Lake Union Run

Lake Union is one of the lakes in Seattle and is the closest to downtown Seattle. It was two weekends ago when I decided to get a new apartment near my office which is only in promixity to the lake and it was only a matter of time until I stamp my shoe marks around Lake Union.

After a week of cloudy and sometimes rainy, the skies cleared up this Sunday. After attending noon mass, I laced up my shoes to take advantage of the great weather. The goal for the day was to run around Lake Union starting from my apartment. 

I went north via Eastlake Ave and crossed University Bridge. I then went down to Burke Gillman Trail which leads to Gas Works Park. I made a stop over at Gas Works Park and took pictures. Gas Works Park is the site of the former site of the Seattle Gas Light Company and offers scenic views of Lake Union and downtown Seattle.

After enjoying the views of the park, I went up Fremont Bridge and headed to Westlake Ave. The east side of Lake Union has the floating house (remember Sleepless in Seattle?) while the west side has the marina. There were boats of all sizes, kayaks and sea planes. I was enjoying running along the marina and before I knew it, I was back at my apartment. 

Another lake conquered! Enjoy the pictures.

yacht

 

Burke Gilman Trail

 

Gas Works Park

Lake Union

pipes

 

Aurora Bridge

marina

 

westlake

another lake conquered

finishline.ph

One of the notable difference in the racing scene here in the US is the convenience of participating in the races. Here you have different options to register for a race – registering personally, sending your registration thru mail and registering online which is the most convenient.

It is good to know that the convenience in registering online has finally hit the Philippine racing scene. After Takbo.ph, PhotoVendo and Secondwind Running Store now comes Finishline.ph.  

Finishline.ph allows you to register online and pay for running events using ATM, GCash or Credit Card. Aside from convenience of registering, you can also designate the closest Nike Park store as pick up point for your race kit. Initial racing events are AirSpeed: Runs for a Cause on April 5, 2009 and Greenfield City Run on April 19, 2009. 

Congrats Coach Rio and Vince! For more info visit – www.finishline.ph

US Races Pics

Mercer Island Half Marathon – Virtual Condura Race

First off, I would like to say congratulations to my friends who ran the 21K Condura Race. So while I missed the Condura Race this year, I found myself my virtual Condura Run, the Mercer Island Half Marathon. I found this race while shopping for my winter running gear upon arriving here in Seattle.

Saturday night Seattle, I was already reading blogs and facebook status on how the Condura Race went. I was very excited on doing my own half marathon that I wasn’t able to sleep well. I would wake up every hour and even dreamt I was late for the race. Hehehe. This has been a regular thing for me during big and anticipated races (or was it because of my ginisang munggo dinner?) 

After finishing my oatmeal, I left my apartment and arrived at Mercer Island around 8AM. I had enough time to pick up my race bib and time chip at the registration area. 20 minutes before race start, I did my warm-ups and some stretching.

Registration Area at the Mercer Island Community Center

 

race bib, time chip, garmin and Asics are ready!

There were pace markers at the starting line. I positioned myself at 9:01 – 10:00 minute per mile pace. I had no idea at first if this is the right pace for me as I am familiar with the metric system. I know I can do 6:00 per kilometer but I don’t have a calculator in hand to convert min/km to min/mi. Bahala na si Batman. 

 

The half marathon race started at 9:05AM. The weather was overcast and there was a drizzle at the start of the race. I don’t have an estimate but there were a huge number of half marathon runners. The route reminded me of Baguio but colder. We were running around Mercer Island which is in Lake Washington. The lake was in view everytime you look to the left. 

route as tracked by Garmin

The roads were winding but were lined by tall trees. You will probably see the largest houses in this side of Washington. The Mercer Island residents were very supportive of the runners. They would give you high fives, cheer and even give you water on small paper cups. I was surprised to see cheerleaders lined up at the 10th mile marker.

Learning from my first half marathon, i took advantage of the downhills to recover lost time from the uphills. I also made sure that I drink water at each water station to prevent dehydration even though the temperatures are in the 40s. I was afraid that I would conked out in this race but was surprised to maintain a good pace until the 10 mile. The last 3 miles was really a struggle as I was already tired and it was uphill all the way to the finish line.

I crossed the finish line and heard the announcer called my name “Wilbert Lackbey”. My Garmin registered a time of 2:07:56, way better than my Adidas KOTR time 2:33:22.

me at the race expo

Community Center

starting line

awaiting the gunfire

cheerleaders

finish

Oranges, bananas, bagels, water, electrolytes and Starbucks coffee awaited the finishers. I took a few bites, rested and went back to my apartment to prepare for mass.

Til the next half marathon. Vancouver anyone?

Registered for the Half

Good luck to all of us on Sunday!

St. Patrick’s Day Dash

What is St. Patrick’s Day Dash?

The St. Patrick’s Day Dash is the largest St. Patrick’s Day fun run in the US attracting nearly 15,000 runners, walkers, joggers & crawlers. A Seattle tradition for the past 24 years, thousands of people join the fun by dressing-up with an Irish spirit and celebrate the arrival of spring!

It was indeed a fun run! I experienced first hand how big and fun this racing event is. The assembly area is at the Seattle Center, home of Key Arena and of course the Space Needle. More than 15,000 (7000+ in the timed waves) participated in this event wearing green hat, green shirt, green shorts, green necklaces and bracelets (it felt like you were in a LaSalle run or rally for a moment). There were bagpipers playing at the start of the race which added that extra Irish touch. There were also photographers, tv cameras and crowds cheering you on and giving high fives.

The route was 3 3/4 mile or 6 km. The first part of the route was downhill until the tunnel. As much as you would want to run at a faster pace, you couldn’t because of the large number of runners. I was zigzaging my way through the crowd. After the tunner, it was uphill all the way until the turnaround point at Aurora Bridge. It was a steady ascent – think of the New Balance Clark 25K route minus the hot weather. After the turnaround it was downhill again with a short ascent to the finish line. It was on this part where I started to pick up my pace to make up lost time in the ascent. Garmin registered 00:34:18 for a distance of 6.25km.

As I would expect, the race was very well-organized. The race started on time. I was in the green wave – the first group to start off and we were set off at exactly 8:30AM. There were marshals the entire route. To ensure the safetly of all runners, both sides of the road were closed to traffic. You wouldn’t have to play patintero with vehicles or worry about getting sideswiped. The baggage area or “gear check” was indoors and there were a lot of marshals. It was a breeze checking in and checking out your baggage.  Although there were a lot of runners, there was no line on the finish as time chips were used. I already got the unofficial result – I placed 2023 out of 7234, 233 out of 571 runners in the green wave. 

 

 

So what’s memorable with this race? Running in the snow (temperature was freezing!) and drinking beer at 9:30 in the morning! hehe

Sorry guys, I didn’t have much photos this time as my camera fogged up due to the weather.

it's snowing!

completed first US race

Sun, Rain and Snow

While doing my virtual takbo.ph LSD, I experienced running under the sun, rain and snow over a period of 2 hours. The sun was up on the first 5 kms of my run but at the 6th kilometer it started to snow! The next 5 kms was a mix of rain/drizzle and snow. The sun finally show up again as I head back to my apartment. I completed 21kms, ran with my GF405 for the first time and too tired and sore to go out. Btw, the temperature during the entire run did not even reach 40F.

Spring is coming

Trail in the middle of Beacon Ave

Downtown Seattle

Interstate 5 & Interstate 90 with Safeco Field & Qwest Field in the background

Dr. Jose Rizal bridge - linking Beacon Hill to the International District

 

yes there is a park dedicated to Jose Rizal

Chief Sealth Trail

running under the tranmission lines

Delivered

Meet my new GF…

Seward Park

Yesterday, I registered myself for the Mercer Island Half Marathon on March 22. In the hopes of improving my Adidas KOTR 21K time, I will be running long distances again starting today. My longest run since I got here was 10kms and there is no way I could finish a half with only that as my base.

When I woked up this morning, I got disappointed when I looked outside. It was dark and there was a slight drizzle. I already psyched myself the night before to run long early in the morning. I decided to just hear mass earlier than usual (and pray for the rain to stop =P) and do my run after. It was a good decision as the drizzle stopped and the sun showed up from time to time.

It was again cold today and I needed the help of my Nike fleece jacket for this run. The route was hilly but the views in Seward Park are spectacular. My favorite is the pebble beach where I rested and enjoyed the calmness of Lake Washington.

Going back to my apartment, I felt tired and hungry. I was tempted to take the bus home but resisted it. I stopped instead by Safeway market and bought a donut and energy drink. I managed to survive this 16km adventure but promised to do it again soon.

after stretching at Van Asselt Playground

start of the 2.5 mile trail at Seward Park

pebble beach

son and father

Mt. Rainier and Lake Washington

Seward Park - check!