it, I just need to do it. It reminds me of this quote...."You are more likely to act your way into feeling, than feel your way into action. Whatever you know you should do, do it."

Monday - This week, I was really tired. Maybe it was my body going into overdrive to avoid the nasty cold germs I've been around all week but I ended up sleeping in a few mornings and doing my runs after work. It's not my favorite, but it's not that bad. Doing it in the 6pm hour is similar to doing it in the 6am hour, except for more traffic.
5.01 mi; 49:47; 9:56

Tuesday - Rest. Having a hard time getting the yoga in. Maybe I really do need this to be a rest day. Although, week after next, I start doing a slow easy 3 miles on Tuesdays....so I need to suck it up!
Rest

Wednesday - Again, slept in....Did my 6 mile Tempo run at night and it was somewhat pleasant but tough -- I've never done a tempo run for that far- 1 mile each warm up/cool down pace and 4 solid miles at a fast clip. I was sore the next day for sure but am pretty proud of my splits, even though they weren't as low as I'd hoped.
6.18 mi; 1:02:16; 10:05

Thursday - Woke up not feeling well. Decided to try to run after work, but as the day progressed, a full blown migraine developed. So I came home early from work and slept all afternoon. Felt better by that evening so planned a makeup run for the morning.
Rest

Friday - Actually got up in the morning and ran! Boo ya. Forced myself to get up and do it. Really need to do that everyday. Fake it till I make it, right?
4.3 mi; 42:51; 9:58

Saturday - Long run day and it was perfect! Actually super sunny, warm (had to take off my jacket after a few miles) and the view....Damn it was amazing. The downside of warm sunny weather means more bikes on the bridge. More than a couple passed way too close to me, jackholes. But I didn't get hit, so that's good!
8.55 mi; 1:35:13; 11:08

Pretty good week. Looking forward to putting in a more consistent performance next week. And next Saturday, I will be meeting up with my race buddy for the Valentine's Day Love 'Em or Leave 'Em 5k at Greenlake. Which also happens to be the same day as the Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold. More info can be found at Shut Up and Run's blog, complete with a bib that can be printed out to wear...I'll be wearing mine!

Happy Running this week...

Long Run Saturday

Today - I've decided to do the Bridge again. Love that route. It make me feel so badass running across with all the cars flying by and the bikes almost killing me. Well not really-most of them are nice-ish. But it can be a little nerve wracking to have them zoom around you so close.

Excited to do this one with this guy. Met up with him and his super awesome wife for happy hour last night and it worked out for us to get our long run in together today. And I've been trying to get him to come do the bridge with me...so we are gonna kick its' ass together! I love running solo...but also love running with people too-which I don't do enough of. It's so much easier to stay at long run pace when you have someone to talk to! Alright, time to put down the coffee and go get ready!