September 27, 2006

dammit

Last post from Calgary. You should see the sunrise here and how blue the sky is.

This morning's run, at quarter 'til five, did not go as planned. The leg pain was back (apparently my reprieve was not due to orthotics on top of liners) and I couldn't figure out how to cross a certain expressway and continue on towards the Olympic park. I never even saw the park. I got as far as some construction on a new hospital wing and that was it. (I've never seen a cleaner worksite in my life.)

The sidewalks are also not helpful. They twist and turn, stop and start at will, seemingly put in place only by the businesses which property they're on and not owned or maintained by Calgary. So I ended up running a lot of blind ends and many surfaces: dirt, gravel, mud, concrete, grass, and asphalt. Barely over 3 miles and I was exhausted. Having to navigate while running, instead of following a memorized path or just a bunch of other people, really takes it out of me.

Oh, and it was 3 degrees celsius outside. No huge deal, but I did waste a few minutes going back inside for an extra shirt and I really wished I'd brought my running gloves. But it was nice to be able to see my breath, and shorts were fine, and this 3 degrees didn't feel as cold as the 3 degrees I experienced two years ago in Sault St Marie on a rainy morning... perhaps because it's dry now and I wasn't going 70 kmh.

Not every run can be a winner, I guess. Next run will be tomorrow evening in Seattle.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Glad your having a great time. If your still in the area, pop down to Portland. The marathon's this weekend.