T89 - Remembering Why I Hate Seattle - Run

Seattle, WA

My aunt died on Wednesday. Sad, but expected. Anyway, I had to fly Thursday night to Seattle for the funeral. Driving from the airport to my mom's house past downtown and all the nice scenery, I thought to myself "You know, Seattle is a pretty cool city. I don't know why I used to bitch about it so much." That was before I set out for my 9-mile run the morning before the funeral.

Run - 90 Minutes

2 Lipodrene
I have exactly one running route in Seattle, and I'm glad I got to use it as part of this training cycle. Green Lake is a public park where the entire city decides to go every time the sun dares to come out in this city. It's 3 miles around, making for a nice loop if you can park your car in the main lot. Friday morning it was 50 degrees and overcast. So obviously, pakring was ample.

I took my iPod and set out on lap one (I used to do only one lap, sometimes walking when I was younger. I thought it was laborious. So this was a fun perspective). The weather didn't seem too bad. Brisk, but, ya know, not unbearable. But, about 2 miles in, the rain started. And the thing about Seattle vs. Florida is that once the rain starts, it typically doesn't let up until late-May. So despite feeling pretty strong on the run, I was perpetually slowed by the perpetual drizzle.

It got harder and softer as I ran, but it was constant. Several times I found myself just yelling "Fuck this place!" to nooone in particular, and wanted to stop the other morning runners (and dog walkers) at Green Lake and ask them why, exactly, they wre out on a morning like this. Are you ALL training for an Ironman, becasue that's really the only reason I could see. Then I wanted to ask them how the fuck they lived here, with weather like this 10 months out of the year. Yeah, definitely realized why I left and am never moving back.

I stopped after every loop, not because I was tired, but more because I wanted to dry off my iPod. I wasn't even that thirsty, as you lose a lot less fluid running in 50 degree miserableness than in 90 degree sunshine. At one point I turned the iPod around to face my so it didn't get as wet. But it still got a lot of moisture. I took one gel at the 45 minute mark. But god damn, the fucking rain.

Also got to try out the second half of the Ironman Final Training Mix, and learned that some songs I thought would be great for running in fact sucked. And somehow the iPod managed to make it 90 minutes in a Seattle Downpour, but can't last over 2 hours in "dry" condidiions normally. Whatever. Only another month with the thing and I need to wean myself off it anyway.

But most of all, it was cool to breeze throguh 3 laps around Green Lake in 88 minutes (including stops to dry the iPod and drink), a course that once upon a time had one lap looking daunting. I love measuring progress like that. Despite the rain, I felt this was a solid run. But I also forgot how much my knees hurt when I run in the cold. Worse than getting kicked in the balls, seriously. And there's nothing you can do. Yet another reason never to live North of I-10. And yet again how I don't understand how anybody in a cold weather city can train for something like this.