Getnout

Getnout is the name of my husband's blog, and sort of our family motto. We're never home. I took Friday and Saturday off, but I did run on Thursday - on the treadmill at the gym. I usually don't like to do that when there's such a big world out there to run in, but it always kicks my speed into gear when I feel like I've been running slow. And it's a great place to do speedwork because you can't cheat. And going to the gym, inevitably means I'll end up lifting more.

I did a lot of walking on Friday. The kids and I took the water taxi downtown and spent the day at pike place. We then went up to westlake to listen to a band play at lunch time - Andy O - great Caribbean music. I remember going out to clubs in college when the lead singer used to be in another band called Jumbalassy. The good ol' days. The band was great though. The city puts on an 'out to lunch' concert series at parks throughout the city all summer long. For free - free is always good. And they were giving away some sort of promotional ice-cream bars - free is good with my kids when it comes to ice-cream. After we'd hung out there long enough, we wandered down to the market. I don't mean any market - pike place is big - very very big. We wandered for 4 hours through the market, and you can never really see all of it. Pike Place is a legendary tourist attraction that everyone should see once in their lifetime. Most people come to see the guys throwing fish - it's highly entertaining. Pike place is fun any time of the year, but very busy in the summer. There are several levels and it continues across the street through all sorts of alleys and twists and turns. There is more international food in the market than anywhere I've ever seen. For lunch we had piroshky, egg rolls, and rainier cherries - and sat and people-watched while we ate. The kids are drawn to all sorts of things at the market - especially the street perfomers. There was one guy doing the hoola-hoop while he simultaneously played his guitar and his harmonica. I never got a picture of that guy - but lots of others. The first ever Starbucks is out in front of pike place too. I don't usually venture in there - it's probably the busiest starbucks in a city that is highly saturated with them. You can actually see the heads of two of our children in the photo as they're standing there listening to the guys singing on the sidewalk. These guys sounded like they'd come from the Louisiana.






I was a long day - we had a blast. I'm worn out fighting with blogger, trying to download - upload (whichever) photos, and I haven't even talked about my run. Pike Place is such a blast, that I got sidetracked. Come to the city. Do the market thing - you'll love it.

But my run this morning was absolutely phenomenal!!!!!! I got up at 5:00 and headed out. (I wanted to do that yesterday, but too many margaritas friday night prevented that - but it was well-worth it - I really needed the margaritas. ) Okay, okay, my run. The sky was all pink when I opened the door - off to a good start. And as I headed down the street, still undecided of where I'd go, I saw the cruise ship and got all excited. I know I've said it before, but I love watching these things pull into port.

So, off I headed. I have to go over a waterway to get to the waterfront, if that makes sense - I live on sort of a penisula - not really, just sort of. But I go over this bridge and watch the tugs puttering around, the fishermen heading out, and mount rainier looming in the distance. Beautiful morning. As I got down to the pier, the cruise ship had actually turned out in the bay, and was backing in to the pier. I haven't a clue how they steer those things. It's funny with such a big boat that I didn't see that many people. There was security, not all that many crew milling about, and only a handful of people standing out on deck. I did see a guy that looked like he was out for his morning run or maybe a stroll. I wondered what his impression was of coming in to the port - does he live here? first time? It just seemed odd that there weren't that many curious cruisers out for a glimpse - I know it was early, but wouldn't you wanna wake up and look? So, I continued on my way. The first part of my run had been in a somewhat industrial area, and I always feel bad going by the homeless people. I was on a bike path, and when they pitch their tent for the night, they gotta know that people come by, but still - I always make sure I'm extra quiet so I don't disturb them. My next several miles cover the hub of the waterfront. I passed Coleman dock where a ferry was unloading from somewhere, and people were venturing off to tend to their day. There are always a mix of people around on the sidewalks. It ranges . . from the cab drivers all clustered with their slacks and crisp shirts, chatting away while they wait for passengers . . to people scurrying with a paper cup of coffee in hand, to people who've definitely been there all night . . People who were headed in to work for the day, and freshly watered hanging planters dripped along the sidewalks. Further along people were boarding the clipper boat en route to Victoria, BC. I finally reached the two parks that join end to end at the other side of town. Someone had taken rocks and make 'cairns' or as native alaskans call them 'inukshuks', all along the shore line. It was amazing - there must've been over a hundred of them. I need to go back and take a picture. The Olympic mountains loomed out across the water, and I could actually make out the lower foothills - all grassy like. It reminded me of the Sound of Music - like you could just run through the hills next to the snow-capped mountains. I finally make it to the drinking fountain at just under 7 miles, and turned around to reverse the route back home. Oh, and I ran through ALL o f the sprinklers in the park. I love running in the summer. And I really really love running through the sprinklers. I made it home with a sore hamstring and a couple of blisters - I wore the wrong socks. I was joking with my husband about seeing the chiropractor. The thing is - I wonder why just one hamstring is sore. It's not like I was running on a banked track or a burmed bike trail - I was running on the sidewalk and a paved bike trail. I'm thinking if I went to the chiropractor, he could even me out - you know, do some pushing and pulling on my legs to align things. But then I wondered . . . would I then have two sore hamstrings, or no sore hamstrings?

Reaching home, I grabbed yesterday's and today's newspaper - and yesterday's mail (we were busy yesterday). As I walked up the steps and surfed through the mail, I found something for Ginger Breadman. Hilarious. It's not my real name. That was obvious, wasn't it? Maybe not. But I do run races under that name. It's such a hoot. Especially to run races on Halloween in a gingerbread man costume, and go to pick up my number. I stand at the check-in table and say, "Breadman, Ginger?" They grab your packet, turn back around to hand it to you, and suddenly it all clicks for them. The moment is priceless.