Urban Running

So today we trekked into Seattle and started our run from Gasworks Park. I had never been there before and was eager to see it. As we started from the parking lot though, I had to do my sight seeing post run.

The day was absolutely amazingly beautiful. After nearly a week of rain which I think was contributing to my bad attitude (well along with the PMS) it was awesome to see the sunshine. Even though I was up before the sun, I had a beautiful drive in and was teezing fritties before we got started, it didn't take long to find a rhythm, settle in and enjoy the Pacific Northwest on a sunny day. The most amazing news was that our meager team of 600 has raised nearly $400,000 to date so we've nearly reached our goal of half a million. We're still not there though so if you've yet to make your donation it's not too late (http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/rnrseatl09/awestwood).

As for me personally, I'm experiencing my best season to date. The training is going amazingly well (I logged almost 75 miles last month, a new record) and I've started the weekday attempts at early rising to get my runs in pre-work so I have more energy during the day and more time in the evening with my family. So far I've managed to get one in, mostly because I couldn't fathom running first thing in the morning with dumping buckets of rain on me on Thursday. This week though, the goal is Tuesday am run (so I can yoga with my boss at lunch) and Thursday am run (so I can walk with one of the mentors in the pm). April's goal is 125 miles!

The fundraising though has also been fantastic! I'm bonding with my teammates on a new level and meeting some truly amazing people. This morning as I was running I encountered Stu. He came up behind me with the traditional "GO TEAM" and we proceeded to swap event histories and such. I asked him how many marathons he'd done and he told me a staggering 26. 26, I couldn't believe it! So you must assume he's a fellow in his mid 50's who got started early on but you'd be wrong. He's 76 and he didn't start running until he was 47. The guy left me in the dust. He was totally awesome and paced with me for awhile.

I've included some photos from today's run from the park and surrounding area. I didn't take my camera with me and I didn't have it in me to go back out on the course to take some shots but these are still pretty cool and hopefully entertaining.

GO TEAM!