Ballard, Discovery Park, Magnolia run

Plan A and plan B for running fell through today but luckily Jon W was up for plan C.

I love how the mind justifies something and then when it comes time to execute you totally have second thoughts. Just two days ago I was thinking that a good, long run would be just the ticket today but a couple of miles in I was thinking, "What in the hell am I doing…?!" That and, "Watching the Lord Of The Rings trilogy (director's cut of course) on a couch with big bag of potato chips and lots of beer in the fridge sounds pretty damn good right now…"

Yesterday's race had taken a little more out of me than I thought and Jon is deceptively smooth meaning you need to feel good to keep up with him. I tried some deep breathing and tried to rest on the first descent down to the Burke Gilman Trail in hopes that I could ease into this.

Lucky for me Jon is also super nice and (correctly in my opinion) believes that on your long day about all that matters is getting in the time/miles and speed is of little importance. He's also great fun to talk to so we chatted away about all kinds of things and it helped keep my mind off the effort.

Crossing the Ballard Locks was fun. I have only run across them once before ever and it's so peaceful when it's not a crazy, tourist-filled summer day. The roar of the water flowing through the sluices is also pretty impressive.

As we started to climb up to Discovery Park I began to feel a little better and once we were on the Loop Trail in the park I was feeling fine. Whew.

We took it easy on the descent to the beach. At the top of the stairs a woman walking her dog told us a baby seal was on the beach at the lighthouse but we never saw it. Still, it was cool just knowing that a baby seal was on the beach mere yards from us… It made me feel all Greenpeace and shit.

As we turned left off of the beach and hit the climb to the bluff Jon said something like, "Okay, I think I'm ready for this…" and instantly I felt better knowing that he was human and could also get tired. And did fine on the climb! I was able to take most of the steps two-at-a-time and we were never in danger of slowing to a walk. Of course when I got to the top I had to pause and catch my breath. Jon did not seem to mind. Then it was another quick stop at the toilet in the park and, out the top and down Magnolia Blvd W.

Here we marveled at and speculated about the price of the estates on the west side of the street as you near the bottom of the hill. Each house has a private drive, multiple garages, separate quarters (for servants?) and a boatload of real estate which guarantees a spectacular view of the Puget Sound and prices in the millions.

Once we ran down the Magnolia Bridge there is a cool urban section where you go up some ramps, down some stairs and then along a ton of train tracks as you head north. I have ridden this section countless times commuting home from work but have never run it ever. In fact, as we headed north this HSP rider passed us with a, "On your right." and I had to smile thinking that usually that person on the bike is me and the runner or pedestrian is someone else.

As we ran long the tracks admiring all the tags and graffiti on the freight cars we suddenly saw two cars hooked together moving rather quickly along the track with NO ENGINE ATTACHED TO THEM AND NO PEOPLE ABOARD. We were both like, "Wha…?" These cars were not moving slowly. It was not until we got up the trail a bit more and saw an engine that was pushing cars up this small incline and then letting them go on the back side that we realized this was something that had been don on purpose. I gotta say, those two cars sailing along the tracks all by themselves was sort of spooky.

As we crossed Dravus I suddenly got very tired. Once we turned right onto the new ship canal bike path I was feeling really beat. I had just had my second gel and was so hoping for one of those cartoon moments when Popeye eats his spinach and quite literally wakes from the dead. No such luck. But I did manage to keep plodding along. Until we got to Fremont Bridge. I had to walk for a few seconds here. What's that you say? It's all uphill back to Green Lake? Really…

As we crossed the bridge two cyclists slowed as they passed us and took the time to let us know they recognized us from up in Discovery Park and that they were really impressed by how fast we had run. How nice! For some reason this gave me a tiny boost. That and the fact that Jon was not in a huge hurry to climb Fremont Ave meant we cruised all the way up that hill non-stop and our pace was not so shabby in my humble opinion.

In retrospect it was a good decision to climb this hill. Once you reach the top it's downhill to Green Lake and then flat to the car. Nice! Once we hit the lake I guess both of us could smell the barn some because our pace picked up just a tad and we finished the run off in relative style.

ASIDE - my Hoka Combo XT shoes really saved my bacon today, holy cow. I finally figured out how to lace them up (tight on the bottom and lose on the top) and they felt super. More importantly, my right foot and ankle felt super! I guess I just need to stick with these shoes for a bit until I am well and truly healed up.

Thanks Jon! You don't complain, you are fun to talk to and you are game to try routes that I come up with at the last minute.

Sleep	7
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	5:15 AM - banana, applesauce, protein powder, walnuts, large bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 1 scoop HEED
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 bottles each w/2 scoops Perpetuem, 2 gels
Injuries	My right foot and ankle felt great!
Therapy	6:00 PM - 60 minute massage
Time of Day	7:30 AM
Workout Type	endurance
Weather	40, dry sky, a little wind in exposed areas but not so bad
Course
Results
Time	2:58:21
Distance	21.1 miles
Pace	8:21 min/mile
Equipment	Hoka Combo XT
Clothing	shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, SmartWool long sleeve shirt, Patagonia gloves

Technorati Tags: Discovery Park,Loop Trail,Magnolia,Green Lake