All Downhill From Here

My blogging’s been a little sparse lately, but at least I’ve been running. The kids are back in school, which strangely enough doesn’t give me more time to myself. I find myself having to shepherd them out the door in the mornings in a strange paradoxical flurry of insisting that they get dressed, eat a healthy breakfast, pack a healthy lunch and be on time for their buses, while at the same time cheerleading/cajoling them to do this all independently.

Drives me nuts.

Fortunately, Hubby was home both Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so I got out the door in my running shoes. Tuesday I met up with Dawn at Gord’s as per usual. She decided to run on her own so Kelly happily ran with me and we did the medium run to the 14th St. bridge and back. I chatted along happily and ran a brisk but comfy pace for over 50 minutes. We only walked when crossing 2 bridges on the way back.

Last night the sky clouded over just before dinner and the wind picked up, but I just threw on a long sleeved cotton shirt with my shorts and got out the door anyway. There are few weather conditions for which cotton shirts work, but 13C/55F with a stiff breeze and rain sprinkles was perfect. As I left my crescent, I fell in behind a Running Room class whose students were practising pacing. They were running along at different paces and learning how their efforts felt at each pace. It sounded interesting, but I was out for a quick tempo run myself, and rather enjoyed leaving them behind in the dust.

I left them behind 🙂
I ran a tempo pace for most of 40 minutes 🙂
and it felt rather amazing, when I wasn’t climbing a hill and gasping for air.

I would say I felt strong and capable for about 80% of my run last night, which is a really cool thing. Other really cool things – the brisk, Northwest wind was refreshing and energizing, especially when I faced head on into it. The way my neighborhood streets work mean that facing into a north wind means I’m going uphill, working hard and getting hot, so the wind cools me down. Best cool thing: it rained a little. Just enough to give me tingly splashes of sensation on my calves as I kicked behind me. Just enough to cool my sweaty neck and shoulders, but not enough to get my glasses wet or sog my feet. Just enough to moisten and sweenten the air my lungs hungrily guzzled.

I’m looking forward to a solid long run of at least 75 minutes this weekend. Nothing onerous, but something longer than I’ve managed over the last couple of months.