3/15/2008

Today, I woke up at around 6:30. I fell back asleep and woke back up a little after 7. I meant to go downstairs and eat before 7, so I was a little worried. Mom came downstairs while I was eating and talked to me until around 8:20. I was afraid I would be late to practice, so I wanted to hurry upstairs. I changed and got ready quickly, so I was able to leave before 8:35. I arrived at practice around 8:58, but only one other person (Daniel Olleman) was there when I arrived. Shortly afterwards, several other people (Thuy-Vy, Sam, Erin, Jessica) arrived. Michael Huseby came at around 9:10, and we started running soon afterwards when we saw Brad's car pull into the parking lot. There were no empty parking spaces in the main parking lot, so Michael Huseby and Brad had to park their cars on the other side of the track, on the gravel road. Desite their close parking spaces, their entrances were very dissimilar. Huseby came in by jumping two fences, while Brad came in through the small gate that I opened by sticking my finger into the lock. The small gate is difficult to open without a key, but last summer I would often use a little stick to pry the lock open. From the inside, a small finger can simply be used to pry it open. Brad also had Brody with him, so he could not jump any fences. Huseby and I were mad that Ashish and Max (Rayista) were not at practice, so Huseby called them during our two lap warm-up. First we called Ashish, but he did not pick up. Then, we called Max. The conversation went something like this:
Rayista: Hello?
Huseby: Where are you? Come to practice! You're late!
Rayista: What are you doing? You woke me up. I'm in bed.
Huseby: Running... why else would I call you on a Saturday morning?
Rayista: Ohh ok.
Huseby: Be here in the next 10 minutes, or I'll have to fight you.
Rayista: Ok. Bye.
Huseby: Bye.
We tried calling Ashish another five times or so, but he didn't pick up. During our stretches, we called Ashish and left a message on the phone where everybody yelled something at him. Max came to practice a few minutes later and told us that Ashish did not have his phone, which Huseby and I knew so we felt very stupid about. However, we hoped it would be funny when Ashish would get his phone back because obviously the message would be of no use. Mom talked to Brad during our stretches. I was worried because I did not know what they were saying and it was probably something about me. We did not do abs, pushups, or drills today; we usually do not on Saturday, but I think we probably should. After our stretches, we went directly into our run. Brad told us about a trail he used to run when he went to Interlake, so he told us he would meet us at the exit of the Marymoor Hill because we did not know how the trail would continue from there. We started off running on north on 164th, turned left on 28th (or maybe 30th, can't remember), and turning right onto Bel-Red. From there, it was around an 18 minute downhill to get to Marymoor. At around 22 minutes, we got to the hill, and turned left. The Marymoor Hill is directly on the opposite side of the road from Marymoor Park. I told Huseby not to go too fast up the hill because I had a feeling he would start too fast and not pace himself correctly. I stuck with Huseby all the way up the hill and passed him at the end because he slowed down because the end was slippery and he did not want to slip. A minute or so afterwards, Max emerged out of the trail. At this time, we were at around 26 minutes. However, we couldn't see Brad's car around. Huseby and I ran around the streets nearby to search for Brad, while Max ran in circles by the main entrance to see if Brad would come. A minute or two later, we saw Brad's car. We realized that the trail continued if we went north a block or two and then turned left to cross the 520 overpass. On the other side of 520, we saw a horse/running trail and ran west for around 10 minutes. Afterwards, we saw a road and started running on it because Brad said we would have to turn left when we saw a sign saying Bridle Trails. However, we turned back because we realized that Brad might be farther forward (east). The concrete on the sidewalk on the road felt very nice to run on, and Max thought it was rubber for a moment. We went through the trail for another few minutes, and there was a section that had a very steep downhill and then a very steep uphill. Rayista was scared to follow Huseby and me, but we knew he would follow because he would not want to be ditched. When we exitted the trail, we saw Brad. We were very excited to tell him about the almost-rubber concrete. In front of us was Bridle Trails State Park, and on our right (north) was a sign saying entering: Kirkland. At this point, I think we were on around 124th NE and 60th. Brad told us we could turn left and continue until we reached 24th and then turn left to reach school again. However, he also told us that we could try running in Bridle Trails State Park and see if there was a trail that ran along the street. We decided to go in the trail. Sure enough, there was one, and ran until we reached around 40th. The trail was wonderful; there were puddles everywhere! Running it was like running on an obstacle course, and Huseby and I were very excited running on it the whole time. I led most of the way through the trails, and Huseby and I did not feel tired even through we were running through the trails very fast because it was a new experience. This is one of the best parts of running in new trails. Rayista was not excited though and did not want us to go so quickly through the puddle-filled trail. When we exited at 40th, we saw Brad's car again. He told us to turn left and then right and follow along the road until we reached 24th and turn left onto it to get to school again. On the left side of the road, there was a very nice gravel trail. We all loved it, especially Huseby and me. As a result, we frequently sped up. However, Max kept complaining about us going to fast so we had to slow down and let him catch up every once in a while. When we reached 24th (and 140th NE), we saw Brad again. He told us to turn left and we would reach school. On 24th, there were two main downhills and two main uphills. On the downhills, we went fairly slowly to protect our shins. On the left side of the street, we saw a church giving out free things and joked around about going there. On the first uphill, I kept up with Huseby. On the second one, Huseby decided to sprint because he was growing insanely excited. After this second hill, we were at Bel-Red (and 24th). From here on, Huseby decided to sprint pretty much the rest of the run. He raced us to the sign at the front of the school, and he obviously won because Max and I were being rational and knew it was stupid to race on a long run. However, I still made many short sprint-bursts and made it first into the track, but then Huseby and I started sprinting and he barely beat me to where our sweats were. I stopped on the fence, but Huseby did not, so he made some very awesome skid marks where he stopped. We arrived back at school at 94 minutes, one of Rayista's longest runs. Huseby and I were very proud of Rayista because he kept up with us fairly well. Afterwards, Huseby untied his shoelaces for no reason--he claimed it was because he was used to untieing spikes after races--and his hands were too cold so it took him like 5 minutes to tie them back on again. We saw a man running on the track, and we joked about running with him. Then, we saw a bus pull into the parking lot, and Huseby thought it was for a caucus. I told him the caucuses were like a month ago, and he said there was some alternate one or something. Huseby and I wanted to investigate, but Rayista wanted to go back home because he had an orthodontics appointment so he left. Huseby and I approached the bus, and through the back window Tommy Bentley and one of Huseby's friends starting yelling at us. Huseby's friend exclaimed he was surprised to see me walking with Huseby, and Huseby and I just started cracking up. It turns out the bus was not for a caucus, but for a boys' baseball game. Huseby and I started walking towards his car, and I told him I needed to borrow his cellphone to call my dad. He said he did not know where his phone was, but that it was somewhere in his bag. We traded bags, and I found his phone and called my dad. My dad was in the middle of his dentist's appointment, so Huseby dropped me off at the dentist's office.

sorry there're a few typos
and i wrote this because my dad makes me write a diary and email it to him every day