Rainy run

The rain was light, consistent, and refreshing. A sharp contrast to energy-stealing sunshine. I followed sections of bike path in directions that don't provide shade on hot sunny days but have plenty to offer otherwise, like nearby trees with leaves so broad I felt small as a smurf, and great views of the river, grey and choppy from the bursts of wind.

My GPS gave up along the route, leaving me to do some fancy math in my head to evaluate how far I had run and when to take my second gel (apple cinnamon, a new flavour I feel no ill will towards yet). I think I got the distance right, or at least close, but I doubt my calculations based on feeling: I feel MUCH TOO GOOD to have run 26 km - and on just one bottle of water. (Not a single refill!) Blame it on the rain. Last week I worked hard to meet the 25k goal, and by run's end I looked like a Mad Max creature burnt from all that apocalyptic radiation.

Today: 26 km
Weekly total: 36 km  

:: Friday night cheese & cosmo combo ::

Long run Monday

Due to an over-extended weekend schedule of work + play, I didn’t get around to starting my long run until 6:30 pm last night. Our days are nice and long right now (but steadily decreasing! oh snap!) which meant there was sunshine to soak up well after I left work at 5:00 pm, and still more at 6:30.

Long runs in the summer are all about starting early to stay ahead of the curve of intensifying heat. Some runners I know start their long runs on a weekend morning at 7:00 am or even earlier, in order to reduce time in the sunshine. The heat saps your strength, encourages thirst, makes you want to pop into a shop with blasting A/C and hang out forevermore. Evening runs have the opposite vibe. The heat is already in force so you end up drinking a lot of water at first. Case in point: I refilled my water bottle twice during the first half but thereafter it became an empty vessel for my hands to hold. (And fumble.)

I like to do all my intense sweating in the beginning of the evening so that I can encase myself in a layer of salt fine as icing sugar, and which I sometimes have the great pleasure of tasting as I swipe sweat out of my eyes and accidently touch my mouth. Is there anything grosser than tasting the salt produced by your own body. As the evening cools and I am left running amidst pairs of lovers strolling at dusk, I continue to appear red-faced and flaked with salt. And that is why sunglasses are the best invention ever. Remind me to take along a fake moustache next time.

Another disgusting moment in gel tasting history: Salted Watermelon. Stay away!  

Long run: 25k

Weekly total: 41k

 

One gel run

I blasted out 23km today, the longest distance in quite a while. Or so squawks the quads. Left home around 630 pm even though the sky was growing more overcast by the minute. I felt sure the rain would hold off until I was back home. It was a single gel run, surprising since this distance would normally require two shots. Lately I haven't been taking the second gel and I haven't noticed any ill effects. Is that a sign I'm eating too much sugar? Since the toaster joined my kitchen appliance family the Nutella jar in the fridge has been gradually looking more empty (heavenly on toast with banana slices) and I recently discovered the delicate cinnamon brioche at Evilbucks. Maybe I need to reign back on the sweets for a while. (A short while.)

The minute I got home I dove into a bowl of kale salad in a delicious dressing made by one awesome salad chef. And some cookies. ;)

Long run: 23k
Weekly total: 49k

Friday night chips n beer

Music muffins

8k run this morning. I had to resort to bringing along the music player (with its cheesy, non-ironic tunes) to see me out the door, but it was worth it. Watching the sun rise against a background of robin's egg blue sky is one of my favorite things to do. A beautiful experience for a Monday.

// Banana chocolate chip 2-bite muffins //

Sunny with a side of geese

We were treated to double digit temps today! 

I ran along paths and in parks unvisited during the last six months of seasonal incarceration. Lots of happy people in this city today, and if they weren't biking or walking they were firing up the barbie and grilling animal slabs. 

All that snow was unmeltable in the course of a single warm day. Snow is still everywhere and the canal remains half frozen like a chunky brown margarita. I was running slowly, feeling sunshine on my bone-white legs (yup, wore shorts!), savouring the primal scents of said BBQ adventures, and...slipping on ice? A few geese have arrived to check out the ice floes, walking cautiously, a little to new to town to look the local humans in the eye and spit. All in good time. 

Despite a hangover and a low grade IT band issue on one leg my run went super well. After returning home I sat in a hot bath and thought about life.

18k.

Weekly total: 37k

Heron sighting

It's no Bigfoot, and way more elusive than a Yeti.

It's just a massive grey bird that stands statue-still in a canal waiting to catch something to eat. Big, grey and sensitive, it watched me watching it and freaked out. It waded through the brown water on its stilt-like legs, its ess-curved neck moving with the camel-like gait, one big eye trained on me as my small ones were on it.

It was breathtaking.

6k.

Rainy day people

I laced up newish running shoes and thought about how they'd be christened in the rain that was lightly falling. And they were. Thankfully the rain stayed light and fresh with no driving winds to knock me back. No big puddles either. Running cap is looking overused and frankly exhausted after maybe two years of summer training followed by seeing too much of the Portugal sun. Anyway, main thing is, it held up.

I enjoyed having long stretches of path to myself. Not everyone sees the appeal of running in the rain.

8.5 km