Spokane

Fall had already arrived, but she went into hiding for my glorious 5 day visit to Spokane. Nothing but sunshine, trees, views of the river and valley, and wonderful outdoor runs and meals.

My sister and B are the most chill parents I know. The dearth of baby stuff was refreshing. The baby is a point on the triangle of their family, rather than the center of their orbit. They seem to believe that little A will be just fine with their attention, and he is. More than fine. He's perfect.

In the mall, when A spit up on himself as I held him, I told my sister, who was busy paying for parking. "Oh, just rub it into his clothes. That's why he wears them."

Right. Love the low stress parenting. It was so fun to hang out with their family.

In running, while alone, I made nothing but wrong turns. One day my run ended up with 400 ft down the back of the ridge (their dog pulled me back up). Another day, I mistakenly ran 400 ft down the front of the ridge (I had to pull the dog back up that time). And finally, on the day I made it onto the trails along the ridgeline, I was repeatedly stung by a wasp who took the unfortunate resting place between my sock and shoe. Ouch.

Despite the suboptimal training, I raced a scenic 10K with sis along the Spokane River, and the clock showed a PR of 49:05. Unfortunately, I knew from my effort level that the course had to be short. I'd forgotten my GPS watch, but I asked two of the women who beat us and they reported 5.85 and 5.84 miles. So, not quite PR pace, but a respectable showing of 8:23's nonetheless. A great training run. And super fun to do it with my sister.

This week is threatening chaos. Close of the quarter. A trip to New York. So, while I want nothing more than a lazy Sunday of nothing, I'm going to try to buckle down and do a ton of stuff today.