A Sunny Attitude

It's amazing and the biggest secret to living in Seattle.  Just when you think you can't take clouds and rain anymore, we sneak into the second half of July and Summer, it is HERE! And it is glorious.  the rest of the country has been complaining of ridiculous heat for months and finally, we have perfect weather. 

And everyone seems to be smiling and giddy with the light.  I end up not sleeping all that well during this time of year.  It's too light and the clues to be sleepy just aren't there. I want to run and bike and work in the yard and just enjoy sitting outside on the deck. 

All of a sudden the yard is out of control and I easily fill up our yard waste container in a couple hours.  I've been harvesting handfuls of snap peas off our plants and raspberries are copious.  The blueberries are almost ripe and I'm contemplating reseeding arugula, chard and kale for fall crops.

The running attitude is doing pretty well too.  Scotiabank Half definitely did not play out like I'd hoped.  But there was a real difference in my attitude with this one.  By mile 8 and 9, I was ready and knew I'd be able to keep racing.  Unfortunately my body had some different ideas.  That is different than half marathons lately.  I'd get to mile 6 or 7 and think "i can't do this" or my mind would just sort of check out and the legs would follow.

I had a really nice very hilly 11 mile easy run this past Saturday.  Sunday I was planning for some more moderate miles again over some hills.  I'll admit that I was a bit nervous about running another 6 miles at faster than just "slog." But I got out there and had no problems hitting the intended pace and felt great! My legs were tired but it didn't matter.  I think that if i'd gone out there to just run a few miles, my attitude of grumpy, tired and sloggy would've slowed me down and made getting in the intended mileage a challenge.  Attitude. Yep, it's all about attitude sometimes. 

Happy Summer!

It's that amazing time of year when there is over 17 hours of daylight in the Pacific Northwest. It's hard to get to bed on time because it is still light out when I'd normally get in bed. And those dang birds start chirping at 4 am which Dex the Cat is quick to let me know about.

When I was a kid, summer was about the pool and the beach and walking/loitering in Wesminster Mall because that's just what we did. Now, it's about trail running and biking and house projects and gardening and...

Let's just say that the summers go as quick if not quicker than they did when I was a kid.

I had a lovely long trail run yesterday out to Wallace Falls and Lake. After a month long dry spell, the area got dumped the day before which made the trail conditions just perfectly lovely. I don't think I ever stopped smiling on the run yesterday.

The Falls were putting out a fine mist and I loved hearing the sound of them the entire time I was running/hiking up the Woody Trail. Last year this trail was closed because of flood damage. I was glad to try it this year. it really is straight up!

Evidently, there had been a lot of water on the connector between the Falls and the Lake late last year according to trip reports. Last year in May, there was a very large lake here but the road was clear. This year, the area was dry! But a very sturdy, large bridge had been shifted 15 feet. It's one of those indications of nature at work which I find so interesting. you just never know what you are going to find year after year on favorite trails.

The goal this year was to try and connect a trail and a road that went past the top of Wallace Lake. Oh we were so close! we went off trail and missed the crossing of the stream that would've put us on the west side of Jay Lake. We were still following trail markers but evidently that was something else.

I think there are enough other certifiably trail crazed people that I know that we will attempt that loop again later this summer. I can't wait!


The other reward with this trail run is the stop for breakfast after the run. (You do know it's important to fuel immediately after running, right?) If you are ever in Sultan, stop by the Sultan Bakery for a fabulous breakfast and baked goods to go. It's a good thing Sultan isn't any closer to Seattle!

Happy Summer!