Monday mileage

After seeing Wil off this morning for his bicycle commute, I had an idea. It's not very often than I REALLY feel like running. Usually I feel like I should run, or at least I know that I'll be really happy when I finish running. And often I just don't want to run.

We should have run this weekend -- but after a rough night with squabbling cats on Friday, we both woke up tired and worn out. And then on Sunday, we woke up to pouring rain -- the first real rain in weeks. So that kept us off the roads, too.

But this morning was glorious -- a perfect Seattle day. A little crisp, even chilly in the early morning, but the sky was clear and blue and the sun rising. I had a piece of toast and got myself ready to run.

The other day when I ran I filled up my Camelbak waist pouch and then discovered that it was soaked. I quickly decanted the remaining Powerade into Wil's Amphipod and ran with that instead. I do love that thing, even if it looks a bit too much like Batman's utility belt. Since I had forgotten to test the Camelbak (was it a leak? Or did I just not close it tightly?), I decided to run with the Amphipod again. (And have now decided that I should buy one for myself...)

I wasn't quite sure where -- or how long -- I wanted to run. I decided that I would run down to Fremont and, if feeling good, I would attempt the Lake Union loop. I'm happy to report that I felt great -- again, the cool morning certainly helped! I ran counter-clockwise around the lake, spending much of the time enjoying the weather, this beautiful city, and meeting a handful of runners, a few tourists, and a gaggle of commuters -- some waiting for the Trolley, others zipping past me on bikes.

By the time I reached the big hill, I was feeling loose and comfortable... but I still ended up walking up the hill. I reminded myself that this was a long, slow run, so I wanted to take it easy. Ran across the bridge and around the corner on to the Burke Gilman Trail.

I started to feel a bit tired... more bored than tired, really... but was happy to reach Gasworks Park and know that I only had a mile or so to go. I amused myself during this stretch by thinking about the renaissance fair we went to on Saturday (no, we weren't in costume...) and my surprise at being given dollar coins as change in the Red Dragon Pub. I had NO IDEA that there were new dollar coins coming out, or that they would have all the presidents on them. So being handed three golden coins with James Buchanan's face on them was pretty confusing. At first I thought that maybe they were souvenir "Fair" coins, but they had a very fine Statue of Liberty on the back, so I realized they were real. I know that I'm not exactly a numismatics geek or anything, but it was surprising to see a new coin in the flesh before I had even heard of it.

(Come to think about it, maybe it's no surprise at all? I remember the first time I saw the "new" $100 bill in Barcelona, with the great big "Jack Benny" Ben Franklin portrait on it, thinking it was counterfeit. And then the first time I saw one of those state quarters, with Cesar Romney on it. And of course the first time I saw the big-faced JEFFERSON nickel. Perhaps I just don't know anything about American currency...)

Plodded on until I had passed Fremont and reached the Fred Meyer, doing a tiny sprint and Rocky-style arms in the air at the 10-mile mark. Yeah, I'm that much of a dork.

It's hours later and I'm feeling surprisingly fresh... a little soreness in my knees, a little tenderness in my Achilles tendons, but otherwise okay. Think I'll take a rest day tomorrow, though...