Yesterday was such a gorgeous day in Seattle! Rather than get to lay out and sunbathe, I had a 17 mile long run per week 10 (in reality my week 3) of Hal Higdon’s Marathon Training Plan – Novice 2.

Despite getting up at around 7am to eat my standard bagel with peanut butter and chia seeds, I procrastinated at every opportunity and didn’t start my run until 10am.

In bed, I debated whether I wanted to do my usual out-and-back, usually on the Burke-Gilman Trail towards Kenmore, or attempt a new course. This new source? It makes me a crazy lady. I decided that running multiple laps of Greenlake to meet 17 miles would be my long run. Yes, that’s slightly more than 6 laps of the inner loop.

My decision to run Greenlake was due to the scenery, numerous access to bathrooms, and being able to determine how many laps I had remaining.

For the run, I opted not to wear my trusty Nathan intensity hydration vest which I normally sport during any runs longer than double digits. Instead, I went with my CamelBak hand-held quick grip water bottle filled with Tri-Berry Nuun electrolyte drink. Yummy.

When I got to Greenlake, it was already packed with runners, kids, baby strollers, and walkers.

Here’s the view as my run began:

My first two laps (each equal to about 2.8 miles) were not bad at all. I was enjoying the scenery, people watching, and it wasn’t yet too hot. At about mile 7, I started feeling a little tired so I busted out a sample of Jelly Belly Sport Beans. They actually tasted great!

With lap 3 down, I was starting to feel the heat really bad. There’s nothing worse (to me) than heat and exhaustion combined on any run. By this point, I was questioning why I had decided to run laps around Greenlake. Crazy runner girl. That’s me.

By mile 11-12, I was seriously feeling the affect of the heat, ultra sweatiness, and hunger. I busted out a Gu Roctane with caffeine for an energy jolt.

Unfortunately, this Blueberry Pomegranate flavor was one of the worst-tasting Gu’s I’ve ever had. Chocolate Outrage (non-Roctane) will forever be my favorite.

With only 5 miles remaining and a little less than 2 laps to go, I stopped and made the decision to remove my sweat-soaked racing tank. Yes. I was one of the girls running Greenlake in just sports bra, shorts, and Spibelt. Sports bra running is not ideal to me in normal circumstances, unless I were rocking Kara and Shalane’s rock-hard abs, but in that moment yesterday it was a decision I had to make.

As soon as the shirt came off, I immediately felt better with the wind cooling down my sweaty skin.

The lily pads along the way were so pretty:

As soon as mile 17 was completed (a little more than 6 full laps), I jetted back home to shower and get ready for the day.

Yesterday was the annual Amazon company picnic held at the Mountain Meadows Farm in North Bend, WA. I didn’t know what to expect but knew it’d be huge based on population of Amazonians in Seattle.

The event was awesome!! Sadly, we made it out there just an hour before it ended. There were trapeze artists, coloring tables, lots of kids activities, etc. What I found amazing was the open beer garden and unlimited food stations!!

I had half a Hefeweizen beer, a cheeseburger, and an Orange creamsicle. I can’t remember the last time I had one of those, but it was amazing.

Of course they had other picnic foods like brats, hot dogs, meatball sandwiches, and strawberry shortcakes. Unfortunately, they had already started running out of shortcake by the time we got there. Oh well!

This venue, with a backdrop of Mt. Si, would be amazing for a wedding or corporate event.

It was a very fun day. Happy Sunday, everyone!