Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Run Now Beer Later in Seattle

When I agreed to participate in Gone For A Run's Run Now Beer Later virtual 10k, I didn't check the calendar. I liked the theme of the run--they had me at beer--and so I impulsively said yes.

Great bling, as always! The medal has a bottle opener, which is very handy.
Then I realized that the date of the run would coincide with my sister trip to Seattle. No worries, I had a 6 mile run on the marathon training plan that would need to be done anyways! And what better place to celebrate with a post run beer than the microbrew capital of the country? I found this map that shows hundreds of breweries, brewpubs, and related.

I had run about 6 the day before (stopped my Garmin for recovery between mile splits) and so I decided to run the same route for this virtual run. My sister offered to run part of it with me if I'd run at her pace. That was no problem since I was so exhausted from the previous days' speedwork and sightseeing. This flatlander was not prepared for the hills of Seattle!

This is actually from later that day, but this is the hill we headed down towards the waterfront! The market is in the background.
We headed down Pine towards the Pike Place Market. The vendors were just setting up. There weren't many people out and about, which was so nice! It was easy to move. There is a steep decline towards the market, and we walked down to the cobblestoned street. We began to run.

One thing that surprised me about our trip to Seattle was the large number of homeless people we encountered. At this early hour, most of them were still sleeping, but they were everywhere. In the parks we passed, the benches were full of sleeping people. On the sidewalks, under bridges, and just about everywhere else, we saw homeless people. During our sightseeing the day before, the sidewalks were full of homeless people asking for money, food, what have you. Some of them were quite aggressive. One guy made us laugh out loud when he said we looked like sisters. Another one disgusted us with his sign that said "will eat pu**y for a place to sleep". As if! After a couple of days here, we started to see some of the same guys. It was interesting and sad at the same time. Coming from a large city like Chicago, and even in the suburban town where I live, we have homeless people, but I have never encountered such a large amount in one area.

Anyways, we kept our eyes open while we ran and talked. I took Lisa down that steep staircase to get to the waterfront, and we began to run along Puget Sound towards the Olympic Sculpture Park and Myrtle Edwards Park. The sky was fairly hazy, and you could just make out the mountains to the west. There are a lot of shipping yards along the Seattle waterfront, although the city is making an attempt to beautify the area. The Seattle Art Museum continues to add sculptures to the park, and we enjoyed looking at the ones along the path. The sculptures made for some interesting pictures too, which you can see on my weekly recap here.

The beautiful Seattle sky
At 2.5 miles, Lisa turned around, and I continued for another half mile so that I could get my 6 miles in.

I headed back towards the ampersand (which I later found out is actually named Love and Loss) where we planned to meet. We had fun getting the pictures here, and after several selfie attempts, a passerby offered to take the picture for us.



Once we got back to the steep staircase, we walked up and continued walking back towards Pike Place Market and our hotel. We stopped at a Starbucks (there is one on every corner) to pick up something to eat.

To celebrate this run, and because nothing tastes better after a run than beer, we had lunch at the Pike Brewing Company. Lisa had the Naughty Nellie, a golden ale, and I had the Pike Pale Ale, which was delicious. The food was meh, but that's not what you go to a brew pub for anyways right? This brewpub is rated #12 on Thrillist's "best breweries in Seattle" list. Not too shabby for a state that is populated with beer geeks. I was happy to find such a great spot in the middle of this very touristy area.

Oh so happy!

In exchange for this blog post, I was given free entry into the Run Now Beer Later virtual run. All opinions are my own. And the trip was all mine.

Have you been to Seattle? Did you run there? Anything I missed that I should have done? I'm already planning to rent a car next time to go to Mt Rainer.

46 comments :

  1. Mt. Rainier is awesome! We've been a few times. Once was in May (actually before my inlaws were living out there) and it was still snowing & you couldn't go too far up, but we still had a great time. Summer is naturally the best time. Summers in Seattle are really lovely -- not so rainy, but can be cloudy so actually seeing her is hit or miss.

    Did you see the troll? The gum wall? The troll is interesting, the gum wall kind of disgusting.

    Because we rarely actually get into the city, I never noticed the homeless. But I can tell you from experience that they tend to congregate to temperate climates. There was a lot in Austin. We have some here, too, I'm sure there are some everyone, and I can only shudder about how they cope with winter.

    There's quite a bit in HI, too, for instance, and they do often camp out on the beach. I read an article once, might've been RW, about a runner who was viciously attacked by a homeless person in an area I'd run in.Creepy.

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    1. We didn't see the gum wall! Not so sure I'm sad about that tho...

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  2. I had a great time in Seattle! I mostly ran on a trail because we were staying with Alex's aunt, but we definitely got to get out and about and see the place. We also went to the Theo Chocolate factory. WHICH WAS AWESOME

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  3. Awesome!! I need to hit up a few virtuals ;-) I haven't done any "official" virtuals (oxymoron?) since 2014. What a great adventure! Any tips for acquiring a taste for beer? Ugh....it makes my nose crinkle and my throat gag ;-(

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    1. I have no tips...but I will say that I only drink the good stuff...

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  4. Seattle is a wonderful, beautiful city. The only place I've seen more homeless people is San Francisco. Sad.

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  5. My husband and I ran a very similar route, and ironically almost a 10k, when we were in Seattle in July. And how fun that you got to celebrate this virtual race in the microbrew capital of the US. What perfect timing for both the race and your trip!

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  6. What a great time! I've had several friends move to Seattle recently and I want to visit.
    So glad you had fun with your sister!

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  7. Love that you were able to get in that run with your sister. I haven't been to Seattle, but I've heard great things!

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    1. Me too. She doesn't run with me so it means a lot to have her do this!

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  8. I've already wanted to visiti Seattle. It's awesome that you were able to run with your sister :) I hated to mis out on this virtual run but I already 2 races last weekend so I was trying to do the smart thing, lol

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    1. I hear ya on the smart thing...and doing all that walking in Seattle probably wasn't as smart as it could be...

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  9. I'd love to visit Seattle... I didn't realize the homeless problem was so intense there.
    & ewwww on that sign.
    You & your sister have the exact same noses :)

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  10. I dream about going to Seattle. You and your sister look a lot alike. I don't drink beer, I would be more iclined to do a magarita run. I learned something new~& is called an ampersand. Thanks
    bakingrunner.blogspot.com

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    1. It was a fun trip, and I'd like to go back to do more exploring.

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  11. Awesome! I would have loved to have done this virtual! I love the shirt and the medal! I hope to visit Seattle one day. I hear it's beautiful.

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  12. Seattle is so pretty! I can't wait to run there in November!

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  13. Pike Place Brewing does have such good beer, especially since it's right near the market! I had their pale ale and loved it also.
    I've noticed the number of homeless people in Seattle when I've gone downtown, but it's not as bad as it is in downtown St. Louis (where I grew up) or Detroit (where my husband lived after college). Most of the ones we've encountered have dogs and are always nice - but then again, I go downtown once a month at most. I can see why there's so many here, since it's a mild climate and the risk of exposure is less.

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    1. I wish I'd realized that you lived there...we could have met for a beer!

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  14. That's awesome you had a sister weekend! I do the same with my sister, but she's only a couple of hours away. I love that pic of the two of you. There are a lot of homeless people around where I live in Philly and it can be very unsettling. That one sign...ugh. Still have never made it to Seattle, it looks beautiful!

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  15. I've never been to Seattle but it's definitely somewhere I'd like to go. How on EARTH did I miss a virtual beer run?!?!?!? What a great medal!!!

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  16. Nice virtual!

    I would love to go to Seattle! I really haven't done much on the west coast, so it would be a great trip. Except for the long plane ride :)

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    1. I haven't done many west coast trips either. And I get another one in April when I run Big Sur!

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  17. This whole trip was fun, and I'm so glad we do these annual sister trips!

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  18. Awesome! CAn't get better than actually having a good beer after a virtual beer run! I'm surprised to hear about all of the homeless around there. I wouldn't have guessed that. I mean I know in a big city it's bound to be there, but that seems like a lot!

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    1. We were shocked too. We live in/near a huge city but we have never seen anything quite like this!

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  19. I love beer! And I love to run! I would have loved to do this. How do you find these virtual runs?

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    1. Gone for A Run asked me to do this one! I liked the theme a lot.

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  20. Never been to Seattle....I really want to go. I really enjoyed seeing your pics with your sister....I just had this seasonal beer by Blue Moon called "cinnamon horchata ale", and it was delicious....subtle and not overpowering! Love your bottle cap opener medal:)

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  21. Looks like an amazing trip, Wendy! I have been to Seattle once. I really enjoyed it, although we spent the bulk of that trip exploring elsewhere. I love the theme of the virtual run - beers always taste so great after a run!

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    1. If I go back, or I should say when, I'll do exploring outside of the city! I want to check out some of the more scenic spots in Washington.

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  22. I can't believe I have never been to Seattle!! It has been on my list for a long time :)
    Looks like such a fun trip with your sister!
    I love trying craft beer - YUM.
    Mt. Ranier will be fantastic next time you visit!

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  23. Seattle is on my bucket list! I like how you worked your virtual run in with your trip and the area, looked like the perfect combo! Nice pics of you two!

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  24. Love it that you finish this run with beer! But of course, what else could it be right? :-) I gave my stuff to a friend and she ran.

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