All Downhill From Here

Thursday night I went for the usual Survivor Sandwich Jog in 8C/45F degree weather. Nice and quick 5k around the neighbourhood between supper and Survivor, as usual, on dry pavement. It was a little windy, but still unseasonably warm for Calgary in November.

Today was much more seasonable. There was an inch or so of snow on the ground, and it was several degrees colder at about -2C/28F when I left the house. Cold enough that the snow flattened by car tires didn’t melt; it iced. If I had known how much of my run was going to be on crunchy snow/ice, I would have worn my Yaktrax. It took a good 45 minutes for my calves to loosen up and behave themselves. I think that even though I’m pretty confident about my balance on cold stuff, it was basically my first long run this season on it, and it took awhile to trust my feet again. I was not fast, or comfortable, but I did some distance.

I was out for more than a couple of hours, stopping by home to check on kiddos part of the way through. Jeff will be happy to know that I actually met a Superman runner on my run. He had his royal blue superman t-shirt on over his warmer stuff, and it added to the muscular effect. I gave him more than the usual friendly wave. I stuck both my arms out front and sang “SUperMAAAN!” He gave me a big grin.

Towards the end I dropped by the local Rona store to check out the artificial Christmas tree we’re thinking of buying. In the last km I stopped by the grocery and picked up 2 litres of milk and some mushrooms for the stew. I didn’t mind walking a fair bit of the last km home with the milk. I was tired.

How does a procrastinating long distance runner prepare for her first long slick run of the season? THIS one puts beef stew in the slow cooker! And I did the dishes, too. Nothing like feeling tired from a long run, and then having to face cooking in a dirty kitchen, ick. Get it all done ahead of time, and then one has time for a looong run, a toasted tuna sandwich, a nice bath (finished reading It’s Not About the Bike), and a pleasant evening watching the Grey Cup on T.V. Soccer Boy even made me a hot chocolate when I finished my run.

Now that the Edmonton Eskimos have safely tucked away the Grey Cup (man, what a nailbiter!), I’m done for the day. Time to hit the sack early.