The half-marathon was a great idea but unfortunately the town that hosted the event didn’t take kindly to people trying to book accommodation just 3 days out from the event. As the town in Oregon is a 7 hour drive from Seattle, Rick and I wanted to stay overnight Friday and Saturday as the event was Saturday morning and the thought of driving 7 hours after running for 2 wasn’t a pretty one.

Everything was booked except for expensive lodges or smoking rooms with a single queen size bed. Not appropriate so we decided to be better organized next time around. I did however get a bicycle on the weekend and took advantage of the gorgeous weather this weekend by riding along Lake Washington on the Burke-Gillman trail. It took over 5 hours to actually source, test, assemble and buy the bike, but it was worth it once I took it on the ride. We went about 11 miles north along the trail and then turned around to get back into Fremont before the sun went down. From the GasWorks park you get probably the best view of Seattle looking over Lake Union on the downtown area to the south, Capitol Hill to the left (east) and Queen Anne to the right (west). You could see the Olympics and Mt. Rainier too. Magic stuff.

The singing adventure went pretty well overall. I had all my friends there to support me and I had some nice unsolicited feedback throughout the night that was very encouraging. I’ll have to wait for the video to be produced to see how I really went, but apart from some fluffed lines and pitchy-ness, I think I pulled it off pretty well. Besides, it’s the process rather than the product that I’m proud of. After the night at Tula’s finished up, I went to the Whisky Bar with the musos for some impromptu jazz jam sessions at the back of the bar. Seattle does have some colorful characters.

It’s been really warm here the last 5 days and its reminded me of Australia. That and the world cup of course. I proudly cheered the boys on in the last minutes of the match from the lounge in the Pro Club, only to have my brain mesmerized at the outcome. 92m and 58 seconds into the match only to see what was, by most accounts, not a foul  be ruled a foul and in the process had the game handed to Italy on a platter. Maybe it’s all part of the great drama of World Cup soccer and we should get over it, but as an Aussie, I think there’s more of a “fair go” mentality. I would’ve preferred the overtime called and a sportsman like opportunity for each team to go through the penalty kick process. Ah well. It’s only a game. I wanted to be around other brooding Aussies that morning though. Marching into work no-one really cared.

The singing night is tomorrow evening. I’m up second in the first half of the night so that should be something like 8.30pm. Yes I’m nervous but the practice on the weekend went very well and as long as I’m relaxed everything should be fine. At least having being on earlier in the set will mean I can relax for the rest of the night.

After boot camp this Monday, Nick was talking about a run he’s doing this weekend down in Oregon – a half-marathon. Rick and I have decided to give it a go. It’s 13 miles or so and the longest run we’ve been on at boot camp is about half that, with some monster hills. I think 13 miles is doable at this stage of my fitness, and I can always slow it down to a walk when I’m getting tired. The thing to really watch is my calf muscles, they tend to cramp up. I’ll be loading up on bananas and Deep Heat! Here are the details on the jog: http://www.racecenter.com/pacificcrest/

I grabbed the third season of The Soprano’s from Zac last night too – I think I’m addicted.