A good-ass run

Today's run made up for everything bad I had to say about all the other runs this week. I think I'm starting to look at my long run as my fun run. For some reason 6 miles seems a lot less painful than 3 or 4. Although, the wind today was not necessarily the most fun thing ever. It turns out that running into a headwind is just as tiring and energy consuming as flying, driving or biking into one. On the plus side, I did get a little boost from the tailwind in some places.

There are three distinct groups of people out on the Seattle streets today.

First, the gays and the PFLAGs. Today was pride day, which means a big parade down 4th Ave this morning and a big, gay party at the Seattle Center (that's where we store the Space Needle) for the rest of the day. The start of my run took me right past the SC, and I saw many, many celebrants. I wonder, is "a straight guy would never dress like that" an approved method of identifying gay men? Probably not. Basically, my first mile was spent waiting at stop lights and dodging the gays. Also, Denny Way is much hillier than I notice it being when I'm in a car. Running up it from the Westlake/Denny intersection was a wonderfully challenging way to start off my run. Make sure to re-read that sentence with the appropriate amount of sarcasm, please.

Miles two to five were mostly populated by our second group: Seattle Sounder FC fans. For some reason, it seemed like half the fans from today's game went to the park for a nice walk after the Sounders' win. There was a sea of fluorescent, lime green, XBox 360 emblazoned jerseys. They were mostly slow moving, but they made up in their lack of speed with the size of their herds. Meaning, I found the sidewalk blocked many times and had to take to the grass to get around them.

The park was also inhabited by lots of other people, including several other runners one of whom actually acknowledged me. I feel some solidarity with other runners when I'm out there, but I seem to be the only one. I try to give a quick nod or smile when we're passing, either male or female, but no one ever returns the gesture.

I do love running through that park though. There is such a great view of Elliot Bay, and Mt. Rainier was looking particularly beautiful today. Even though I'm running, I feel somewhat like I'm having a lazy Sunday when I watch all of the other people lounging on the grass covered slopes watching the ships roll in and out. Yet again there was a question on how far I actually ran there. I know what the route says, but I think this week there might be a problem with it rather than the iPod. Nope, I just checked and it looks like I may have gone a little bit past where I was supposed to turn around, and that might have totaled a quarter of a mile which enabled me to stop early at the end of my run. So, yay Pod-diddy for being accurate, and yay me for not turning around too early.

Mile five found me encountering the third group, tourists. Anytime I'm near the waterfront or Pike Place Market I know to expect las turistas. They're mostly harmless except for the walking in packs thing. It's a wide sidewalk, but it's not so wide that I can easily pass all the time. I spent a large chunk of that mile dodging. Here's a tip for everyone, it doesn't matter if you're walking, running, driving, flying or whatever: If you see something coming at you at a greater speed than you, DON'T LOOK AWAY! Feel free to make a hole for me to go through, but do not look behind you when I am less than 10 feet from you to make sure your wife is still back there somewhere. And do not let your kid dodge out in front of me. I weigh anywhere between 163 and 166, and I'm moving at between 6 and 7 mph, so if your kid steps in front of me, I'm going to be the less hurt of the two of us. It's a lot like a car turning in front of a semi; it's just a bad idea.

So after going through the obstacle course, I got to the most challenging part of the run, the final mile. Straight up Madison to 5th from the waterfront and then down 5th to Westlake. Now, when I say "up" and "down" in this instance, I'm not picking convenient directions or anything like that. Madison to 5th from the water is a ridiculous hill, and it's even more of a challenge when you've already run 5 miles. The bonus for this is that the lights are timed friendly to pedestrians. In this case that means that I get to every light just as it switched to "Don't Walk" and thus earned myself a 2 minute break. Running those hills is hard, but I made an interesting discovery: it's much harder to walk the hill than it is to run it. First, when you run it you get it over that much faster. Second, there's something in the way I push when I'm running uphill that is different from how I push when I'm walking. It's not fun either way, but if I have to choose I prefer to just run up the damn thing. Then, once I got to 5th Ave, I got to run a nice gentle grade downhill to my end point. I ran right up to Westlake Center where I treated myself to a nice smoothie from Emerald City Smoothies with plenty of carbs and some good proteins to help my poor battered body rebuild better, stronger and faster.

That's it for this week. My leg problem wasn't an issue today like it was yesterday. I was able to hold my pace for the most part, although when I'm not actively thinking about it my steps shorten and my legs move faster. It's the way I'm used to running at the moment, and it will probably take a little bit of training to get me to habitually take slightly longer strides.