Sickness in Seattle

My trip out to Seattle for the premiere of my new piece, Chromium Music went well. I consider myself really fortunate that I get to work with so many super-talented musicians as part of my job. What made this especially great is that the group's inaugural performance also came with a CD release—which included two of my compositions. It was also especially rewarding that I got to travel to Seattle to work my friend, choreographer Missy Pfohl Smith. Missy is the Director for the Center of Movement and Dance Studies at the University of Rochester and  is the Artistic Director for the established modern dance company, BIODANCE. The wifey dances with Missy's company.

Being the conscientiousness triathlete that I am, I remembered to pack gear giving any set of circumstances that I might encounter. My wife had to hold me back from bringing a pair of bike shoes, but you can bet I brought jammers, a swim cap, goggles, cold-weather running gear (yes, tights too), gloves, and running shoes. Oh, I also brought bike shorts, just in case I found a place to bike indoors.

However, I made one fatal error in getting ready for my little excursion out to the Pacific Northwest—I forgot to bring my water bottle. Not good. Have you ever been on a flight for six hours with less than 18 ounces of fluid to drink? Amazingly, I always get sick after flying. I am hereby convinced that any future plane rides will have me ingesting a considerable amount of Airborne or Emergen-C.

You see, when I do not have my water bottle, I somehow manage to completely forget to drink. Upon arriving at our guest's home, I did manage to inhale three or four glasses of water before crashing. Too late. The damage was slowly and quietly  uncoiling my immune system to system failure.

I am not sure what kind of triathlon scene Seattle has, but with all of its many small lakes nestled around the city, I thought it was a perfect place to hold a kick-ass event. Of course, the water never actually gets very warm during the summer. Bonus—WETSUIT!

The morning after my arrival, I headed down to a place called Green Park with my friend/Seattle tour guide/violinist Jo. We did some running. It was fairly warm—upper 40's, low 50's—and it was drizzling all day and overcast. Imagine that. Raining in Seattle.

Proof that even musicians are bad-ass runners!

We went back to the house and got cleaned up to accompany joe to the luthier (someone who makes or repairs string instruments.) I felt like I was at a old world grocer.

Yes, I will take half a pound of the Stradivarius, and quarter pound of Guarneri please. 

Shortly after that, we made our way to rehearsal, BUT, not before stopping for lunch.

Jo said it was mandatory to stop and do the appropriate touristy thing and get a picture taken at this statue. I think this looks like an album cover gone terribly awry.

We made our way down to Pike's Street Market. If you go to Seattle, check this joint out. It is the bomb-diggity of all street markets. 

The market is a great place if you like seafood.    GUILTY. 

The Pike Street Market also caters to the Italiano. Have I died and gone to Heaven? 

Despite incessant pleading, and a very generous tip, this sitar player simply refused to play Free Bird. 

The only negative about the whole trip was my return back home. I got really sick on the plane ride back—from being dehydrated and exhausted and was laid out incapacitated in bed for twenty-four hours. 

So, here I am three days later... still in recovery.

Training: The training had been going really well until I came home sick. I had to take a complete day off today, so that I can get some rest and try to hit a swim/run in the morning.  

I had my second swim test of the season. Survey says: FASTER!  Something I am doing in the pool definitely working. 

Okay.. I need sleep. More soon. Train Smart!