Jingle Bell Fun Run

Not much to report from the medical side of things. I took another long hike the day after I hiked that 8-mile trip around Lake Union. This time I started from South Lake Union by Johanna's work and walked along Myrtle Edwards Park towards Ballard. This trail goes through some strange territory once you pass the Magnolia bridge, where you enter a large area controlled by the Port of Seattle and the trail is literally lined on both sides with a high, barbed-wire fence. Very industrial. Tucked away near the back were hundreds of brand-new Audis and Volkswagens, and a slew of school buses. After some tacos from Taco Time and a quick stop at Starbucks to check email, I was back at the car and realized that I had walked 7.8 miles. I had assumed it was around 5 miles. I was a little stiff afterwards but it wasn't so bad.

Then today we got up early to do the Jingle Bell Fun Run, which is a 3.1 mile run or walk depending on your inclination (we walked). It was really freakin' cold out this morning and there was still snow and ice on the ground from the night before, but it was a good time. There were lots of adults and kids with Christmas costumes, and every participant was given a pair of jingle bells to hang from their shoelaces. So there was a lot of jingling and it was kind of fun and festive. The route took us from Westlake Center south through downtown, then north onto the express lanes of the freeway before doubling back downtown. In the tunnel everyone starts singing Jingle Bells so that was kind of fun. Afterwards we headed over to my old apartment and basked in the hot tub and heated pool with our friends Jenny and Greg for the rest of the morning. Ah, what a life. I won't make any comments about how I enjoy swimming around in the pool, since I got quite a bit of ribbing the last time I blogged about that, though it may have had to do with the fact that I had eloquently waxed on about it for more than just a few pages. Ah well, those were the good old days. Including my other walks, all in all I walked about 25 miles this week. Not bad!

This week things are starting to heat up again on the cancer side:

• Monday - Blood work, tracking down medical records for insurance 
  
• Tuesday - Dentist for cleaning
  
• Wednesday - CT scan to see if lung infection has cleared up
  
• Thursday - Restart transplant program at SCCA (more tests, etc)
  
• Friday - Meet with attending physicians to discuss transplant
  

Here are some pictures from the Jingle Bell walk, and from that weird-ass trail that runs north of Myrtle Edwards Park toward Ballard:
A cup of coffee definitely helped this morning for the Jingle Bell Run

We finished in 1 hour, 16 minutes

Eerie rail yard on the trail towards Ballard, from my hike a few days ago

Not the most pleasant trail, but it gets the job done