The best summer day

I'm signed up for the Beat the Blerch marathon which is a month away now. This race all takes place on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. It's an old railroad line which has been converted to a miles long gravel trail. I used to do a lot of runs out on this trail but gradually realized that the gravel trail would bother my hip and I hated the flat trail.  Why did I sign up for this race again? 

It will be fun but i really wanted a long run out on that surface again. I needed to figure out which shoes would work on the gravel and decide if I need to carry water for the race.  Only 17.5 miles later and I figured out the trail shoes I have will work well enough and yes, i will need to carry water. Trail shoes? It's not what I'd consider a "real" trail but my normal road shoes are light and I can feel every rock through them.  My trail shoes are also lighter but they have a rock place which gives a bit of protection. I'd forgotten that the gravel could bother my hip and as I suspected, I've managed to settle that whole hip issue and I didn't have any trouble on the long run at a my long run pace. (knock on wood!)

It was a good run overall even if it got tough and I was happy to get it done. I'd had a really good 12 mile run with 7 (7!) at tempo pace on Thursday. I wasn't exactly expecting my legs to feel peppy and they did not. Still, it wasn't any trouble ticking off the miles at an easy pace. K and I ran together for about 5 miles which was fun and it was quite pretty as the fog in the valley was burning off. 

Since we were already out in the Snoqualmie Valley (about a 30 minute drive from Seattle), we thought we'd combine long run and summer blueberry picking. WE usually go once during the summer and this was a good weekend for it. 

First off, we had breakfast at a small place out in the valley. We don't go out to breakfast too often and this was a treat! And by about mile 14, I was getting really hungry. Why yes, corned beef hash with potatoes and eggs with coffee will hit the spot.  

We headed off toward the blueberry farm and found a a roadside peach stand. Oooh! I'd been debating getting a case of peaches at the local farmer's markets. This roadside stand was even more direct as Yakima area farmers just set up by the side of the road.  And one case was half the price as at the farmer's market. SCORE! 

Teh blueberry farm was busy as expected but it's a big area. We got our buckets and headed off into the field. I set a timer on my phone for 30 minutes and GO! Thirty minutes later, I was hot and my legs were tired and I'd eaten my fill of blueberries. We'd picked 7 pounds and were happy.  

Summer!