Challenging yes. Hills, Heck yes! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 209 ft Location: Kirkland, WA Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 05/11/08 Up/Downhill: [+869/-866] Time: 07:30 AM Difficulty: 3.4 / 5.0   Weather: Mostly Cloudy   48 F temp; 65% humidity   48 F heat index; winds S 6 G 16 Performance Distance: 13.09 miles Goal: 12' 00 min/mi pace for 02:00:00 duration Time: 2:22:55 Speed: 5.5 mph Attained: 114% Pace: 10' 55 /mi Calories: 0 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- goal actual +/- goal 1 11' 19 -0' 41 5.3 +0.3 +121 ft 2 10' 06 -1' 54 5.9 +0.9 +29 ft 3 10' 47 -1' 13 5.6 +0.6 +102 ft 4 10' 37 -1' 23 5.7 +0.7 +59 ft 5 10' 45 -1' 15 5.6 +0.6 +53 ft 6 10' 55 -1' 05 5.5 +0.5 +88 ft 7 10' 36 -1' 24 5.7 +0.7 +23 ft 8 9' 39 -2' 21 6.2 +1.2 -298 ft 9 9' 50 -2' 10 6.1 +1.1 -147 ft 10 10' 28 -1' 32 5.7 +0.7 -29 ft 11 11' 45 -0' 15 5.1 +0.1 +63 ft 12 11' 33 -0' 27 5.2 +0.2 +10 ft 13 10' 54 -1' 06 5.5 +0.5 -69 ft end 41' 40 +29' 40 1.4 -3.6 0 ft Versus goal of 12' 00 min/mile

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May Day

I was Downtown today waiting for my bus and I saw some commotion happening on First and Union. I still had fifteen minuets, so I took a walk down to look. I expected picketers and I found a party! They were having some sort of festival for May Day and there were pink baloons and people dressed in funny waiter and maid outfits. I relished for about 15 minuts in live Jazz music and people parading in costumes. Rather than watching cars and commuters, I spent my bus waiting time in what felt more like Disney Land. The picture above shows the crowd and some girls in costume swinging bird cages on ribbon from the balcony of Tully's. I love Seattle!

So the story goes...

Jonathan and I went away to the San Juan Islands this weekend. It was relaxing, yet event packed all at the same time. We kicked off the weekend first in the Skaagit valley at the Tulip Festival. We took a guided bike tour on Friday morning. The weather was a bit of a concern, but we decided to go through with it anyway. It turned out that everyone else had canceled and Jono and I would be the only ones going on the tour (which was fine with us). It didn't rain at all. The morning started out cold and windy, but by the end of the trip the sun was shining and it could not have been more perfect of a view to see the tulips! Our tour included lunch, and entry into selected tulip gardens along the way. I have been wanting to go there since I moved up here, but I had never gotten the chance. After we finished, we headed toward Anacortes to catch a Ferry to stay at Friday Harbor for the rest of the weekend.

Some of our weekend activities included...

-Dinner on the water
-Dancing
-Tour of San Juan Vinyards and a wine tasting
-Lunch at Roche Harbor
-One intense round of bowling
-Hiking
-Walking along the doc
-Playing a game of pocket scrabble we purchased at a toy store in town
-Soaking in the hot tub and roasting in the Hotel Sauna
-Breakfast on the Island
-Working out in the hotel fitness center

Oh yeah, and an Italian dinner followed by a sweet and simple proposal from Jono. It was so cold outside, I said yes quickly! But seriously, it was an incredible weekend and now I am engaged to someone that I am truly deeply in love with. My favorite part about the whole weekend.

Today in the City

The sun was shining today and hundreds of people were buzzing around Seattle. Angelika, one of the ladies that works in the wellness studio at my work passed by and we had a short conversation about how nice it is to be a part of the world in Seattle and learn from being in the City rather than just watching the news. As we parted ways, I pondered this fact some more. Since I started working in Seattle I have felt this way, but there was something about the change in weather today that made it fresh for me again. Right now, the Dalai Lama is holding a four day conference in Seattle and there are more people in the city than usual. I often people watch at the bus stop and no two conversations are the same. It was interesting hearing the Dalai Lama's name come up in conversations every couple of minutes today and how one powerful person could tie everyone of different backgrounds, cultures and walks of life together. I tried to imagine what the response would be if Jesus was speaking at the Seattle Center this week....Just some food for thought from my bus ride today.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 29 ft Location: Woodinville, WA Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 03/29/08 Up/Downhill: [+85/-88] Time: 11:10 AM Difficulty: 2.2 / 5.0   Weather: Overcast   39 F temp; 82% humidity   39 F heat index; winds SW 9 Performance Distance: 6.38 miles Goal: 9' 50 min/mi pace for 6 miles Time: 1:07:17 Speed: 5.7 mph Attained: 100% Pace: 10' 32 /mi Calories: 723 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)

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Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 940 ft Location: Issaquah, WA Elev. Gain: +6 ft Date: 03/22/08 Up/Downhill: [+757/-751] Time: 11:56 AM Difficulty: 2.7 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   51 F temp; 44% humidity   51 F heat index; winds NW 7 Performance Distance: 2.29 miles Time: 1:23:06 Speed: 1.6 mph Pace: 37' 30 /mi Calories: 277 Notes Briar's First Hike We started at the High Point Trailhead right off of I-90. From there, we took the Talus Rock trail path that headed Southeast. Its a pretty good ascent up the hill. There was alot of folks going up and down the first portion, most of them look like they were preparing for a big hike. Briar did a great job, but was pretty tired. For the first mile your climbing up over 1200 feet in Elevation. But once you get about 1.3 miles in, you hit some really beautiful rocks. Along the way there are some cool streams and a small waterfall that runs along a huge rock wall. The decsent was really nice and easy and it gave us a chance for Briar to walk without a leash. We got back in about an hour and half. It was alot of fun. Check out some of the pictures on my myspace. Map   Elevation (ft)

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St. Patty's Day Dash

Fun! and always interesting. Janelle and I did our Sunday three miler with over a thousand other race participants dressed in festive green. It was a great way to kick off the week and St. Patricks Day. We sealed the deal at O'Donalds on 128th. It's an Irish Brewery where we all had burger's washed down with a pint of Guiness. Very yummy, and now...I'm ready for a Sunday afternoon nap!