Day 114: Ten Miles of FUN!

I love having a running buddy.

Heather and I were supposed to do nine miles today, but we did 10 instead. And it was such a good run. We talked the entire way. We just wanted to have fun and we did.

We met at Ron Regis Park in Renton at 7:30. Well, more like 7:35. We both were a couple minutes late. I tried really hard to be on time. Yesterday, I read a post by RunnerDude, which you can read here, about wake-up rituals for runners. You know how I can just wander around and forget what I’m doing in the morning and all, so I decided to try RunnerDude’s plan, which he got from a book by David Allen.

So last night, I wrote down all of the physical tasks I needed to do in the morning before getting in the car and driving the 15 minutes to Renton.

1. Turn off alarm
2. Bathroom
3. Brush teeth
4. Wash face
5. Pull back hair
6. Put on running clothes
7. Get a dry shirt (for after the run)
8. Go downstairs
9. Drink a glass of water
10. Make coffee, breakfast
11. Wash and fill water bottle
12. Eat breakfast, drink coffee
13. Get wallet out of van
14. Get a bag
15. Put wallet, shirt, hydration belt, hat and phone in bag (and poncho!)
16. Get new socks from dryer
17. Put on socks and shoes
18. Turn off house alarm
19. Bathroom

It seems like a long, obvious list but it helped me stay focused. I think it helped even though I was still a little late. One of the things I forgot to put on here was: weigh yourself. I weigh myself in the morning on Sundays. So, I had to take off my running clothes, weigh, and then put them back on. (Up .5 this week, by the way.) Also, I forgot to add Zune to #15. Luckily, I remembered it, even though I didn’t end up using it today. (Both Heather and I are tired of our running playlists, so we are looking for suggestions for good workout music, if you have any.)

Another thing, #18 should have been earlier on the list … like before #13 (get wallet out of van). Thankfully, I remembered to turn off the alarm before I opened the door to the garage. I would have gotten an earful if I’d set the alarm off and woken the baby and Mr. T.

One of the things that was not should’ve been on the list was Internet time. I ate my peanut butter toast and drank my coffee while seeing what was up on Facebook, so breakfast probably took longer than it should have. I bet I would’ve been even later, though, if I hadn’t had my list. I will use this method again, especially before the Seattle Half on Nov. 29.

I also tried out some new products on the run today. On Saturday, me, Mr. T and T Junior went to REI. Some shoes I ordered online were ready to be picked up. While I was there, I got some new running socks, some Jelly Belly Sport Beans and a Honey Stinger chews. (Sadly, the shoes are too small and have to be returned.)

Today, I took the Sport Beans. I also wore my new Wigwam socks.

Heather and I took off from Ron Regis Park, down the Cedar River Trail (CRT) toward downtown Renton. Lake Washington was our destination and turn-around point (5 miles).

It was exciting to take a new route. There were so many things to look at once we went under I-405 and crossed into downtown. We had a little scary moment when we were about to go under a bridge and saw two dark figures. We couldn’t tell what they were doing, so we turned, went back up to street level and J-walked across the road (being very safe, of course). But, just as we were going down the steps to get back on the trail, they emerged from underneath the bridge. We hesitated and then decided to just say hello and jog past the two men, who were, in fact, homeless.

I felt bad. I’m sure they saw us turn around and then hesitate. They were probably harmless, but we didn’t want to take any chances. Besides, I think they were…um…relieving themselves under that bridge because on the way back when we went under there, it smelled like urine. Not pleasant when you are running and taking deep breaths.

But the view was more than pleasant. It was gorgeous. We ran along on the brick sidewalk right on the shore of the river.

By the way does seeing an airplane up close on the ground seem surreal to you? Maybe it’s just me.

Before we knew it, Heather and I were at our turn-around spot right at the end of Lake Washington. We ate jelly beans and sports gels, drank some water and did a little stretching with the view of Lake Washington, the docks, sailboats and lots of fall foliage behind us. In front of us: Boeing. Nearby, two men — probably Boeing workers in their mid-60s — smoked cigarettes. Luckily the breeze was in our favor. Here we are:

We got a little goofy around Mile 6. I really wanted a picture of this tree, below, and Heather suggested I pose in front of it.

I think I need to work on my pose. What the heck am I doing here?

I’m sure you noticed the clouds in the photos. It was pretty gray ou
t there, and it rained off and on throughout our run. I had a thicker jacket on over my REI shirt. It isn’t completely rain-proof, but it didn’t rain hard like yesterday, so I was fine.

As for the actual running, we did pretty good. Heather’s been sick and hasn’t been able to run in more than a week. She did amazing! I felt pretty good aerobically, but my legs started to get sore around 6 or 7 miles, but not bad enough to want to stop. The beans worked great. And my socks were great, too.

The only blisters I got are between my big toe and second-biggest toe. I used to get them there during my high school cross country days, too. Not sure why. Mr. T blames it on my freakish big toes, which are the longest toes on my feet. He’s going to die when he sees that I’m posting a picture here. If you are squeamish about feet, look away…