Day before the Seafair Marathon

Fabulous day in Seattle. I slept late (11 hours! Yay) but woke up in time to hit up the expo, where I bought a new pair of sneakers (Asics Gel Kayanos – only $50! They’re different than the GT 2110s and the Brooks Adrenalines I use, but I think it’ll be good to throw another pair into the rotation), and also listened to a course preview. Um, this course is rough! Seriously, it’s like alllllllll hills. Paraphrased version of the preview: “here is a really really tough hill that lasts for 1/2 mile, but don’t worry it’s the only big one. Oh wait, except this four mile section of tough hills. But don’t worry, then it’s flat for two miles… and then we throw in a big hill. But don’t worry, it’s not quite as bad as that first one was. And then it’s just rolling hills for a while, nothing bad like those other hills. But when you hit mile 24, don’t think you’re close to the end, because we actually put two steep hills in between miles 24 and 25 just to test you.” I’m not really exaggerating in my paraphrased version either – the course preview guy said “don’t worry” a zillion times, which of course makes me think I should worry. I sincerely hope he was exaggerating about all the hills and that I really don’t need to worry.

Instead of resting, I was ultra-touristy and went up the Space Needle, which was really cool and had some beautiful views. I grabbed an apple fritter from a bakery in Pike Place (junk food is totally justifiable b/c after all, I needed carbs), and then headed down to the Olympic Statue Park, where I bribed someone into taking a picture of me with the statue of the marathon runners (I offered to give them my prime parking spot if they took the picture… good deal, since I wanted to leave as soon as I got the pic). Went to the Seattle Aquarium after that, where not only did I get to see some gorgeous and graceful sea otters, but I also saw a pier that was on fire and had eight (yes, eight!) fire trucks putting it out. It reminded me of Grey’s Anatomy in the episode where the ferry boat explodes, but this incident fortunately didn’t seem to have any people involved.

Finally, I hit up the pasta dinner, where I stayed for three hours because I met a ton of fabulous people. I walked in at the same time as a guy who turned out to be a 50 Stater, and he knew a bunch of other 50 Staters who were sitting at one table, so I joined them and just had a blast talking to everyone. There are several new marathons I’m considering. Calgary is next weekend, and I was planning to be in NYC for the first time in a while, but now I’m thinking it would be good to get it in before my project ends? Another potential is the 24 hour Around the Lake Race in Massachusetts at the end of July (you run a loop for 24 hours and see who can go the furthest), though I’d probably take the “easy” way out and do the 12 hour version.

I became known as the “sociable New Yorker” because I kept inviting people to come sit at our table. It was just so fun to meet so many wonderful people! Everyone had a story to tell. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I run. You all are fantastic!

Bedtime now – pictures another time. Wish me luck! I will need it with those scary hills. I really should have trained…

Tomorrow: hilly marathon, then Washington wine tour!!! Okay, so maybe just one winery, because I know I’ll be a lightweight after running that far. Dinner somewhere cool (I don’t know where that will be yet – maybe one of the seafood places on the waterfront), and then red eye flight back to Boston. What a busy day it will be!