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enforcers

Evil on the internet.

3:36 p.m. - Dec. 07, 2008

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eating and running

B and I went out for his birth*day last night. We headed to one of Seatt*le's nicest seafood retaurants, Ell*iot's Oys*ter House, an expedition that has become an annual tradition. It was absolutely fabulous. We started with a delectable Dung*eness crab and shrimp dip. We split half a dozen raw oy*sters on the half shell, which Ell*iot's serves with this tasty champa*gne sauce. Then he had salmon and I had halibut for our main course. They were slow to bring out the courses, which I actually liked because the atmosphere was lovely, and it gave us lots of time to talk. I also enjoyed a couple of Hefe*weizens, a local beer. I was about to burst by the time we left, something which always seems to happen when we go out to eat. I just can't resist delicious food.

This morning we headed out for the K9 Can*dy Cane 5*K Fun Run. I don't run races often, but this one was all around great. My favorite part, of course, was that you were allowed to take your dog with you. P is my most faithful training partner. I do 90% of my mileage with him. Therefore, it was really nice to run with him in a race. In addition, it was so great seeing all the other dogs in all shapes and sizes and many in various Christmas outfits. The race was small, so it was chaotic but not really hazardous having so many dogs around. They had an indoor location for everyone to hang out before and after the race, right next to the starting line, and all manner of dogs were wandering around getting to know each other. One local Cor*gi group had arranged a meetup, and there were 6 or 7 Cor*gis and their owners all hanging out together.

The race itself took place a paved trail and was dead flat most of the way. I figured I was a bit out of shape, so my goal was to run under 24:30 and preferably under 24:00. I also planned to start slow, which I did. As the race went on, I gradually picked up the pace, but I didn't really speed up until the turnaround which was at about 1.7 miles or so. After the turnaround, I started picking up the pace more and more, until finally sprinting to the finish. B and P ran with me the whole way, which made a really big difference. B could have run faster, but instead he hung back and basically paced me on the way back. I turned out to run around 22:45! (B's watch said 22:44 from line to line, and the clock said about 22:45 when I crossed. Hopefully, they'll come out with results.) It was great. That's the fastest I've run since moving to Seattle, assuming that the course isn't short or anything; my previous fastest Seattle time was a few years ago, 22:57. Finally, B and I both got second in our age groups.

3:15 p.m. - Dec. 07, 2008