Miles of smiles

I believe I have run my most favorite race yet in my career.
I ran the Great Labor Day Miler, and what made it so special is I ran the race with my brother Eric and his family, including my two nephews Chase and Gavin, who were all visiting from North Carolina.
It was so special to share my love of running with my family!
Here we are at the start.

Gavin and Chase with their game faces on

Ready to run with my buddies!

The whole family before the start

My brother's sweet new (fantasy) ride

Finishers!

 We didn't stay for the awards ceremony. Since we ran the fun run, I was sure there weren't going to be any awards. Oh, was I wrong.
Thankfully, my friend Angela, who let me know about this race, stayed and collected the haul we got!

Should have stayed for the awards!

 Alas, Eric and his family also needed to get on the road to head home after a fun-filled Labor Day weekend. But, I won first in my age group, Angela won second in her age group, and Gavin, Eric and Eric's wife Jill all won third in their age groups. Wishing Chase would have medaled, too, and it would have been a clean sweep for our team!

Gold medal finish for me!

Still, it was a very special race and one I will always cherish. It truly was miles of smiles for me!

Wag the Dog

I ran a new 5K this morning, the Walk, Wag N Run 5K.
This race in Brookhaven benefited Ahimsa House, a domestic violence shelter that allows pets. I'm so glad I ran this race and helped this cause. I believe this race will make my list for years to come.
I met up with my friends Ellie and Dave and their dog, Zaxby.

Me, Ellie,Dave and the Zaxster!

Zaxby meets a friend!

The race was in the Lenox Park part of Brookhaven and had a few hills. But I was very surprised that I did so well. I came in at 38 minutes flat! I slowed down the third mile, but until then I was running 11:30 minute miles! Yay, me!

Coming in to the finish

These are definitely the dog days of summer, but I was very happy to help doggies, kitties and their humans get out of very bad situations. Until next year, ruff!

Getting Back on My Feet

I feel like I've taken a longer than usual break from running, but that's not the case.
Still, Saturday's Back on My Feet, Meaningful Miles 4-miler made me realize I HAD taken a break.
This is my second year running this race and I just love the event. Not the course, just the event!
The race takes place in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood and the race literally starts uphill.
That North Avenue hill at the start is no joke. I thought I could run slowly up it, but ended up walking almost right away.
Still, it's a great race, benefiting Back on My Feet, which helps homeless men and women learn self-discipline through running.
I ran this with my friend Kellie, and it was great to see her again.

Getting Back on Our Feet

The race also marked the return to half marathon training. The Baltimore Crab Festival half marathon isn't that far away. I'm looking forward to it, and to fall weather for running.
I'm looking forward to getting back on my feet.

Jog Days of Summer

I ran this hot, hilly 5K today at Chastain Park and what made it far more tolerable was my friends Joy and Sasha who wanted to do it with me.
My Atlanta Track Club membership came in handy, because one of them got to use my guest pass. I was hoping both of them could use it, but one of the codes didn't work. Oh well.
I think every year I consider NOT running this one. But since it is a free to track club members race, it's hard to skip it.
Sasha and Joy are both stronger runners than I am. They got ahead of my shortly after the start. I caught up to one or both of them at some point on the course, but in the end they were about a minute ahead of me at the finish.
No matter! It's more fun to do these races with friends.

Sasha, Joy and me

Sasha, Joy and I have run that crazy midnight race together, too, and this morning we decided we would do it again this year. I'll try to remember I agreed to do it happily when I'm waking up at midnight that night to go run a race! ha!
This race was hot and hilly (although not as humid as it's been in other years). What makes it more fun for me is doing it with running buddies.
I am so thankful I have various friends who do races with me. I'll be doing a race next week with Kellie. And the weekend after that it's one with friends Ellie and Dave.
I'm signed up to do a half marathon in April in Kentucky and my friend Peggy asked if I wanted company. I surely do! So we're doing that one together. We ran Seattle together earlier this year.
Running + Friends = Happiness. Even in the dog days of summer!

Heating up summer running

Remember how wet I was for the Peachtree Road Race?
Just two weeks later I ran the Atlanta Track Club's Decatur YMCA 4-miler and wished it was raining! What a hot 4 miles!
My friend Angela joined me on this one, too.

Angela and me at the finish

Here we are at the finish, looking all sweaty. This one is not too far from my house, and after the race Angela and I went out for breakfast. I can assure you I ate back every calorie I burned on this morning's run! Oh well. Sometimes it's not all about the run, but who you are doing it with.
I'm so grateful to have a host of running buddies in Atlanta, and outside of Atlanta, too. More on that next time.

Swimming the Peachtree Road Race

For this year's Peachtree Road Race 10K, swim fins might have been more helpful than running shoes.
I expected light off and on showers, if any rain, and instead I got a steady downpour, a course evacuation, and really, really wet.
The morning started out cool, with light rain. In fact, it didn't start raining until I was heading into the MARTA train station. I actually had to make a run for it.
I met up with my co-worker Joann and her daughter Olivia, and we started to make our way to the start line via the train.

Riding along on MARTA

I found my wave start. As you can see from the photo, it wasn't really raining then, although it had been sprinkling on and off as I waited for Wave M to begin, around 8:25 a.m. or so.

Getting ready to start

Just about to start

 The course officials are very nearly starting the countdown for our wave to begin. I've even started my running apps for the race, when lightning struck nearby.
Officials stopped the race and evacuated the remaining waves to nearby parking decks at shopping malls. It was there that I found my running buddy Angela. She was supposed to be in Wave L, and if only we could have found each other earlier and been in Wave L, we would not have had a 45 minute rain delay.

Waiting out the rain delay

 Eventually, the course was repopulated with runners and we began the 6.2-mile race. Angela and I made one pit stop at mile 2. We both agreed we'd waited so long before the start, we both had to use the restroom again! Darn it.
We made it to the finish to find a muddy mess at Piedmont Park.
We both took off our shoes and socks and walked through the swamp bare footed. I was surprised more folks didn't do the same, but we appeared to be the only ones. And we were the only ones with clean shoes at the end!!

Finishers!

There were lots of things that sort of went wrong with this race this year. I'm not averse to running in the rain, so that wasn't really it. although I do wish I had grabbed my windbreaker and run with that. It would have provided a little shelter from the wet.
In my opinion what went wrong was when the course was evacuated and communication broke down. I'm sure that will be addressed, but it did dampen the fun. Those were my post-race comments to the Atlanta Track Club, which puts on the race each year.
The other downside was because of the monsoon, I didn't get to meet up with friends I expected to see after the race, such as co-workers Ellie and Joann. We had gone together to get our numbers days before at the expo and had planned to meet up after the race.

Expo fun with Ellie and Joann

The good parts about the delay were that I did find Angela so we could run together, and that the rain kept the temps very cool, which was a big plus.
In the end, the 2015 Peachtree Road Race 10K went swimmingly. A little more literally than I'd like.

Sleepless in Seattle

I've just spent five days in Seattle, Washington, and had a great time visiting and completed a race in my 18th state with the Rock n Roll Seattle Half Marathon on Saturday.
I should have known how great a trip it would be when I saw this outside the plane window on the descent. Absolutely breathtaking, Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier

I got to Seattle Thursday afternoon and met up with my running buddy Peggy. We stayed with her friends who own a lovely home in West Seattle, overlooking Puget Sound.

Sunset over Puget Sound

The photo above was taken from the deck of Shellie and Paul's house. Not hard to see why they love it there.
Friday morning we took the ferry over to Seattle for the expo. That morning was a little overcast, giving me a sense of what Seattle natives might be used to throughout the year.

Gray downtown morning

We walked over to the expo and picked up our numbers, shirts and other goodies. Always fun to wander around and see what races are coming up.

Expo selfie

Peggy and I had a little fun at the expo. Believe it or not I brought my new selfie stick to Seattle, but never used it!

Sightseeing at Pikes Market

Lots to see

The cruise ships were in Friday, so Pike Place Market was packed. I never did see anyone throwing a fish. I'd hoped I could have seen that, but it's OK. I saw a lot of neat vendors and artisans there. We had lunch at Wild Ginger, a Thai place nearby.
We were up early for the race Saturday, since it started at 7 a.m. Here's where the sleepless part kicks in. I didn't sleep well at all Friday night. I woke up at 2 a.m. and stayed that way until we got up at 4:30!

Space Needle start

Ready to run

Space Needle starting gun

Getting started

The race started right near the Space Needle, which was super cool. For the first time this year, the race began with fireworks off the Space Needle. You can almost see the fireworks in my photo above. I thought the fireworks would come off the very top, so I wasn't positioned quite right to get the full photo.
The route took us through Chinatown. you can almost see the dragon on the pole just ahead of Peggy.

Running through Chinatown

Chinatown's gate

Peggy is a faster runner than I, so eventually she got ahead of me and I brought up the rear. There are lots of fun things along the route, including this giant rocker.

Freebird!

Along Lake Washington

 I think one of the prettiest parts of the course was the long curve along Lake Washington. What was also nice about this part, other than the beautiful view, was it was dedicated to several of the charity organizations attached to the race, including one devoted to fallen military personnel. Many volunteers stood along this part of the course holding American flags. I wish I'd gotten a photo. It was beautiful and very moving.

Heading back toward downtown

 Another interesting part of the course is we went about a mile in a highway tunnel. It was kind of spooky. The DJ in there was playing some new age music and there were this lights swirling all around. But, because there wasn't really anything to see, it was my chance to kind of zone out and just run.

Getting closer to downtown

Along the route, and passing the Seattle Great Wheel

We ran along an elevated highway, so we could see the waterfront and ports to our left, and that included seeing the Seattle Great Wheel. I managed a selfie with it, even without my selfie stick!
At long last, I got to the finish. Not in my best time ever, but I was happy!

Finishers!

Finishers!

At the end

 For me, this finisher's medal represents state No. 18. Since we were right back where we started, we decided to take in the view from the Space Needle.

Atop the Space Needle

Enjoying the view

 And then we decided on a little lunch at Zeeks Pizza. And you know I had to have a glass of wine!

How every half marathon should end

We weren't quite finished with sightseeing and now that we were sated, we enjoyed the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum.

Beautiful art

No touching!

Garden of Glass

The Needle close by

It was such a fun day, but I will say I was wiped out by the evening. I was not sleepless Saturday night!
Sunday morning, Peggy had to return to the real world, while I got an extra day, and had brunch with my friend Carol. Carol lives in Seattle and usually runs the race, but plantar fasciitis has made her take a break. We did manage to meet up for brunch, though.

Carol and me at brunch

I must say, we both had the dungeness crab cake eggs benedict and they were incredible! Props to Portage Bay Cafe.
We wandered the Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park. Carol got my photo next to Alexander Calder's Eagle, with the Space Needle in the background!

Love being a tourist!

I stayed Sunday night at a hotel near the airport and walked up to a little Salvadoran/Mexican restaurant for dinner, passing by what I thought was a park. Well, it is a park, but it is Angel Lake Park, so I stopped by on my way back to the hotel. The water was very brisk, but that didn't stop lots of kids from swimming in it!

One last sunset on the water

It was a magical trip. I so enjoyed Seattle and the friends I met, or reconnected with, here.