travel

2,000 miles, 9 states, and a bazillion tanks of gas later….we made it to Seattle.

i’ll post more later, but just for those keeping tabs on me, i have safely arrived in the northwest. and it is hot here.

Actually, better than just OK. The weekend in Oklahoma City far exceeded my expectations. It was GREAT.

Going in to the half marathon, my only goal was to finish under 2:00. I wore my GPS, but didn’t even look at it once during the race. The primary concern was to just have fun and enjoy all that Oklahoma City had to offer us. We ran at a comfortable pace, singing songs, dancing (as much as you can while running) along with the music and just having a grand old time.

Finish time– 1:57:24

I was certainly glad i did the half, because shortly after we finished, the temperature skyrocketed, leaving us concerned for our friends out on the marathon course dealing with the heat. But they all did great, and there’s nothing quite like being rewarded for running a marathon than with a fresh-from-the-grill Carl’s Jr Cheeseburger. mmmmmm.

And the main reason I enjoyed the weekend….running in remembrance of the 168 victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Before the race, the running crowd of 15,000 reflected during 168 seconds of silence. And we started off running past the Memorial. It was extra motivating during the run to see the 168 banners that lined the course, displaying the names of the innocent lives lost and seeing all the ‘In Honor Of’ signs on runners during the race.

Afterwards, we took some time to visit the Memorial and pay respect to the 168 victims. I’m really glad that I was able to finally visit the Memorial and get a better sense of Oklahoma’s spirit of survival.

I admit, i’ve never been a fan of anyone who calls themself a Sooner (bad past experience at a KSU/OU football game).

My opinion has been completely changed.

The city was welcoming and had a clean, vibrant downtown area. There was also a Festival of the Arts going on Saturday evening that we went to. The supporters all along the race course were amazing and i’ve already deemed this as my favorite half marathon. I’d love to return in the future, maybe even run the full marathon.

Thanks OKC, you were great.

i ran 6 miles on Tuesday evening, and i felt great. I was ‘that girl’. Running in the 20 degree weather, in shorts. I set out only planning to run 4, but the weather made for great running so i kept on going. i was trying to get a feel for my 10K pace, and then out of the blue, my Garmin battery died somewhere around mile 3. bummer. i think i probably finished about 50:00.

now, off to my trip to Seattle…..this is a long story, but then again, so was my day.

i got up at 5:15am wednesday morning to go to the gym since i knew i wouldn’t have time after work, since my flight to Seattle left at 8pm. if i would’ve known what lay ahead of me, i probably would’ve slept longer.

i’d been watching the Weather Channel during the flight and they kept mentioning the snow and ice in the Pacific Northwest, so i knew the conditions were not ideal. but we landed safely in Seattle, where i got a voicemail from Todd saying that he drove two blocks from his apt and couldn’t make it any further up the hill. great. he’d called rental car companies, nobody had any 4 wheel drive cars available, he called limos, shuttles and nobody had availability to pick me up. it was almost midnight, i was exhausted, dehydrated and my cell phone battery was dead. i just stood in the airport and cried.

luckily, my luggage finally got there and i was able to charge my phone and call him back. i really didn’t want to have to stay in a hotel, so my last option was to see if any taxis would drive me out to his apartment in Sammamish, which is normally a 30-45 minute drive. i went to the taxi pick-up area and got in line behind about 70 other people, where i waited for about 45 minutes. i talked to a couple who were headed to Issaquah, a town near Sammamish, so we planned to get a cab together.

all the police officers there told us to just get a hotel, the roads off of the interstates were horrible and we’d probably end up getting stranded since our destinations were in very hilly/mountainous areas. i just wanted to go to sleep and the other couple was determined to get home. a taxi pulled up and out stepped a driver whom i could barely even understand and who didn’t even know where Issaquah and Sammamish were. luckily, the other couple said they’d direct him.

We left the airport around 1 am (think 3am kansas time). there were hundreds of cars deserted along the roads, people just couldn’t go any further and left them there. thank God this taxi had good tires, luggage weighing down the back, and a taxi driver determined to get us home. we got to Issaquah, and i was left to direct the cabbie the last 5 miles. we kept going and every hill we made it up, i just thought ‘thats one less hill i’ll have to walk my luggage up when this car stops’. fortunately, we finally arrived where Todd was waiting for me. i’ve never been happier to see him. so $80 and a nearly 2 hour cab ride, i was safe. poor cabbie though, he had no clue where he was so we gave him the best directions possible and wished him luck.

i got to bed around 3:00, so basically i had been up for 24 hours. it was definitely one of the scariest travel epsiodes i’ve ever had, but i made it here. and other than the ice and inability to drive anywhere, it’s really pretty. with the help of two good samaritans, we finally got Todd’s car back home. but we’re riding the bus everywhere now.

Well Fans, I’m getting ready to head to Chicago for the weekend to see friends from college. I have a slight problem with always cutting it a little too close on my airport arrival times, so i’m jetting out of work shortly to beat the traffic.

it’s been a kinda crazy week in katieland, i enjoyed catching up with friends at dinner on Tuesday night, then we went to see Borat. hilarious. that’s all, just go see it for yourself.

surprisingly, i’ve been doing really great at going to the gym in the mornings. i managed to do it 3 out of 4 days this week. and honestly, i would’ve made it 4 out of 5 if i wouldn’t be going on vacation. and once again, i chose to run a 4 and 2 miler on the treadmill. i think i like it because it gets my metabolism nice and fired up in the morning.

i’ve also acquired myself somewhat of a personal running coach. my roommate Catherine and I have set up a nice deal where i run, and she bikes alongside me (or behind me, or wherever she needs to be to shield me from traffic). We usually try to do it once a week, and last night we did a 4 miler. It really helps to have someone whizzing along, nipping at your heels and trying to hold a conversation with. Pretty much after mile 3, she’s only allowed to ask me Yes/No questions. Even though i was dead tired at the end, i managed to hold a 8:10 pace on the hilly route.

that’s all the time we have for now, i’m off to the windy city.

I realized some things tonight during my run.

1. when i don’t run, i don’t blog.

2. when i don’t run my long runs with teammates, it is not a good run.

3. i think it’s a good idea that i blog more about non-running activities.

4. my boyfriend is super cool.

So, i haven’t blogged for awhile. Why? (See realization #1.) Ok, well that’s not completely true, i have been running. But something hasn’t been feeling right during my runs. Last week, i got up on friday to run 8 miles before i left for Dallas and despite the cool, sunny morning, after 2 miles I was reading to stop. So i turned around and headed back home. My legs felt as though they were weighted with bricks. 5 ton bricks. I stopped after 4 miles because i was dead tired. Seriously? 4 miles? Why? (See realization #2.)

I headed to The Big D where I met The Todd. Feeling guilty about my 4 mile run the day before (and knowing that i’d be eating wedding cake), i headed to the hotel gym Saturday morning to bike and run on the treadmill. 2 miles. And that was forcing it. I’m not sure what’s wrong, i’ve just been lethargic, my legs don’t want to run. I have two (relatively) good legs, why won’t they just do their job?

All that whining aside, the weekend was a blast. (See realization #3) The wedding and reception were lovely and done in big Texas style downtown. They had a dance and BBQ later that evening at a ranch in Terrell. Now, i’m not a fan of country music, but I had a rootin’ scootin’ grand ol’ time two-stepping. We spent some time at the JFK memorial on Sunday, then headed to the Galleria for lunch and shopping.

Since todd was feeling a little ill (probably due to my ‘ooohing and aahhing’ over shoes and purses), and i (shockingly) didn’t feel like shopping, we headed to the airport 3 hours early. We spent the rest of the afternoon having escalator races and riding the tram around and around the terminals. fun times indeed. he always makes me laugh and feel like a kid again. (See realization #4) Oh, and he got a new position at Microsoft as a software developer. Which, in my opinion, is like 1,000 times cooler than his previous job as a software tester. I still don’t understand 95% of what he does, but that’s why having a pretty smile and nodding like you understand, saying ‘mmhmm, yeah’ is a good tactic.

No need to fear about my crappy runs, i think all it took was some rainy, mild weather and an evening run tonight to rekindle my love with running. 4 miles in 32:40, 8:10 pace. Felt really, really great.

Seattle was awesome. super. spectacular. Therefore, i have created a new word to describe it. Awesupertacular. that pretty much sums it up. Since my visit in July was filled with touristy excitement, we decided to just hang out and relax more this time.

I finally got to sleep in on saturday, something i haven’t done in a long time. The Todd (as he has been deemed by a co-worker of mine) dropped me off at the Lake Sammamish trail around 11 and i headed off on my six-miler. I really didn’t have any idea where my final destination was, so i just decided to run until i hit 6.0 or until i ran out of trail and into the lake. which actually…..that wouldn’t have felt too bad. It was a pleasant 73ish degrees during my run, but when the trail emerged from the cover of the trees, the sun was blazing down on me and i really wanted to jump in the water.

The trail was flat, soft gravel and ran all along the east side of the lake, next to the endless row of lake houses and docks. At this time of morning, there were hundreds of boats already out on the lake and it really made me want to waterski. It made me miss the summers growing up, spending every weekend at the lake, trying to perfect my slaloming skills. I need to get a friend with a boat…………..my mind is wandering….
It was such an incredible view and my shins/knees felt great, i think i could’ve kept going. But that Seattle sun was pretty hot and i called The Todd to meet me at a rendevous point. Great run.
6.15 miles. 54:35 min. 8:52 pace

My knee was a little sore once i stopped running, but i think the Glucosamine actually might be making it somewhat better. *probably the placebo effect*

The rest of my stay in Seattle was spent doing some shopping, meeting some of Todd’s friends out for his birthday dinner on Lake Union, running around downtown on the Harbor Steps… Oddly, i didn’t take many pictures, which is weird because usually i’m a photo-fanatic. I really wish i would’ve taken a camera with me when i did my saturday morning run or at the lakefront dinner. better luck next time… I still have yet to see a single drop of precipitation during my times in Seattle. I was actually a little bit disappointed about that, but can’t complain because i’m sure i’ll be begging for sunny days once the rainy season starts.

It was difficult to leave Todd and come back to kansas. I think it gets harder to say goodbye each time. Also frustrating is that i haven’t been able to run since saturday. most of monday was spent at airports/in flight, and yesterday i was looking forward to helping out at the Team in Training Kick-off meeting but i had to make an emergency trip back home to see my grandma. Her heart is slowly giving out on her, so all 6 of her children and several of us grandchildren were there to say our ‘Goodnights’ and now i guess we’re just waiting for God to take her to an eternal rest. It’s been a harried week thus far and not looking to get any better.

What day is it today anyway? Wednesday?? It’s my only obligation-free night for awhile so I’m hoping to get a 3 mile run in and maybe go to the gym, but I haven’t unpacked, laundry is piling up, Project Runway is on tonight and my energy level is just hovering above zero, so i’m not sure if that will happen.