Trail Note

Saturday: 10 mile run. I was quite nervous about this one, as I'd done very little (one 3. 5 mile run, one mile swim, one hour walk) since last weekend's 9 mile run. With 3 weeks to go before the half, however, it was now or never. Surprisingly, the run went well. I ran along the Burke Gilman trail, which isn't the most interesting route (especially after logging so many miles on it during last year's marathon training), but it's flat and I can time my miles since they're marked on the trail. I was averaging just under a 9-minute mile pace, which is quite good for a training run. My knees did bug me for the last couple of miles, but nothing too bad (except while climbing the stairs up to the Freemont Bridge). Afterwards I felt very tired and have been hungry all weekend.

Sunday: 10 mile bike ride. This was my first ride since a short mountain bike ride in October. I've lent my hybrid to my sister to use for commuting to UW, and still haven't added a 3rd front gear to my road bike, so rode the mountain bike to be sure that I could get up hills. I guess using clip-in petals is like all other aspects of riding a bike; I didn't forget. We rode through Freemont to Ballard, crossed the locks, and then circled Discovery Park in Magnolia. It's always a great ride, and felt pretty good. I even made it (very very slowly) up The Hill without having to stop or walk the bike at all. I'm always very reluctant to ride on days like this (cold, rainy), but once we got going I had a great time.