Lake Padden Loop and Swim: Not so Fast...

This weekend was a rough one on the trail around Lake Padden, as the weather doesn't seem to be coinciding with the date (snow last weekend). With each morning, getting out of the car, looking at my MP3 player, and wondering why I didn't sleep in, I wonder when this feeling will start to dissipate.

My main motivation still ignites from getting beat by the woman in the Bumble Bee costume at the Jingle Bell run this year. It was a huge costume. And she beat me by a couple of lengths. I think she was running to Clay Aiken, and you can't beat that.

I vowed never to get beaten again by someone in a costume, after the "push-up" contest debacle against Goofy at Disney World this year (look at the size of his head, you can almost smell the Human Growth Hormone). But each day at Padden, I tap the Dr. Pepper machine, start my watch, and cruise past the tennis courts, the horse trails, and into the woods. Depending on the direction you run in, it varies in what you're workout will be. Could be flats for a while if you run clockwise, or immediately into the hills, and want to stay out of the winds that whip across the lake, and run counterclockwise.

Lake Padden is a gift, wrapped in a 2.6 mile loop (still trying to break 19 mins), about 5 minutes from the Sehome Haggen's. Surrounded by parks, fields, access to Galbraith and a couple great lengths of single track, you're only problem could be finding parking during the summer. And a lifeguard, as budgeting cuts have taken their toll on staff there. But barbecue, bring your dog (leashed here, unleashed there), and as long as you keep the two mutually exclusive, you can get an idea of why parks were created in the first place; to bring folks together in the Great Outdoors.

And yet, alone, on the morning of April 2nd (afternoon sun wasn't going to help much), I decided it was time to start swimming again, and waded into the Lake for a length across and back. I got to about my calves, then dove in, and after the Lady of the Lake stole the breath right out of me, I got right out. On the list of Bad Decisions I've made this year, this one hit the top ten. But we'll get there.

The location of Padden, off of Samish Way, makes the swims deviate from commonplace; high winds can produce an ocean-like chop, fog can set in, and by the time you're halfway across the lake, you can get pretty disoriented. And then there are the mornings where it's coffee table of glass, and the sun rises as you make your way back to the beach, and the chill of the water can't even knock the smile off your face. But it tries it's best, and this year, got the jump on me.

Sticking to a couple runs in the Chuckanut area for the next weeks will make my list for good decisions this year, and before I try to tap the Dr. Pepper machine at 18:59, give the Lake another go in May.

Advantage, Lake Padden.
Chris McNamara