Touring Seattle on Foot
I am just back from a few days in Seattle. I got to run a bit on the Burke-Gilman Trail. In passing the University of Washington's Husky Stadium, I saw their Husky statue. It immediately reminded me of Balto, whose statue I've seen in Central Park in NY.
On Saturday morning, I was taken on a tour of a part of Seattle my a doctor who I'd met through the internet. We ran just a bit under 2 hours, and it was a lot hillier than anything I normally run. This doctor had surprised himself by qualifying last fall for this year's Boston. It became clear that the strength that running hills provides is a big advantage in the marathon. We found that we both know Nobby Hashizume, one of the leading authorities on Lydiard training. At one point, while I was moaning about the hills, the doc said, "we could go down this road and come right back up." I declined. He said, "Arthur (Lydiard) would have said we should do it." He was right. I saw a fair number of parks in Seattle, including the UW Arboretum, and a ravine that is essentially a park that took us down from the area north of UW's Fraternity Row to very near my hotel. It was a very pretty area, with several bridges that we ran under. We had made it most of the way down when we encountered a temporary fence, so we had a climb and descent of about 100 feet that wasn't expected. (Does that make up for skipping the hill earlier?)
On the whole, the run was great. My shoes got muddied a bit, and I was pretty fatigued at the end. What was truly exceptional was that Seattle was in the midst of a storm. The winds were up around 20 mph continously, but was probably gusting a times near 50 mph. It made for an added layer of toughness that was kind of fun. We did have a few small branches drop close to us, but nothing big enough to feel like a threat.
The guilt about hills probably paid a dividend. I ran my hilly short course from home this afternoon. One final note on guilt, I had posted a challenge to John Cotey on his blog, betting him a dollar. I'm still OK, and he commented that he exercised right before bed on Thursday because my challenge had gotten to him. So, I feel good about that.
On Saturday morning, I was taken on a tour of a part of Seattle my a doctor who I'd met through the internet. We ran just a bit under 2 hours, and it was a lot hillier than anything I normally run. This doctor had surprised himself by qualifying last fall for this year's Boston. It became clear that the strength that running hills provides is a big advantage in the marathon. We found that we both know Nobby Hashizume, one of the leading authorities on Lydiard training. At one point, while I was moaning about the hills, the doc said, "we could go down this road and come right back up." I declined. He said, "Arthur (Lydiard) would have said we should do it." He was right. I saw a fair number of parks in Seattle, including the UW Arboretum, and a ravine that is essentially a park that took us down from the area north of UW's Fraternity Row to very near my hotel. It was a very pretty area, with several bridges that we ran under. We had made it most of the way down when we encountered a temporary fence, so we had a climb and descent of about 100 feet that wasn't expected. (Does that make up for skipping the hill earlier?)
On the whole, the run was great. My shoes got muddied a bit, and I was pretty fatigued at the end. What was truly exceptional was that Seattle was in the midst of a storm. The winds were up around 20 mph continously, but was probably gusting a times near 50 mph. It made for an added layer of toughness that was kind of fun. We did have a few small branches drop close to us, but nothing big enough to feel like a threat.
The guilt about hills probably paid a dividend. I ran my hilly short course from home this afternoon. One final note on guilt, I had posted a challenge to John Cotey on his blog, betting him a dollar. I'm still OK, and he commented that he exercised right before bed on Thursday because my challenge had gotten to him. So, I feel good about that.
posted by Scooter at 8:45 PM
1 Comments:
Don't sprain an ankle climbing those fences Scooter, I want you to win that dollar! It feels good to brave the elements sometimes, and even better when you get to get on a plane and leave said elements soon thereafter. From what I've read, Arthur might have gone down and up twice if he was feeling good.
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