We made a bathroom stop and Dustin was hungry so while he put gas in the car, I went inside to use the restroom and find him something to eat. But it was a gas station/grocery store and there were so many options - I decided to get him a panini. I must have had some good karma getting him food because he was in the car looking up running routes - even though he wasn't running (he's still on break after the marathon).
He found the Olympic Discovery Trail which stretches over 130 miles of the Olympic Peninsula... starting in Port Townsend and running to the Pacific Ocean. We decided to head to Port Angeles where I could start my run and he could hang out on the beach. Then we'd head to the park.
We parked at the beach in downtown Port Angeles just before 9am. I changed into my running clothes and packed up my GU's. I was just a little nervous about how the run would go since I was jumping from 13.1 to 17 miles. Not that I hadn't done that many miles before... just that it's usually a little more gradually. But I knew this was an important step in my training and figured I'd have to just get over this hurdle.
I started on the trail, running along the waterfront. It was a tad foggy and windy and I was hoping it would warm up a little. In the first mile, I was discouraged to find the trail had a detour around some construction and there was another mile or so through chain-link fencing and around trucks. It was worth it though as mile 3 was back along the waterfront. It was still a little foggy and a few small raindrops fell through the trees. The waves were crashing on the shore and I was happily reminded of running the seawall in Stanley Park.
The trail then strayed from the waterfront and I was greeted with a hill along the highway as it turned more to a nature trail. The clouds parted and the sun came out. As I approached mile 6, I heard gunshots in the distance. They were getting louder and I was hoping I wasn't in the line of fire of whatever was going on. At 6.2 miles, I passed the Port Angeles gun club where I could see men outside shooting rifles at targets I could not see. The shots kept ringing for a good half a mile and were actually a soothing break in the silence.
The trail then ran back into the wilderness and I was running through trees and flowers and along country homes. I heard roosters crow and dogs bark. I passed by very few people on the trail, but the ones I did were friendly in the small town kind of way. Said hello, good morning, told me good job. At 8.5 miles, I gave the trees a nod, thanked nature for it's beauty and turned around to head back. I was feeling good.
The trail was very quiet at times and I was amazed at how few miles I was actually covering of it's distance. I enjoyed the 2 miles back to the gun club and enjoyed the booming sound that lingered in the air in the mile after I passed. I crossed two small bridges and thought about some of the other bridges we had crossed in the many miles covered in the past year. I thought about some long runs through Brooklyn, Manhattan, Astoria, Portland and Seattle. I happily ran through mile 12, thinking about how I would soon be back along the waterfront. I ran back into the sounds of the crashing waves and the fog and the wind off of the Straight of Juan de Fuca. I even welcomed the chain link fence as I knew it was just another easy two miles to the end. I tried to push myself and pick up the pace in the last mile. I finally saw the dock I was running to, passed the Red Lion Hotel and spotted Dustin reading on the steps. He had promised to have coffee waiting for me and even though I was very excited about that, I could not wait to tell him about the epic run I just finished.
great description of your run - really enjoyed it!
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