February 28th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
(Run)
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Half an hour of running……then 20 minutes of dreadmill sprints. Felt good! (That’s what 3 days of rest will do!) Yeah!
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February 28th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
(Swim)
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The Seattle Times has a supplement called “Northwest Weekend”. Today’s edition had a picture that made me cringe! Only days after my rant about educating on trail manners - a freelance writer posted an article called “In praise of the paved path”. The article was well intended. Good PR for the trails themselves…. And, it could have been the PERFECT place for educating folks on trail safety and community making. But, alas. No.
There, along side a list of the many trails in the region was a picture of a guy being pulled on roller blades by his dog. Ack! Dear Mr. Rollerblader: This is not the Iditerod! Letting your dog pull you on rollerblades is probably one of the MOST dangerous things to do on the trail!
No rollerblader can can stop fast enough to get out of the way of a kid or a runner or a bunny crossing the trail. It’s not safe for the rollerblader. It’s not safe for the dog. And it’s not safe for anyone else on the trail.
Bummer. Seattle Times, such missed opportunities.
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February 23rd, 2008 at 10:40 pm
(Run)
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February 21st, 2008 at 11:15 am
(Run)
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Poor thing. Whenever we begin spring training for summer races - my dog gets fat. Over the winter we typically run outside and retire the bikes until the rain goes away. We also can’t bear the thought of the pool after a long season of open water - so we avoid it for as long as possible. The pooch is so happy when she can tag along on these winter get-aways. But come spring - we’re on our bikes or in the pool. The pooch still gets some exercise - walks to the mailbox and the odd run when it’s cool. We’ll occasionally take her to the lake where she would swim for hours, if we let her. But it’s not nearly as much running as she gets over the winter. So, she gets fat. Last year, during Ironman training, we had to get the ol’ gal a new collar because she ‘grew’ out of her old one. Bad dog owners.
Fortunately today however, I blew off my morning swim/run and waited for the sun to come up. It was a gorgeous day so she & I hit the trail for a happy 6 miles. Yay!
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February 19th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
(Uncategorized)
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Sunday was the first day back on the bike. Today was the first day back in the pool. An easy 1000 yards…. It took a while to get back in the groove! The true test will be if I can move my arms when I wake up in the morning. 
Chlorine smells like summer!
February 19th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
(Run)
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February 19th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
(Swim)
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February 18th, 2008 at 9:37 am
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Weeeee! Yesterday was my first bike of the season! The St. Burke-Gilman/Sammamish River Trail (the trail I’ve come to call my church) was all a-buzz with activity! The first day of real sun is a traditional call for every Seattle-area man, woman, child and dog to make the pilgrimage for at least a few miles on the trail. The crowds made for a fits & starts bike ride, but it felt great!
Which brings me to the title of this post: Trail Manners.
Imagine if the I-5 or our local main street arteries did not have rules for cars - The codes of conduct that allow merging and passing and stopping and starting. These are designed so we all get to where we want to go, and we all get there safely. Without them, chaos would ensue.
The trail is no different. As I was dodging the folks who stopped in the middle of the trail to chat with their neighbor who they haven’t seen all week, I began to think about it… When observed closely ~ the ‘rules’ are all just common sense and common courtesy. All they call for are a few moments to stop and think, what makes sense here? and, how would I like to be treated? (Or the Platinum Rule: Treat others as they would like to be treated.) All it takes is to get outside our own little worlds and consider how we fit in the big picture. All it takes is Good Manners.
Sure. There are probably many people who have never been taught these manners. (As evidenced by the parents who were showing their kids how to rollerblade across the trail without looking for oncoming traffic, the intense riders who pass at 25 mph only to slam on their breaks when they reach the bustle of people walking up ahead (clearly annoyed that these people were interrupting their training), and the the dogs on the ‘extenda-leash’ allowed to dart into the path willy-nilly.)
As I was driving home, I wondered: When did I learn of the ‘trail manners’? Some were carry-overs from many nights at the dinner table with my mom. Others were learned by riding and running with local folks - modeling what they did on the trail. And, truthfully, some were learned by trial and error. THANK YOU to the folks who kindly reminded me that if I am walking my dog, I should keep the leash short and have her right next to me. But none were learned in a class or through some PR campaign.
And then I began to think, why not? Why not a campaign to educate folks on the simple courtesies that first (and most importantly) promote safety, but ultimately promote good fellowship and a healthy community?
I wonder what it would take to have a lovely sign erected on the trail to educate users about trail manners. I wonder what it would take to have a Trail Manners feature on the cover of the Seattle Times? I wonder what it would take to produce a short segment on the evening news hailing the virtues and community-building impact of good ‘Trail Manners’? (Of course, since it’s ‘TV’, we’d also have to toot the perils of when people don’t use them!) (We need a little drama to keep the ratings up!)
Until that happens however, what we can do is be responsible for our own actions….. oh, and exercise the most important Trail Manner of all ~ patience.
Over to you……..
February 17th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
(Cycle)
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February 16th, 2008 at 7:58 am
(Walk)
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Ahhhhhhh, home again! How many of you ever feel like ‘work’ is a workout in itself!? I just returned from a loooong week with a client in L.A. Yeeps. It sure feels like I worked out with them! (But I doubt it would be considered ‘exercise’ by Jack LaLane and friends.)
It was rainy with an ocean front of fog over 2 of the days, but I still managed to squeeze in a walk along the beach every day - for a total of 4 hours. I was so wiped when I returned to my hotel that I didn’t bother to blog, so here it is in one lump sum.
It was probably a blessing since I should be in “recovery” after running the 1/2. (One day of rest for every mile run, right Lisa?) :-) I’ll have to figure out how to make this travel work with my workouts though. It may impact my decision to register for the Lake Stevens Half Iron this year……..
Hmmmm………it’s all about pre-planning.
Hope you all had a great week!
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