I'm famous!

A lot of people pay big money to have their name/company come up first in a search engine. We had a good laugh when we googled 'ginger breadman' yesterday. When we scanned further down the list, it came up a few more times, but on Angie's blog - she or someone else referring to me. Pretty funny.









What a great summer weekend we had. Seafair was this weekend, so there were hydroplanes buzzing on the lake and planes in the air all weekend. For 4 days, The US Navy Blue Angels fly right over our house - it's such a rush how fast and loud they go. The first time they flew over one of the kids said, "I could see the words on the plane!" My husband responded with, "From the deck at work we could see the pilot inside the plane." It's really amazing. Saturday morning we ventured down to the lake where we could catch a glimpse of the hyrdroplane races, but get a really great view of the air show. The jets go screaming right over your head. For us, it's a huge tradition, but also a symbol that the end of summer is drawing near. Saturday night after the kids were in bed, we could see fireworks over the hill above the Seafair festivities. We snuck the kids out of bed and brought them to the living room window to watch. It was one of those priceless moments as parents. Standing there listening to the kids ooooh and aaaah and discuss the fireworks, and relish in the privilege to be out of bed and see something special. My husband and I just looked at each other and smiled.

I got up early for my Sunday run. I ran one of my favorite courses - water, water, everywhere. I did a short loop in West Seattle so I could stand at Hamilton Viewpoint on the northern tip of the hill and look out across the bay to where I'd be in a couple of hours. The cruise ships were heading to the port terminal, the fishing boats were in abundance, and the sky was pink behind the city skyline. I ran across the Seattle waterfront along Elliot Bay, up the hill to the magnolia bluffs with Panoramic views of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. The was an eagle sitting out on a tree snag enjoying the view with me. I ran on some trails through Discovery Park - the largest park in Seattle. I ran down across the Chittenden Locks, and continued along Salmon Bay and the ship canal. I hooked up with another runner who was out for a long run and not too familiar with the trail. We ran a couple of miles together and chatted about running and which marathons we'd done. I finished up at Gasworks Park on Lake Union. I love that course. There is so much life out there on the water and on the path - so much going on as the city awakens.

I did a few things different this run. I tried to hyrdrate. Sort of a new concept for me. I usually just get by with a few drinking fountains carefully planned along a 20 mile course. This time as I trotted along my first mile or two, I munched on a packet of clif blocks, and I brought a hydration pack with me. I stashed several gels in various places as well. So, I had electrolyte fuel at miles 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 & 18. I took gels at 9, 12, 15, & 18 as well. So, lots more stuff than I usually have. I have to note here, I usually feel fine on my long runs. I like to be sort of a minimalist. I don't take music on my long runs either. But after my stomach problems at Capitol City, I'm trying to adjust a little before the next marathon. I think it helped. I felt just as good as I usually do on my long runs, but I ran a lot faster, and I recovered a lot faster. You'd think that maybe I could've figured all this out a long time ago. I just hate carrying hydration stuff. But yesterday, I didn't even seem to notice. Other than a slow first mile, I was able to run my 21 mile on a casual Sunday morning at a pace faster than I averaged during my last marathon on a race course with other people. (granted, yes, it was 5 miles shorter) And I felt really relaxed, and even cut down my last couple of miles. I've been doing speedwork and pace work, maybe that helped. I've been lifting a little, maybe that helped. I swam at the pool on Friday night. Doubt that did anything for my physical running ability 2 days later, I just wanted to say that I did it. I also just came off of my highest mileage week so far, with no rest on Saturday like I usually do before a long run. I refuse to admit that I denied this hydration for so long and that it was such a simple thing and that it had amazing benefits. Maybe it was all a fluke. I mean, we're talking I do a lot of my long runs say . . . 9:20 - 9:40 pace, and I just did my longest one at an average 8:28 pace without any extra effort. I was flying high about it yesterday. I think I oughtta rein it back in - don't wanna jinx anything before my next race. I think I'm partly excited because maybe, just maybe, hard work and training and diligence pays off. 'I' this, 'I' that, 'I' think, 'I', 'I', 'I' . . . I suppose it's my blog but that's enough about me for a moment. Something really cool about yesterday was my family -

I'm training for a marathon in 3 weeks, and another one in the fall. My husband is training for a half marathon in 4 weeks, and a sprint tri 3 weeks after that. I have 2 10k's scheduled in there somewhere. And we have 3 kids. It's a lot of training time to schedule. Sunday mornings are the long ones. While I was out enjoying the sunrise and watching the boats, my husband was dragging 3 kids outta bed at 7 am on a Sunday morning during their summer vacation. He was packing dry clothes for me, loading up all of the replacment drinks I'd stashed in water bottles in the frige. He was packing my food to have when I was done, so I'd make it through the rest of the day. He was getting the kids some breakfast, helping them choose snacks to bring in the car, and making them cocoa in 'to go' cups. Oh, yeah, he was getting ready for HIS long run too - he had a 13 miler planned, the longest he'd run in probably 10 years. He drove a half hour to meet me at the park. I felt like we were at an aid station along an ultra course - take off the hydration pack, refill it, add some more gel packs, I was changing into dry clothes . . . and then he headed out. The kids had been playing in the park with my husband, but hadn't had enough, so we hiked up this mini-hill and stood looking out over Lake Union with the city behind it, and watched the float planes take off, one after another. Gasworks park has an old refinery with some parts that were leftover and painted that you can walk through. What a beautiful day. We ran through some sprinklers, then headed out to the next stop where we'd pick up my husband. He ran along a paved trail that heads out to the north end of Lake Washington. We skirted the lake and ended up at another park to play. This one had a long dock we could walk out on and watch the boaters heading out to watch the hydroplane races. Nearby we watched three eagles flying in and out of a large tree at the shore. It was so cool to hear them crying to one another. What amazing creatures they are.

The kids played in the grass and under the trees and by the shore. What better things for a kid? My husband and I got in some amazing running, and our little troopers went from park to park, seeing a little bit of life out there in the world. The kids got the role-modeling of parents who value exercise and goals, and a family supporting one another. I imagine someday when they're grown, they'll say to one another, "Remember those Sunday mornings when mom and dad did long runs and we got to go to all of those parks and see cool stuff?" Because last Sunday we did the same thing, and there are many Sundays that we do the same thing, just different parks. The kids got cocoa, we went out for coffee when all the hydration bottles were emptied, and we were all home by noon. Life is good.