Headed out on a loop to Discovery Park, across the Chittenden Locks on a cool, windy and surprise.... overcast day in Seattle. I was looking forward to a relaxing ten miler but 6 miles in I just wanted to be done. Things just weren't clicking. For such a gray cold day the park was surprisingly crowded. ON your left... Excuse me.... on your left, really breaks up your pace.

I was happy to be done with this one and back in a warm house. I think the warm winter here has already softened my resolve to cold running.

Ballard Railroad Bridge across the canal that connects Lake Washington to the Puget Sound.

The runs have just been piling up lately. Four last week and already three this week, not much distance but just hitting the roads on a regular basis makes me feel better. Throw in a couple crossfit workouts and I walk around feeling fit as a fiddle.

The hectic pace at work has slowed enough so that I can run once a week or so. Tuesday I made a loop of my corporate complex that included four all out efforts up a steep short hill. Walk back down the hill and rested a minute prep for the next round. Other than that an easy pace. About 4 miles. It's amazing how much I felt that short hill work in my legs the next two days.

Wednesday I had the evening to myself (Heather and Zach were at the in-laws) I just had no motivation to run. I forced myself out the door for at least 30 minutes and was glad I did. Headed down and across the Ballard locks to checkout some open lots that Heather and are looking at as possible home locations. The search has been ongoing for a few months, no luck yet but we'll keep plugging away. Easy pace the entire run maybe 4 miles in maybe 30 -some minutes.

And tonight I headed out on the Golden Gardens Loop that I've been using as a time trial. Didn't have the legs tonight and fell 20 seconds short of my 24:21 course record. I kind of knew that when I started and actually got much closer that I thought I would.

I had an hour yesterday afternoon and I wanted to run hard so I headed out on a hilly loop to Carkeek Park that I knew would require a quick clip to get home in under 60 minutes. Lately I’ve started off my runs feeling slow and tight like I’m running 60 miles a week. I’ve felt this enough to know it will pass once I warm up and yesterday was no exception.

I ran a moderate pace for the first couple miles until I entered the park. Copious rain has made for muddy loose trails that require me to apply the brakes a little more than I’d like on sharp turns. I had a couple close calls but never went down. The route I took though the park had hills comparable to the worst that the Wissahickon can offer. I was having a blast tearing through the park fartlek style, too bad it isn’t a few time bigger.

I ran about as hard as I could over the last 2.5 miles and finished in 57 minutes. I don’t stop my watch at red lights so although I get a breather I have to make up for it when I get the green.

8.4 miles in 57 minutes.

I am sitting on the back porch trying to catch the few hours of sun that weather men promised and nature delivered. It really has been gloomy Many days struggle to get past dawn, or at least that is what the low sun angle and the deck of heavy gray clouds makes you think. I can't decide what is better, the nasty cold I see in Philly this winter or the lack of sun I get here with 5 of 7 days raining. The fact that I am sitting here in a t-shirt and not feeling cold, I think I'll take the rain.

The lack of blogging lately is not caused by a lack of working out. I've been better than average at getting out the door for a run or heading to the basement for crossfit body weight workout. I've continued to run with the Saturday morning group that I first joined in October and finally today there was a guy who could at least keep up steady sub 8 minute miles. I don't want to sound like a speed snob, lord knows there are a million guys out there that could run my ass into the ground but I am getting tired of slogging through 7 mile runs with this crew and not feeling like I really ran. If I want to run 7:30s I am going to be by myself. After another slow 7 mile run this morning I tacked on 3 around Green lake with a new guy and we quickly fell into a quicker pace that got me sweating but didn't stop from talking, right where I want to be. About 10 miles in about 85 minutes.

The faster guy promises he will be back and hopefully we can grab a few more over the winter and have a group that can push it other. We'll see.