Raindrops keep falling on my head

I’ve been in a slump lately, and I don't really have a reason why. To cheer myself up, I decided to accompany B. on another long run. Since visiting the Snoqualmie Valley Trail last week, we decided to try out another regional trail that was closer to home.

Neither of us got much out of the bike expo we attended a couple of weeks ago, but it was well worth it to find out about all of the wonderful trails that are nearby.

This time we went to Soos Creek, which is about 20 minutes south of Seattle. It was pouring down when we left. We both hoped that the rain would let up by the time we got to the trail head. No such luck. I brought a bunch of books with me and was going to bail if it kept raining. But the dogs were with us and were very excited, so I decided to make a go of it. I intended to run 5 miles, pushing myself just a little bit out of my comfort zone. (Granted, this was not a good idea last week, but 5 miles is not really overdoing it). I figure if I push myself a little from time to time, then I will be able to increase my endurance—and my metabolism.

I thought the trail was beautiful. (B. didn't agree with me). It was relatively serene--probably due to the weather--and went though fields of cattails and beautiful wetlands. Much of the trail was lined with fiery red bushes, patches of skunk cabbage (which looked like yellow lilies to me), cherry trees in full bloom, and flowering dogwood trees.

It was nice, but after an hour and 40 minutes of being in the cold, I was very happy to go home. I ended up running for the first 2-3 miles and then walking the rest of the way. With all the rain, I had a hard time motivating myself to run. (My shoes were soaking wet and giving me blisters). Unfortunately, my Nike+ iPod device started having problems yesterday after it got smashed against the pavement when the dogs took off after B., so I didn't get all the data from today's run.

Last night I discovered how to upload my run data to the Nike+ Web site and found out that you can trace your route by drawing over Google Maps. Here is the route from Seward Park yesterday (the best that I could draw, anyway). I'm hoping that the device will still be of some use.

The good news is that recording my activity (pace, distance, etc.) has helped me stay motivated. I've gone running/walking six out of seven days this past week and have logged a lot of miles.