Seattle Touring - The Space Needle

June 26 - afternoon. After the half marathon, I took a frigid ice bath, washed as much of the purple out of my hair as possible, and took a hot shower. I shivered under the covers in bed till I warmed up, then decided to spend my last afternoon in Seattle seeing the Space Needle.

I caught Seattle's famous monorail to the Needle,

then I bought a ticket and went up. The gloom and clouds of the morning were gone, and the afternoon was one you wish you could bottle and sell. The views from the Space Needle were just amazing, like this one of Mount Rainier (tomorrow's destination) well in the distance from Seattle:

that of the Seattle downtown:

Puget Sound:

and this large lake in the city:

Then I reluctantly went back to the ground, and chilled in the park for a while, listening to this absolutely fantastic band (from Peru or Bolivia, I would guess) for a half hour or so.

From there, I decided to walk down to the Sculpture Garden I had heard about. As I walked through the garden, I passed a young woman who called my name. I turned and saw that it was Shanna, from the South Carolina chapter. She had also run the half marathon that morning, except she ran it in 1:40, and was walking around seeing the sights. We walked through the garden together for a while, and I snapped a shot for her:

Then I told her she really needed to see the Space Needle, which she decided to do, so we walked back there. Then she went up the Needle and I returned to the hotel to rest up for a little while before the Victory Party.

My time in Seattle was all too short, but I packed a lot into it before heading to Mount Rainier the next day.

Seattle Touring - Bainbridge Island

Friday June 25 - After the National Chapter group training run in the morning, Chuck and I headed for breakfast down at Pike Street Market. As part of this, we walked though the marketplace again, seeing some of the incredible displays of fruits and vegetables:

shrimp so big you would think they were lobster tails:

salmon:

and flowers:

Outside in the marketplace, I posed with a new friend:

And then we walked through an alleyway on the way to the ferry terminal. Along the way, we passed this somewhat fascinating, somewhat gross display of chewed gum:

Then, we headed for the ferry to Bainbridge Island. We had considered a scenic cruise on a tourism line that would have cost $40, but opted for the Seattle Ferry to Bainbridge for a round trip of about $6.50 instead. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on my feet but felt like walking around a bit of the island would be fun on this cool and somewhat showery day, the only day I saw rain in my six days in the supposedly soaked Pacific Northwest.

I would not have time so see the fabled Washington coast, so this trip in Puget Sound would be the best I could do. The views reminded me a bit of the coast of Maine.

Once we got off the ferry, we walked on a trail through a mixture of natural areas along the shore, and the outskirts of a town. We came on a pretty neat marina,

and had tea and coffee in a cafe, chatting with a marathoner we met on the ferry. Then it was time to head back and enjoy the pretty views approaching the city, such as another ferry heading to Bainbridge Island,

a Celebrity Cruise Lines ship tied up in Seattle,

the Seattle skyline,

and the Space Needle, where I would go the next afternoon.

After this excursion, Chuck headed back to the Expo, and I headed to the hotel to relax for a couple of hours off my feet before the TNT Inspiration Dinner.

Seattle Touring - Thursday Afternoon

June 24 - Afternoon. So after flying in and catching a cab to the hotel (we later learned they had light rail from the Seattle airport to 3 blocks from our hotel for $2.50 one way), we were able to check into the hotel early and get our stuff stashed away. We had a few hours to kill until our team would meet to head to the Expo together, and we hungry for lunch and thirsty for a BEvERage. So Chuck and I started walking around Seattle, heading towards the waterfront, looking for a local (non-chain) place to eat and get a local beer.

We were amazed to find a Starbucks in Seattle, in fact there turned out to be more than one (hundred, I think). Technically, that was local, but we wanted one of a kind.

We could have eaten some barbeque here, as it certainly looked one of a kind. But we wanted a sit down place with one of Seattle's reportedly excellent microbrews.

We settle on the Pike Brewing Company. We posed outside with a couple of their beer posters. My cat is named Nellie, so you can see why I picked this one.

After lunch, we strolled through the Pike Street Market, marveling at the incredible seafood displays - gigantic lobster tails, crabs of all kinds, and huge whole salmon:

Then we went outside into the refreshingly cool air. It was at least 30-35 degrees F. cooler than Richmond. We caught a view of Mount Rainier about 90 miles away. Chuck said, "If that starts smoking, I'm out of here!"

Finally, we saw a neat totem pole on the way back to the hotel at a little park, and it was time to get back and meet the team.

Seattle Touring - The Flight In

Well, I've spent my limited blog time recently by updating my hiking blog with Mount Rainier posts, and now am finally getting back to this blog to post about my few days in Seattle. I had already posted about the race and the events leading up to it.

On June 24, I got up at 4AM to head to the airport. Coach Chuck and his wife gave me a ride there. Upon arising, I found a message from Roanoke teammate Kathryn that her flight was cancelled and she would not be arriving until that night, so we should not plan on meeting her at O'Hare Airport. That was disappointing, as we had looked forward to meeting another Virginia teammate.

Other than that, the flight was uneventful. Everything left on time, and I got to start reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." On the final approach to Seattle, I snapped some photos of my first views of the great Pacific Northwest and Seattle.

The clouds opened up a bit on the approach to the airport to show some views of the Cascades. The snow on the peaks made me wonder about how my hiking at Rainier would be. I found out a few days later that everything there higher than about 4,500 feet altitude would be snow covered - much snowier than these mountains were.

I was excited to see this view of the Space Needle, a true Seattle landmark.

We came right in over the center city.

I knew from studying the race route that on June 26th, I would be running right past Safeco and Qwest Fields near the end of the race.

View of Puget Sound and part of the port area

Reviewing my ABC's

Today as I toured a bit of Seattle for the second day in a row, I reviewed my ABC's. More about that in a second, but it was a fun day. We started out with a National Team run around the Seattle downtown, probably running 1.5 miles. It was so nice and cool. Then my roommate (and Richmond coach) Chuck and I walked in a light rain down to Pike Place Market, had breakfast, and looked at some of the amazing displays of seafood, flowers, and fruits and vegetables. From there, we walked to the Washington State Ferry Terminal, and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island, which was a very pretty ride. The rain had stopped but there was heavy cloud cover all day. Mt. Rainier was never visible. We walked trails through a waterfront park, and shared some of the walk and a snack at a coffeehouse with a nice young woman named Kim. She was here from California and is running the full marathon. The link below may or may not work, but shows where I was on the way out:

http://fms.ws/E9Au/47.60313/-122.34654

Then, knowing I have been on my feet too much today, I came back the room and am trying to relax for the last three hours before the Inspiration Dinner. I would guess I was on my feet a minimum of 5 miles today, including our team run.

Now to my ABC's.... My A goal for tomorrow is to break 2 hours 30 minutes. It will be tough because of my sporadic training the last five weeks due to injury and illness, but it is doable. The weather should be great. I am in good over all shape, and my coach taped the 2:30 pace marker to our hotel room mirror. And it is in purple! That is a good omen! So I am going to go for it tomorrow. And I made the decision to do something different - to not run with my TNT hat that I have worn in every race since first signing on to TNT in 2005. I do not want to cover my purple hair. I will bring it to the start and gear check it if it isn't raining.

My B goal is to set a PR, which would be under 2:44 for the half, which was my time in my only other half marathon, Nashville Country Music last year. My C goal is to finish, in any time.

Regardless of A, B, or C, I choose to be happy about this, collect great memories, and take pictures along the way. Having surpassed my fundraising goal - emphasized by my purple hair tomorrow - is what really counts. Hitting 2:30 in the race would be the frosting on the cake. But the cake itself - being here for the race, being alive, being strong and healthy enough to run and walk 13.1 miles, running with purple hair, and running to honor all of the cancer patients whose names are on my shirt - is incredibly sweet with or without the frosting. So I will have my cake and eat it to in Seattle - with or without the frosting!

A TNT Inspiration Dinner, and a 3AM wake-up call wait! GO TEAM!

In Seattle

Well, I made it here in a long day that started at 4:15AM. The air travel was very smooth and I got here in time to explore a bit yesterday, probably walking about 5-6 miles all told. This included finding a good microbrewery of course, walking around a bit, seeing some great views of Mt. Rainier, going to the convention center to pick up my race stuff, and going out to dinner later with the National Team.

I love the weather here. It is a good 30 degrees cooler than back in Virginia. On the flight in, we flew over beautiful and rugged snow covered mountains just east of here. Makes me wonder again how much hiking I will get in after the race, as there is still a lot of snow at elevation.

Well, this is it for a few days. GO TEAM!

Nashville Touring

The reason I was in Nashville was to run the Country Music Half Marathon, but while I was there, I had a day and a little more to see something of a city I’d never been to. It is a delicate balance – without a car, my feet were the mode of transportation, and with 13.1 miles to do on Saturday, you don’t want to overdue it and walk for miles. Some of the main attractions, like the Grand Ole Opry and The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson’s home) are 10 – 15 miles away from downtown.

So most of my sightseeing involved being within a mile from our hotel. There was still plenty to see, and I have included some photos with commentary.

Right around the corner of our hotel was the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry. They still do some shows in this beautiful venue.

The Tennessee Titans play football here, right downtown and across the Cumberland River. If the Eagles play here sometime, it would be really fun to come back, catch a game, and see more of the area. This is also where the marathon and half marathon finish. We also did a team three mile walk / run to here the morning before the race.

Nashville really is "Music City", and has a great looking Symphony Hall. In Richmond, our symphony has been relegated to playing churches for about 4 years now while the Carpenter Center is being renovated .

Nashville is the state capital and has a nice looking Capital Building.

Near the capital grounds is the Tennessee memorial to the Korean War and those native sons and daughters who served, died, and suffered there. I wonder how many Americans know much about this war, now nearly 60 years in the past.

Here I am hanging out with some of the legends of country music. On Sunday, just before the team left for the airport, my roommate Dave and I hung out at the joint in the photo for a while and listened to some great music being performed by a young couple. Several of usalso went to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge the night we got here, which was fun and just packed to the gills on a Thursday night. Nashville definitely has a livlier downtown than Richmond does.

Speaking of country music, this place is the Country Music Hall of Fame, and is a must see. I wish I had been able to spend more time in here that the hour and a half I had before our Inspriation Dinner Thursday. I was amazed how good this was. Seen from above, building would look like a treble clef, and the left hand side (the bottom of the treble clef) has what looks like the old time radio tower.

Priscilla Pressley gave Elvis this golden piano for their first wedding anniversary. I also saw Carl Perkins’ blue suede shoes and wish I had attempted a photo. Some of the guitars just had the most incredible workmanship.

Our hotel had a sculpture like this on each floor. Each one is different, but they all have a musical theme and were all made entirely of chocolate by the hotel's restaurant staff. I love chocloate but eating this would be like smashing up a painting to burn for heat.

I really enjoyed my short time in Nashville, and hope to get back there again. My race roommate, Dave, told me the other night that he is running in the Country Music Marathon again next year!

Country Music Team Comes Together

I am going to write a series of posts about the trip to Nashville. In this first one, I will talk about Team Virginia and include a few photos. The next group of several posts will discuss the race - which was the main event. Then, in the final one I will talk about some things I saw in Nashville. It will take me a few days to get it all out there.

We had a great team and we really clicked. For those of you not familiar with Team in Training, TNT is organized into chapters. A chapter can be a state, as in the case of Virginia. Or it could be a small geographic area with high population, such as Eastern Pennsylvania or New York City. Or it could be a widespread geographic area like San Diego - Hawaii.

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Our chapter, Virginia, had several smaller subteams. On the Richmond team, we all knew each other well, having trained together for nearly 6 months. But we didn't know anyone else from the state teams, nor did they know us. So we met for the first time in airports - a few driving to Richmond for the flight and others meeting us in Charlotte. A few others drove all the way to Nashville. In the beginning of my Ode to Coach Chuck, this is what I tried to express - that we came from all over the state. Here is a photo of many of us in the Charlotte US Airways hub:

When we got to Nashville, we were all starved - some had been up since 3AM - and several of us went out to find a place to eat. Here are some of my teammates walking towards Broadway in Nashville, and then at the Expo where we got our race packets:

One of the truly great TNT experiences is the Inspiration Dinner, formerly known as the Pasta Party. Teams from all over the US and Canada come together and eat a dinner together and hear speakers, including a survivor who usually has an inspirational tale to tell. But first, as we walk into the room, we go through a gauntlet of coaches and LLS staff who make the most amazing racket cheering for us. It is so cool - on my fourth event now, I still really enjoy it. Many are dressed in crazy fashion, and it is such fun. Here is a photo as I entered the ball room:

And here is a photo of some of team Virginia at dinner:

John "The Peguin" Bingham was our speaker and master of ceremonies. Even though this is the fourth time he has spoken all of at the dinners at my events and of course has to repeat some of his stories and lines, it is still very entertaining. Everyone laughed at the line about what kind of endurance atheletes are the winners of the marathon? They are only out there for 2 hours, while we will be out there 4, 5 , 6 or 7 hours! He told the story of his high school girlfriend dying from Hodgkins lymphoma back in the 1960's.

Our inspirational speaker was named Jim and told of his fairly recent experience surviving stage 4 lymphoma and all of the horriffic things that he went through in the last few years. But he is surviving, and back to running after barely being able to walk to the mailbox at times. The next day, he will be joining us for a half marathon. I hope that he keeps going!

At the end, someone snapped this photo of me, Chuck, Paul, and Kristi. Dig our cool blue team shirts! On the back it says "Virginia is for Cures", a take on the famous "VA is for Lovers" slogan that has been so successful for 40 years now.