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08 September 2013

Settling In

Life in Seattle is amazing. It's better than I thought it would be. My job is great, our temporary place (for two more weeks) is fun, and Maple likes her school. Sean sprained his ankle really badly, but he's the happiest hobbling person I've ever seen.

Since we got here (only a month ago!), we've been exploring the crap out of the area. We went hiking at Rattlesnake Ledge in the Cascades:

We ate at our all time favorite restaurant, Trinacria in Olympia:

We went to see Snoqualmie Falls:

And saw some amazing views of Mt. Rainier:

We spent time with some of our favorite kids:

I did some shopping:

I've been feeling better and better each day, and this week I ran 24 miles! This is the most I've run in one week since early June, when a bad 5k knocked me off my game. Then came the move, and some preoccupying health crap, but the good amazing awesome news is that I'm back, and I feel incredible!

Tomorrow, I start my training for the Seattle Half Marathon on December 1st, and today I registered for my first ever trail race; a 5k in three weeks in Bonney Lake. It will be my first race as a Oiselle Volée runner! I'm beyond excited to don my new race kit and do some off-road racing.

I do most of my runs either on the Elliott Bay Trail, which is right outside our apartment and goes along the sound for miles and miles, or on the Green River Trail which is close to my office. I'm so lucky because both places are great for running, and specifically for getting back in shape. They're completely flat and traffic-free, and also very pretty.

Today's 10-miler was amazing. I decided to take the first 5 miles easy, and speed up towards the end. I ran an 8:40 last mile, which is speedy for me. Yesterday I did a fartlek run, which I never do since they are far too free-form for my Type A number-crunching brain. I like to know my paces all the time, and with fartleks you kind have to of let that go. Anyway, it was a perfect run. Sometimes I felt like going fast, so I did. Then I got tired and slowed down. Imagine that!

I don't know exactly what my training plan will bring this week, since I'm still working on it, but I know that I'm taking tomorrow off and I have a date with You, Only Faster, to plan my plan as it were. I'll keep you posted!

Are you training for a race? Or are you running in the moment? I'd love to hear about it!

7 comments

  1. Nice to see the beauty of the west coast! I'll have to take notes for my own visit early next year. I'm currently training for my first ever 5K- the Color Me Rad 5K http://www.colormerad.com/race.i?raceid=207. I needed something fun to pull me in and make me commit. I'm using the Podrunner Couch to 5K series to help me get up to speed. I've done it before, but it's been awhile, so why not start from the beginning again? Speaking of Podrunner, I wonder what your take on music/headphones and running is? Right now I need something that will help me keep track of how fast I run, I tend to run too fast & tire myself out, but I've heard other runners who poopoo running while listening to music. Thoughts?

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  2. Great pictures! What a fun place to be.
    Aiming for a race or running in the moment...
    I am aiming......although I seem to keep adjusting the end goal..
    Last weekend was the first GOOD long run in a while....

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  3. Awesome mileage, welcome back.
    I really want to run Seattle's marathon in 14' or 15'.
    I'm totally jealous of the scenery, enjoy every minute of it, glad things are going well out there and that you're happy!

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  4. I was going to write about music in this blog post actually. You read my mind! :) i run with it sometimes and without it sometimes. I've run one marathon with headphones but hardly used them because of all the noise of the race. I think if you want to listen to music, you should!
    Congrats on training for the 5k! Keep us posted...

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  5. Good long runs are the best! Are you still thinking marathon this fall?

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  6. Hi Kristy, I've been thinking about you and hoping you are doing well. I hope you do run Seattle next year (or the year after) - it would be great to see you (beyond just watching you run by me in Boston). :)

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  7. I haven't decided yet about this fall. I am inclined to wait until spring - and work on speed so that I can just be slow instead of slug-like. I will give it a few more weeks and then decide. - I am also inclined to just hold my own personal marathon... :}

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