The Run That Keeps On Giving

There are some runs that you remember long after you've finished them, whether because it was a new distance, a blazingly fast time or perhaps a unique location. Then there are runs that are seared in your memory, runs that seem so vivid you may as well have done it that very same day.

I have several runs that fall into the last category and the only one in that bunch that was not a race was the run that catapulted me to the runner I am today.

My best run ever was on Nov. 22, 2009 in Renton, Wash. I ran 18 miles in pouring rain and 40-degree weather on the Cedar River Trail that day. With so much time removed from then, so many other grueling and not-so-grueling runs, I can say now without bias that that run made me a full-fledged runner.

I earned my runner badge along the Cedar River Trail.

I reminisced about that run recently because aside from the rain that pelted me on the trail, I came across two area runners who recently ran their first 26.2 mile run. In researching the area and potential running sites, I came across Kerrie T. of Mom vs. Marathon. Now, I had an 18-mile run on the schedule and was going to be up in Seattle on business, far away from the comforts of my running group. I was not going to skip an 18-mile run and was determined to run it.

Kerrie gave me some advice and suggested the CRT. Since I had no other options really, I figured why not follow the advice of a local?

The run itself was brutal. From the start. It was in the low 40s and rainy at the beginning and it was in the high 40s and rainy at the end. It didn't really let up either.

Somewhere around Mile 6, I literally ran across Kerrie and her friend Zoë of Run Zoë Run. We stopped, chatted, took a picture... or six...

They were training for a half marathon which in fact would be the following Sunday. They looked fresh and I wanted to run with them but they were going one way, I was going another and I was probably a bit too shy. Oh well.

I made it to Mile 9, turned around and all I needed to do was to run back to my rental car. Easier said than done. By about mile 13 or 14, I was feeling it. Water had long since penetrated through my shoes and socks and the cold threatened to do the same. By Mile 16, I was done but I had to push through, and push through I did. After running/walking/shuffling/hobbling for the last two miles, I made it Mile 18 and stopped.

I still remember vividly how it felt to finish that run. The lush green trees on my left, the beginnings of a rock-laden parking lot on my right, a foot bridge separating me from the final steps before getting to the car, taking my hat off and feeling the brunt of the rain on my face for the first time, the aches and pains that shot up through my legs, feeling the icy blocks that were my feet.

I got through that run and afterward really felt like I could run a marathon. Not physically, in fact I wondered how in the heck I was going to run another eight miles on top of that come Surf City 2010. But I knew proper training and a couple of longer runs would prepare me. Mentally, I was ready. I had all the confidence I'd need. Ever. After running that long, in those conditions, virtually alone, you can do anything, right? Indeed. I ran my first marathon about 10 weeks afterward, ran my second marathon later in 2010 and have run two other marathons since.

Now, my running buddies from that day are also marathoners. Kerrie and Zoë are full-fledged marathoners, having run the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon on June 25. They ran every step together, finishing in 4:42:51. (read Kerrie's recap here)

That's an odd time. It's a great time of course but it's odd because I ran my first marathon in 4:42:26. It's almost like it was meant to be. Well, maybe they don't remember that run as fondly as I do but to me that time speaks a lot.

Now, when I look back on that run, I will be able to not only see my own progress from that day but also will be able to use that meeting as further motivation. After all, those three runners had never run more than 15 miles on that day and now, less than two years later, are marathoners.

Seattle Tidbits

I made it home from Seattle in one piece after some unnerving moments early Monday morning, but I made it. Just wanted to share a few things about the trip that made it memorable, aside from the run...

Bloggy Meet-up

One of the best things about blogging has been the chance to interact with other people in other parts of the country who share similar interests. Before my 2009 trip to Seattle, I hit the mother lode with running blogs as there seems to be an insane number of Seattle-area running blogs. Last year I ran into two of them on my 18-mile run, and on Sunday I ran into both of them once more. This time, though, the run-in was planned.

I met up with Kerrie of Mom v Marathon and Zoë of Run, Zoë, Run in their neck of the woods, about 20 minutes south of Seattle. We had a great brunch, chatting about all sorts of things, from family life to running to blogging.

Kerrie had her camera and we snapped this shot of us together. Notice Zoë (in purple)? Yeah, she's about to have her first baby, a girl. She's due any day now but luckily her baby decided not to join the world when we were having brunch, although that would have made for a good blog post.

I was extremely lucky to have met these ladies in the first place, last year, and was lucky to have had the chance to have brunch with them this time around. One day I hope to run a race in Seattle. There are two major races there, the Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon in June and the Seattle Marathon which is held every year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

To be honest, the latter one appeals more to me. I don't know if it's because I've been to Seattle twice and it was raining and chilly both times (though it was much colder in 2009) and I think running a race in Seattle in those conditions would be memorable, but that one is enticing. I mean, they both are to be honest. The Rock n Roll one would be fun but it's during the summer and sometimes it's tough to get away during the summer because of work. My work slows down, interestingly enough, around Thanksgiving.

Anyway, there will hopefully be a bloggy meetup once more in our future, and it could involve a race. So I definitely have something to look forward to.

Getting Out Of Town

Have you ever flown out of Seattle? Out of Sea-Tac International Airport? It's a nightmare. The security checkpoint lines are ridiculous beyond ridiculous. If you ever have to fly out of there and aren't really aware like I was (even though I flew out of there last year), please make sure you allow yourself an extra 30-40 minutes to get through that line. I boarded my plane about 15 minutes before it took off. Had I been another five minutes late or so, they'd have slammed the door on me.

Not. Fun.

Apple Cup

I think I decided where Yvie will go to college. I'm sure she'll have her own ideas but I've made the choice for her, so she won't have to worry about it. Yvie's going to attend the University of Washington. She has to. I mean, what better reason for me to visit Seattle more frequently than having a daughter in school there?

I think it's a good school. I've heard good things about it. I wouldn't send her to a dumpy school, but really academics takes a backseat to location. Right? Yeah... that's a good criteria. Location...

Um... well, to try and plant a bug in her ear I bought her a souvenir.

Now, I haven't decided where Kennedy is going yet. I bought her a shirt as well to kind of put a bug in her ear but not sure if having both girls attend college in the same state would be good for my travel schedule. I mean, I'd like to see more of the country so I might choose for Kennedy to go to school elsewhere, like somewhere in Colorado. I went to Denver in '08 and really enjoyed it.

Uh... anyway...

I had the girls stand together for a picture so they could show off their new shirts and...

... you can't really see the shirts there.

I took a few more shots and...

...much better

And judging by the looks of things, UW's bashing and heckling of WSU will continue in the Bueno household.

Motivational Mondays: A Running Tourist

I've always liked traveling. When I was younger, I liked the idea of traveling since I didn't have much money for... anything, let alone traveling. As I got a little older and started to work, I did some traveling.

In my pre-weight loss days, I visited such countries as Trinidad & Tobago, Japan and Germany and went to cities like Dallas and Chicago. I did some sightseeing, some touristy stuff while in those respective locations (all but Germany were work-related trips).

Now that I'm slimmer and enjoy running, I look back and think of those trips as missed opportunities. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed those trips... most of them. But looking back on it now, I could have logged some awesome, memorable and unique runs. I mean, how many people can say they've run in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad? It's a bummer too because Port-of-Spain has a huge park in the middle of the city, the Queen's Park Savannah, or the Savannah as the locals call it. It's a little more than two miles around the diameter of the Savannah, and along one side are these cool Victorian homes called the Magnificent Seven. Not sure if they are government buildings or just some old homes that used to house royalty or British elite (Trinidad was a former British colony) or what. How cool would it have been to run alongside that?

Or how about the Schwarzwald in Germany, otherwise known as the Black Forest. How awesome would it have been to say that I've run in the frickin Black Forest? Or in Munich where we stayed one night? I could easily have gotten up early and knocked out a four-miler the morning we were in Munich. I mean, had I been in the shape I am now back then. I wouldn't have been able to run four miles anywhere in 2004... you get the point.

Grrr....

Well, instead of fretting too much, I use that as motivation. I was a different person when I went on those trips. I looked different and had different priorities. Exercise was not among those priorities.

Now, of course, I love to run. I am a runner. I am a marathoner. When I think of far-flung cities like Seattle (where I spent the weekend), Denver, Salt Lake City or foreign countries like Greece and China, I think of runs and races. I'd love to go back to Seattle and run a marathon. I'd love to run a marathon in Salt Lake City and Denver and Chicago and Phoenix and Athens and the Great Wall of China. Mrs. LB said she is down with me running the Athens Marathon so one day, we'll make it happen.

But I'd also just love to run through such cities, even if no race was involved. No matter how you experience cities, to me the best way to experience any of them is on foot, not in a car or bus or cab or on a train or airplane. So when I run somewhere new, I'm seeing things up close and am taking time to absorb them.

That's what made my first trip to San Francisco so memorable. I got to run past Fisherman's Wharf and on The Embarcadero. I got to run on the Golden Gate Bridge. My first time on the Bridge was on a run. How awesome is that?

Trips to Seattle, Montreal, Mexico City and San Diego in the last 18 months have all included runs, none of them were races, all of them were memorable.

Running has opened the door for many memorable moments, and I'm taking full advantage of them now.

Running Through Seattle

Saturday morning was almost like most mornings. I woke up early, sometime around 5 a.m. The only difference was that I was alone, in a hotel room. And I had the somewhat unnerving task of having to navigate through unfamiliar surroundings in order to find a trail which, oh by the way, was site of a 10- to 12-mile run.

I thought about skipping the run because the whole ordeal seemed overwhelming. But two things made me get out of bed and into my running clothes. One, I had navigated a much tougher run on a hard-to-find trail last year. Two, new blog buddy Rebecca of Running Becca had left a comment on Thursday's blog, recommending the Burke Gilman Trail. I'd asked her for more info and I'll be damned if she didn't send me the most detailed e-mail about how to get to the trail from where I was at and what to expect on the trail.

So I couldn't say no to my plans. Around 7:30 or so, I got dressed, got down to my rental car... and promptly got lost. I missed the on-ramp (my fault, not the instructions) and went around in a huge circle until I got back to where I started, and got it right. I was on the 99 North, which is a strange double-decker freeway. The northbound lanes are on top and the southbound lanes are on the level below.

After going through a tunnel, over a bridge, down a huge hill and winding through some narrow streets, I reached the Fred Meyer store I'd been instructed to park at. I ran inside and grabbed a Gatorade and some tape for my nips and went back to the car. After getting my fuel belt together and strapping on my phone, I was off. I walked up to the start of the trail, happy to start running.

Crap. I'd forgotten my Garmin. It was back on the dashboard in the car. After a short walk there and back, I hit reset on my feelings and the start of the run, and was off now for good. I had a smile on my face, probably an ear-to-ear grin. The trail was nice. Even though it wound through some industrial buildings, businesses, houses and busy streets, it was never a problem.

Right away, it was obvious I wasn't in my usual stomping grounds. For starters, it was about 50 degrees out. Also, the paved trail was nice, not too many of those down in SoCal. But the scenery was amazing. It's not every day I run next to a river or under bridges.


In her e-mail, Rebecca had mentioned the University of Washington, and I figured I was getting closer and closer to it since I saw a lot of younger runners, and younger people in general. I'm not sure exactly when I was on campus, or near it anyway. But we were. The one major giveaway: a football stadium:

I went right past Husky Stadium, and as luck would have it they'd have a game later in the day. Unfortunately for the locals, Washington lost 41-0 later in the day.

At this point, I was at around 4.5 miles. My plan was to run to 5 miles then turn around. But I felt good. I was actually healthy. I hadn't been feeling good earlier in the week and thus had been limited to just one run this week. I pushed past 5 and got to about 5.6 when I stopped to GU and turn around. At this point, I figured 11 and change would be good.

Now, I'd run past a strange sign on the way out so when I went back past it, I had to stop to take a picture.

The sign's message is what marathoners fear:

It's kind of an odd sign I have to say. I'll probably do some research on it and figure out what the heck that means or is... Rebecca had recommended I check out the Fremont Troll, which I've actually seen pictures of and have heard of but it seemed a bit too far out of the way and I didn't want to stray far from the trail. Of course, I kind of regretted it afterward because I was in Fremont and could have gotten to it but such is life.

And in case you were wondering either A) what a Honey Bucket was or B) why they're called Honey Buckets...

There was a Honey Bucket right by the Wall of Death. But it would have meant death for you had you desperately needed a Honey Bucket because it was locked.

The scenery was great. I was worried that the out-and-back would be mentally draining. But it wasn't. I enjoyed the same scenery the second time around as much as I did the first time.

Case in point:
I snapped this picture and then realized that it was right at the same spot where I took the first picture, next to the bridge. If you put these pics side by side, I'm pretty sure you can have some sort of panoramic shot.

Now, my legs were starting to feel heavy. While the run was fun and everything, I was feeling it in my legs. I was getting closer to Fred Meyer, so I was happy that my run was ending. But of course I couldn't be content with an 11.2 mile run so I extended my run a bit. I went past the parking lot, got to the end (or beginning) of the trail, went back, ran past the parking lot again, turned around at 11.9 and got in my 12 miles after all.

Panting, trying not to groan, I snapped this picture.


That was the sign that I first saw on my way out and then ran past (twice) on the end.

On my way up to Seattle, I'd intended to run the Cedar River Trail but ultimately having ran on the Burke Gilman Trail provided a similarly great experience. So that qualifies me as an experienced Seattleite, right? No? Okay, well, I have knocked out a total of 30 miles in this area so for that I'm happy.

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?

Topping My List

After having had time to reflect on my Cedar River Run (henceforth my Seattle 18-miler will be known as the Cedar River Run), I haven’t really been able to rank it in terms of memorable runs. I do this every now and then, to sort out what runs are my most memorable, which ones stand out in my memory as being a great, unforgettable adventure.

I did however force myself to differentiate runs between races and non-races. By nature, races are memorable. They're big occasions, things you train for and put energy into, and those memories just naturally stay with you. It’s a bit unfair to compare a race to a training run in that sense so the races would always win out.

So in terms of non-races, this run then has less competition although to be honest this was always going to be a memorable run, probably top three.

Right now, it’s definitely in my top five. Is it number one? That’s hard to say.

Among the previous memorable runs:

* Running four or five miles at the Parc du Mont-Royal in Montreal.

* Running through a sprawling, tree-lined park in the heart of Mexico City.

* Running across the Glen Canyon Dam in Page, Ariz.

* My first five-mile run, from my house to my mom’s house.

* The first time I ran 10 miles.

I think the first three and the Cedar River Run are in competition for number one

Now, had I tried to compare this to, say my Ragnar legs, my half-marathon or the Mud Runs, that would have been difficult to say where this ranked. But again, those were races I prepared diligently for and memorable for different reasons.

The Cedar River Run, of course, was one I prepared for and really approached like any other run - I'd focused on achieving my goal, determined to see it through. But it wasn't a race, obviously.

I managed to take a few pictures after the run, such as the one I posted on Sunday. I even shot a little video, but not sure if I'm going to post it. Maybe. Not sure.

Anyway, what do you think - do my hands look like wrinkled ape hands?

And this picture actually confirmed my actual finish time of 3 hours, 19 minutes, 21 seconds. When I was close to the finish, I thought about trying to make it a little past 18 miles, maybe like a tenth of a mile longer or not, but the moment The Garmin read 18.00, I shut that thing off and stopped. Screw that extra tenth of a mile.

And my feet, my poor aching feet.

This is back in my hotel room. My feet were sooo cold. I don't remember the last time my feet were that cold. The best thing about this picture is my toenail! It was particularly black. Awesome.

Anyway, compared with regular non-races, just with the conditions and the distance I ran this time around, it’s tough for the Cedar River Run not to be my most memorable run ever.

Whole New World

Some random thoughts and observations from my trip to Seattle:

I’m fairly certain that I was the only male on my plane reading Cooking Light magazine. I didn’t take a poll or anything but I’d bet good money that that was the case. The magazine, which I bought along with an Entertainment Weekly before my flight, isn’t something totally feminine like Good Housekeeping or something but it was discouraging to see all the ads for female products and the marketing towards women in Cooking Light. And worse, the cover was pink. But they have some awesome recipes in there so you take the good with the bad.

What’s up with all the numbered highways in Washington? That was strange. It seems there were more routes to take off the freeway than actual streets – WA-99, WA-518, WA-167, WA-169, WA-18… it was a bit confusing.

I’d never heard of these places before I went to Seattle: Renton, Burien, SeaTac, Maple Valley, Maplewood, Hobart, Tukwila. Some of those places seemed really rural, which is not a bad thing, just an observation. They weren’t rural like SoCal rural, where you are still part of a sizable population no matter where you live. In Washington, some of the places I passed through seemed small, quaint, lightly populated… rural. It was a bit appealing to be honest. I’m guessing the traffic there isn’t anything like the traffic we get in SoCal.

If you are ever traveling and want to find a good place to eat, you should check out Urbanspoon.com. I used that site when I went to Montreal and found some amazing eateries, simply amazing. And I wouldn’t have been able to make a decision on where to eat without it. I used Urbanspoon.com and found a place called Angelo’s in Burien on Saturday that had some fantastic Italian food and great service. I’m glad I did so because I needed some pasta and would have just settled for the first Italian restaurant I saw, or even worse something like Denny’s. But Angelo’s had awesome service (their constant stream of coffee warmed me up), great food (the Linguini a la Siciliano was delicious) and a nice atmosphere. The thing that makes Urbanspoon great is that it’s basically user-generated reviews and such as people vote whether they like the place or not. So when Angelo’s had 66 people saying they liked it and a high rating because of it, you knew it was going to be good. I’ll have to go there and give it a positive review as well.

I liked Downtown Seattle. I really don't care for Downtown Los Angeles, and I think that's the bar that I set for other downtowns I visit. It's a pretty low bar. I felt safe walking around the streets in Downtown Seattle, felt comfortable walking around, didn't feel like there were way too many cars or people to maneuver around amongst and things were clean and well-kept. Pretty much the opposite of Downtown LA.

This was the first time I went to Washington. I've now been to: California, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. And I had layovers at airports in Florida and Georgia, though Mrs. LB won't let me count that as actually visiting those states.

Sightseeing Seattle Style

My Seattle trip was for business and I was able to get my marathon-training run in, but I also found time to do a tiny bit of sightseeing, and I do mean tiny. Originally, I'd wanted to see about doing something after my run and before the game I was in town for, but my legs had other ideas on Sunday afternoon.

So I'm glad I took the time to check out a local sight when I first got in to town on Saturday morning. I actually sort of stumbled upon this place.

***

I drove around downtown and made my way towards the water. I actually wanted to find a bakery and have some coffee and maybe a bagel so I just parked my car and got about 40 minutes worth of time. I ended up walking towards the Public Market Center and was immediately drawn in.

This is the place famous for fish tossing. I'd seen it on television before and I was sucked in.

Someone from behind the counter tosses fish to someone standing outside, in Saturday's case this guy...

I tried but my camera was not strong enough to snap a pic of a flying fish. But it was entertaining nonetheless.

***

I don't like seafood but the Pike Place Fish Market was quite appealing nonetheless. It made me long for seafood, well, long to enjoy it actually. It was one of the few times where I wished I liked seafood. I just don't.

But look at the selection!

The prices aren't cheap for a lot of what's sold here but it just looks like it would be fresh and tasty, if prepared properly of course.

Crabs just seem completely unappealing to me, but if you're into crabs this is crab nirvana. I don't even know what dungeness crabs are but whatever they are, it probably looks good to crab lovers.

Octopus... gross! All slimy and slippery... but again if you're into octopus I imagine it would be nice and fresh here.

***
I wanted to share these pictures in particular with one of my readers. Jephy's Mom just happens to be a big connoisseur of these.

Not sure about her prawn of choice whether it's the Fresh Alaskan Spot variety or...

... the Jumbo White kind.

Whatever the case, she'd probably love to jam both hands into this...

I'd box some up and send some to you up in Canada, JM. Just don't know in what condition they'd arrive. Probably not edible. And smelly.

***
Afterward, I went to a couple of places inside and picked up a few things, then went across the street to a fruit stand and had some delicious pears.

All in all, a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

And I even got a picture of me in front of the market.

Motivational Mondays (Nov. 23)

I normally set Mondays aside for a Motivational Monday post, and while today is not exactly identical to other such posts, I believe this post to be quite motivational. So instead of postponing this a day to include something that is solely to motivate, I'll let this serve that purpose. It's long but it was a long run after all...

***
Sunday morning was not like any other morning. For one, I was in Seattle on a business trip. Add in my restless sleep and it was a unique start to the day. I first saw the alarm clock at about 3:20 a.m. and after that, I barely slept.

18 miles. And it's cold.

It had been rather chilly upon my arrival in the Emerald City on Saturday. I wore a beanie and gloves most of the day and was still rather cold. But this morning, I would have to deal with the cold and the rain somehow. I first look outside my hotel window before 4 a.m. and noticed a lack of rain, though the parking lot was quite wet. But every time I looked outside afterward, there was a steady drizzle.

The weather forecast had called for temperatures in the low 40s, rain and wind.

Great. As if I need something else to deal with.

The thought of the wind jarred me out of bed sometime around 6:30. The wind was supposed to start blowing hard where I would run, the Cedar River Trail, sometime around 10 or 11 that morning, so I realized that the sooner I left, the more likely it would be to avoid that.

Time to get dressed.

Pushing thoughts of how drenched I would get aside, I got dressed. First, I taped the nips. Last thing I need is to have that rear its ugly head again. Then, I put on my skin-tight undershirt. On top of that, the moisture wicking shirt I picked up on Friday. Then, my brand-new jacket I got as a gift on Saturday at the stadium. I wore my running underwear, one of my better pairs of shorts, a new pair of socks that was supposed to keep my feet dry and my shoes. Got my gloves as well, a hat, Gu, The Garmin, fuel belt.

I walked outside and was surprised to feel that it wasn't the blast of cold ice I expected. Counting that as good fortune, I got in the car and zipped off to find the start point.

Now where is that place?

I was looking for a road that I ultimately must have passed up. Two freeways had spilled me onto the road I was on now, but there was no sign of the next street. But I spotted my destination, the Cedar River Trail, and remembered reading how there were parking spots all along the course, so an opening ahead adjacent to the trail was where I finally parked the car.

You ready for this?

It was around 7:20 or so by the time I parked. The rain had not let up but it was mostly a drizzle, nothing like Ray Bradbury's Hard Rain. I turned on The Garmin, got my Gu together, filled up the fuel belt bottles with Gatorade and stepped outside.

Aw, this ain't bad.

Initially, it wasn't. Yes, it was cold. Much colder than I'm used to during my Sunday morning runs. But I wasn't quite a ball of ice. I felt good. Prepared.

Let's do this.

After several steps along the trail, I took off. I didn't want to run fast but I guess I couldn't help it. My pace was under nine minutes when I looked at The Garmin the first time, so I slowed down. I suppose it was the anxiety and pent-up energy I was releasing.

The trail cut a path between the road I'd taken and a series of houses. Above, the sky was a gray canopy of moisture. Beyond that, there were unconfirmed reports of a sun but I never was able to verify the existence of said sun. The canopy couldn't hold all its moisture so we benefited from that underneath. Leaves covered the trail, but aside from a few puddles the trail was visually enticing.

Somewhere, my Lopers are running under sunny skies.

Of course, the Lopers were running their own 18-mile course, and while it was the same distance as I'd run, my run was not quite like theirs. Still, I felt strengthened knowing that they were out there tackling their own 18-run monster.

Oh my. Look at that.

There up ahead, loudly announcing its presence, was the Cedar River in all its glory. This wasn't the streams we have at home. This was a bona fide river, slicing a path between evergreen trees and other weathered vegetation. I felt humbled by the river. I wanted to salute or somehow acknowledge the mighty river, but just kept running. I wondered how many people had depended on this river, in this very spot, 400 years ago. 500 years ago.

Aw man, don't do this now.

Jarring my memories of some scantily-clad natives taking fish out of the river was silence. I'd had my iPod on but suddenly it ceased playing music. The iPod is almost four years old, and it's been through a lot so it goes out on me often. But this was not the time to be left alone. I ran about a half mile when I decided that it was worth the effort to take it off and try and reset it. Careful not to allow water on my shirt, I zipped open the jacket long enough to take the iPod out of the carrier and reset it. Once it got going again, I placed it inside the jacket pocket.

Stupid thing.

Up ahead, I saw a figure. I'd been alone on the trail the whole time and wondered if anyone else was out there somewhere, running towards or away from me. But this confirmed that indeed I was not alone. The figure ahead was moving quickly towards me, running at a much faster pace than me and we said hello to each other when we crossed paths. I smiled broadly.

I'm not the only crazy guy out here, I guess.

I was past the six-mile mark and had not been running an hour yet. Probably too fast of a pace but figured I'd start to take it easy. The trail now had snaked underneath a bridge and spilled me out on the other side when...

Hey, that lady looks familiar.

Coming to a halt off her own run was someone I'd seen pictures of just recently. Kerrie of mom vs. Marathon was smiling, saying hi and I smiled back, surprised to have seen her. She introduced me to her running partner, Zoe of Run Zoe Run, and we chatted briefly about the weather. It hadn't really rained on Saturday but of course now it was raining.

"It's okay, though. I might as well experience Washington and what it's all about. Bring it," I told the two local ladies.

We posed for a quick picture or four. Kerrie's phone couldn't quite get us all in frame but finally a sideways tilt of the phone worked wonders. She was gracious enough to share the picture with me.

We parted ways and I was once again on my own. I was not quite yet at seven miles but I felt energized, invigorated, enthralled by having ran across Kerrie. It's a moment I'll carry with me forever.

And she has no choice but to run in this crap.

Quite true. Kerrie and Zoe and the other Seattle bloggers I'd stumbled upon have no choice but to run in the rain. Next week in fact is a half-marathon that I believe they are all training for. Kerrie and Zoe had already ran about nine or 10 miles by the time I'd caught up to them. I'm lucky. And I felt guilty telling them that my marathon was going to be in Huntington Beach. The low that day is usually 48 degress, in other words, about eight degrees warmer than it was when I stepped out of the car this morning.

Okay, that really sucks.

The iPod had stopped once more. I tried to resuscitate it but no luck. The screen looked strange, and since it couldn't and wouldn't last even half the distance, I decided to scrap it and do the run myself. Quickly, I came upon a gazebo that was off the path a bit. I was at around 8.92 miles and figured I'd run to it, and when I got to 9.0 miles, I stopped to take a drink and gather myself.

Now you just have to run back to the car.

While it wasn't that easy, that's what I needed to do. The scenery had changed a bit. I was still near the river but I'd taken a path under a bridge so I was on the other side of the street from where I'd started. The rain was still a pleasant companion and had started to take its toll on me. My shoes had been fine up until that point. My feet were becoming increasingly cold and I don't know if it was water and cold or just the cold temperatures but they were certainly cold.

Soon, I had gone underneath the bridge once more and was back on the other side of the street. I wondered where Kerrie and Zoe had gone off to. I pictured a dry, warm setting with coffee and conversation... precisely the opposite of my own experience.

swish swish, swish swish, swish swish, swish swish
thud thud, thud thud, thud thud, thud thud

Who needed the iPod when I had my own jacket and shoes to make a unique brand of music? Okay, it was sound, not really music, but it was rhythmic.

I was slowing down. I was nearing Mile 12 and was at or close to two hours. By the time The Garmin read 12.0 miles, I was on the north side of 2 hours. My thought of finishing the run in under three hours was gone, and even though it wasn't much of a goal, I wondered how long I'd run.

You've never ran more than three straight hours before. You gonna make it?

My feet were increasingly colder. No longer did I have shoes and socks but rather a mass of cold. I tried to ignore it until, at around mile 14, I couldn't any more.

My feet hurt.

I admitted my pain but I didn't want to think about my feet. I didn't want to think about my legs or my back or my arms or anything. I tried to stay focused, tried to use the bill of my hat as a target, to keep my eyes directly underneath and pointing forward. No use in worrying about my feet. There would be time to worry about them afterward.

Three more miles. Come on man, you laugh at three miles.

While I don't think of three-mile runs as a joke, I do quite often run more than three miles. Actually, most every time out I cross the 3.0-mile mark. But this time, of course, I'd already had 15 miles under my belt. And then there was the rain. The relentless rain. It was mostly a drizzle to be honest. A drizzle that at times grew a bit stronger. And other times it even cleared up. But it would have taken a long time to fill a bucket with rainwater under this sort of drizzle.

But it was enough to drench you after it pelted you for nearly three hours. And drenched I was. I couldn't feel what part of my face was sweat and what part was rain. My hat had served its purpose, taking the brunt of the rain and keeping it out of my eyes. I never got a drop of rain that hit me in the eyes.

The river was now more audible than it was when I'd had my iPod but I couldn't hear it too much over the shouts from my body. The trees and vegetation that had greeted me on my way out were now encouraging me to finish despite the rain's attempt to slow me down.

Two more miles. That's nothing.

I had been stopping for short walk breaks every mile for the last few miles. It grew harder to do so, simply because I had to start running again, usually with an audible grunt. My cold feet were not responding well to the constant pounding and my pace was slow. But I had to power through that. I thought of my blog buddies, my loyal readers who are there to support me in all my running adventures. I thought of the new Seattle-area bloggers I found, how helpful and encouraging they'd been and how great it was to have met a pair of them. I thought of the Lopers, who were probably done at that point, celebrating their own conquest. And I thought of my family and how Yvie had wished me good luck on my run on Friday before I said bye to her.

There was absolutely no way I was going to let any of them down. Nope. Not a chance. I might have been in pain, might have been cold and wet and tired and achy but I was going to finish this run no matter what. That's one thing I've learned throughout my running. I don't do this just for myself. I feel it's an obligation of mine to see my runs through for my friends and family. I refuse to fail, to fall short and then have to explain myself to anybody. That's just not an option.

Like a carrot dangling in front of a horse, I saw my car up ahead. I knew I could do it. The Garmin had read 17.55 the last time I'd looked at it but I did not let my gaze wander down until I got to a bridge very close to where I'd started. I slogged to the bridge, feet aching.

17.95

Oh my God! I'm so close.

A few more painful steps later and The Garmin read 18.0.

Oh, I'm done. It's over.

I shut The Garmin off, panted audibly and groaned a few times as I tried to gather my footing.

You did it.

18 Cold, Wet Miles

I did it! I got in my 18-mile run here in Seattle this morning!

It was not easy, let me tell you that. I'm still shivering, and I've been done with my run for more than 40 minutes. I'm back in my hotel room, trying to get warm, but it feels good to have done it.

I will have a full run recap probably tomorrow so please keep an eye out for that. But for now, I do want to hit on some of the highlights:

* The rain and cold were tough challenges, but once I was out there running, I didn't really mind them too much to be honest. It wasn't until after I took my first few steps after I crossed the 18-mile mark that I realized "Oh, I'm quite cold now." I realized I was drenched well before that.

* I ran into one of my blog buddies! Kerrie of mom vs. Marathon had initially recommended the Cedar River Trail, and lo and behold she was on it! She was running with Zoe, another blogger whom I shall now follow. Kerrie took a picture and I'm anxious to see what it looks like. It was around the 6.5 mile mark so I was still fresh. Had she taken it at the 16.5 mile mark, I would have looked like crap. But they were awesome and it was a real treat to meet them.

* I'll describe it more in detail later but the Cedar River Trail is stunningly gorgeous. I ran right next to the Cedar River, a real river, not like the rivers we have in SoCal which are glorified streams.

* I managed to take a few pictures of myself but I'll share this one right now. It was about five minutes after my run and I was starting to feel it pretty bad alright.

I think my biggest mistake was not taking a change of clothes with me, or at least a change of socks. My feet are still blocks of ice right now and I think causing me to shiver. And that new (free!) jacket really worked wonders, although it's probably a size too big. But I really didn't care. It protected me well and is now my official rain jacket. The hat was also a god-send. I never got rain in my eyes, not once, and it probably rained about 80-90 percent of the time during my run.

Oh yeah, I finished in about 3 hours 18 minutes. A snail's pace, I know, but under the circumstances that was a great time for me.

Anyway, just wanted to give you the news now. I'll give you the details tomorrow so please come back for them.

In the meantime, I'm going to try melt my blocks of ice that are at the ends of my legs.

UPDATE: I warmed up okay but am still feeling it. I get winded easily after short walks, especially up stairs. Whew.

Also, check out my "guest appearance" in Kerrie's write-up on her blog! Awesome stuff!

Saturday Night Update!

I'm in Seattle, probably going to bed soon but just wanted to give you an update.

It's cold! But the great news... it wasn't very rainy today. That is awesome news for tomorrow. It was drizzly at times but mostly it wasn't even raining... at least in the morning. As the day grew on, the water started to come down but it wasn't pouring rain like I feared.

Of course, that could all change in the morning but let's all keep our fingers crossed on that one.

I also caught a bit of luck today as I was able to secure a jacket, a nice jacket to run in. How awesome is that? And best of all - it was free! I'll have to tell you the story on that one later, but for now I'm just relishing my good fortune. I had brought a jacket with to run in, but I feared it would be too bulky and too warm, but this new one is perfect. It might be a shade too big - it's a size large but it feels bigger than that - but it will work for Sunday morning.

Anyway, just wanted to give you an update on my day. Let's hope the weather cooperates tomorrow morning, but rain or heavy rain, I'll be out on the trail tomorrow morning.

One more thing: I was able to get in a little bit of sightseeing this morning.

But that will be for another blog post in the near future.

Up And At 'Em

I'm packed and ready to go.

My flight leaves around 6:30 a.m. PT which means a really early morning for me, but that's fine. I don't mind really. I've got all my gear with me, plus all my work stuff and I should be pretty much set for a weekend in Seattle. I even went out and bought a moisture wicking shirt for about 10 bucks and it will immediately get thrown into the rotation.

I must say, I feel very prepared for Sunday, for the 18-mile run I must get through on Sunday morning. Having found some awesome bloggers who are based in Seattle has really helped, as I've reached out to them and they've been friendly in answering my questions. They're probably 'Who's this crazy guy from California?' but have been kind enough in answering my questions and helping me out.

Two of them suggested the Cedar River Trail, and you know that means it has to be good. I'd found another trail but this one popped up twice so if it's been doubly recommended, it must be good.

Best part is, it's very accessible from my hotel.

Point A is my hotel and Point B is a parking spot along the trail. There are several but that's one on the one end of it that seems accessible, so I'm going to ahead and try to park there.

The whole trail is about 17 miles, and 12 of it is off roads. This end appears to be the one of the starting points and I could conceivably run out nine miles and turn around and go back. That way, I could avoid the part of the trail that runs alongside a highway.

However it ends up, I feel this will be a great experience for me and will make for a great story (hopefully). I'll try not and pretend that I'm running towards the elusive and possibly non-existent Sun Dome, as was the case in The Long Rain. Well, I think the Lieutenant finally found one but it took quite a long time.

Anyway, thanks to Kerrie of mom vs. Marathon, Mel of Tall Mom On The Run and Amanda at 5 Miles 2 Empty, a trio of Seattle-area based bloggers who were very helpful and all of my regular readers for their support and suggestions.

Now all I have to do is get out and run!

Oh yeah, and I do have some actual work to do when I get into Seattle on Saturday. So I guess I have to do that first and then I can get out and run!

My Seattle Plan

As you know, I'll be in the Emerald City this week. And as you know, I have to run a long ways on Sunday. As in 18 miles. As in three miles longer (okay, 2.62 to be precise) than my previous longest run ever.

Am I worried? Kind of, yeah. The distance alone intimidates me, but having to run it in a city I've never been to, in a state I've never been to, well, that kind of compounds the uncertainty. But what most worries me is not the locale but rather the weather.

I've been following the weather for the last week or so and it's been fairly consistent: lows in the low 30s, highs in the upper 40s and rain.

Sunday's forecast calls for rain with a 40 percent of precipitation. In fact, the forecast says showers are possible. Now, I don't know what the rain is like in Seattle, if it's a steady drizzle or steady downpour or what. I'm hoping that it will be off and on, so that at least during part of my run I won't be running in a straight downpour.

Actually, I hope the skies clear up on Sunday morning but I know if I hope that I will only be disappointed if and when I run through the rain. It'll be discouraging.

With rain of course comes the chance of being drenched from head to toe. Not that I don't necessarily mind that but it will change things up for me. For instance, I'm not quite sure what to wear. And I'm not quite sure what not to wear. Should I take my iPod and The Garmin, for instance? People in Seattle run all the time and from what I've been reading of the blogs I've been paying close attention to this week, runners there seem to be able to manage their electric equipment just fine in the cold and rain.

Actually, one blogger suggested the following for me: "for the cold... ear covers, gloves, tights and layers. In the rain you need moisture wicking fabric and a hat."

I don't have ear covers per se but I have a beanie, and I'm going to take it with me. I have gloves and layers, but no tights. Hmmm... I wonder if Yvie will let me wear some of her tights... oh, not those kind of tights. I don't have any moisture-wicking fabric but I do have a hat. Lots of hats. I just need to find the right kind. Although, a beanie and a hat? Well, I guess it's for the best. I suppose I could wear a small hat under a beanie and then that wouldn't look too strange.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll figure it out. I've thought about a couple of things for the run. I have to fuel up of course and my hydration belt will make things easier. I've got plenty of Gu packets to hold me over. I just wonder if the bottles will be able to hold me over. I've thought about running past a convenience store or something and stopping to rest and refuel but we'll see.

Still, no matter how I picture it, I keep going back to the rain. The dreaded rain. Why must it rain? It's probably not going to be as bad as I think it will be, but still... I imagine it being pretty bad. Maybe it's the short story I read in high school, Ray Bradbury's The Long Rain. You ever read it?

Well, here's the first paragraph of the short story:

"The rain continued. It was a hard rain, a perpetual rain, a sweating and steaming rain; it was a mizzle, a downpour, a fountain, a whipping at the eyes, an undertow at the ankles; it was a rain to drown all rains and the memory of rains. It came by the pound and the ton, it hacked at the jungle and cut the trees like scissors and shaved the grass and tunneled the soil and molted the bushes. It shrank men's hands into the hands of wrinkled apes; it rained a solid glassy rain, and it never stopped."

That's kind of what I picture Sunday's rain to be like. It probably won't be that bad, but I have an image similar to that in my head.

I suppose that's one way to look at it, make it seem like the worst thing ever and then when it doesn't bottom out like you thought, it won't seem so bad.

But as long as I get in my 18 miles (!) I should be fine. Even if my hands look like wrinkled ape hands.

Fine Fifteen

Before I get into my post, I have to say that I'm hoping to get back to shooting some new Cooking With Yvie episodes this week. I apologize to you loyal readers/viewers for no new shows. The girls got sick and were sick for a while and that ruined a good Halloween show I'd planned on doing. I thought it would be nice to have the girls dress up in their uniforms and make a Halloween recipe. Anyway, I really will make it an effort to shoot a new show this week as Yvie and I both need to get back to that.

I just got back from my long run. We were scheduled to run 15 miles today, and that's what we did. Actually, it was 15.38 (I can't cheat myself out of those .38 miles, you know). I think this was officially my longest run ever. The last time I ran 15 miles, The Garmin gave out on me during Mile 5 so I wasn't able to properly record the distance that day. Today, though, The Garmin plowed right through to the end, just like I did.

Actually, The Garmin wasn't the only thing that wasn't up for 15 miles two weeks ago. I remember dragging through the last couple of miles and by the time we were done, I was done. I was spent, drained, exhausted. I remember collapsing on the grass out of sheer fatigue. But today was different. I felt strong, very strong. In fact, I felt so strong that I thought about getting in some extra mileage today but decided against it. See, next week I'll be up in Seattle and I have to crank out an 18-miler that day as part of my marathon training.

Today started off pretty chilly. Temperatures were in the mid-40s when we met up and that's ice-cold for me. To me, anything under 60 degrees is quite chilly... yeah, I get no sympathy from my out-of-town readers, I know. Anyway, it was cold this morning but the only difference I made was to wear my gloves. I didn't wear long pants or a long-sleeve shirt or anything, just my gloves. I figured that if I started running and got hot, it would be easier to just take the gloves off.

And I like wearing gloves. I wore them a lot last winter, and today was really the first day I needed them since then as it's been a warm fall... if you can even call it fall... thus far. But today was definitely fall weather, although the sun was shining on us throughout the run.

I felt good, never felt cold, never felt the weather at all. I was surprised when we reached the turnaround mark, right around 7.7 miles or so, because I felt reallly good. I had used a Gu packet at Mile 5 and another one at Mile 10 (Vanilla Bean, yum!) and started to wonder if I'd hit the wall at around Mile 12 or 13. But we got to 12.9 miles when we got to the last water station and I was surprised that I felt like I had energy to burn.

One of my Loper buddies I'd been running with and talking to was complaining of stomach pain so I stayed with her as the rest of our diminished group went up ahead. But she fought through it and by the last mile or so we were running good. She sprinted down the stretch but I still had the foolish thought in mind that I wanted to keep running so I held back for a moment until I reached the end, and then I just figured it would be best to quit while I was ahead.

We finished our 15.38 miles in just under 2 hours 44 minutes, and I think the difference in how I felt today from last time was the weather. It wasn't boiling hot two weeks ago but it was a lot warmer than it was today.

Even though I know I could have ran more, I figured it would be best to bottle up that energy and take it with me to the Emerald City. In fact, while I was originally worried about the weather (forecast for next Sunday is a high of 47 degrees, possible chance of rain) I'm now encouraged by it. If a 10-degree change made such a difference in how I felt, I think I could similarly benefit by another slight dip in temperature.

The best part about having to figure out how to run 18 miles in Seattle was stumbling across new blogs. It seems the running blogosphere in the Northwest is quite strong. I came across mom vs. Marathon first and then went on to read Lisa runs? Wait... what? (she's actually in Northern California) and then Tall Mom on the Run and 5 Miles 2 Empty. Awesome blogs and I look forward to keeping up with their own running exploits. And there are even more blogs they all follow so I'll be busy checking out new running blogs. Sweet.

Anyway, I'm pumped now about knocking out what will be my longest run ever (I have a lot of those lately) in a new city. About the only thing that kinda bums me out is that the Seattle Marathon/Half-Marathon is scheduled for Nov. 29, a week after I'll be there. How awesome would it have been to run a half-marathon in Seattle?!? Oh well, maybe another day.

For now, I'll have my own little 18-mile party in Seattle. And that's not a bad consolation prize.