Very Tired

Today was a very busy day.

First, I woke up and looked out the window. My iPhone had said there was an 80 per cent chance of raining every hour until noon. However, my look outside told me there was nary a cloud in the sky. I went with the sky.

Clad in my new shorts and a t-shirt, I walked to the Running Room to run the scheduled 12 kilometers. The weather was pleasant, with a light breeze. When I looked to the north, I saw the menacing clouds that the iPhone was probably warning me about. But no, I thought, we don't run that far!

Turns out that this morning, not only were we running that way, we were driving into it, and THEN running that way. We drove up to the nearby base, and stopped at the local elementary school to start our run.

You'd think that running around a base would be stifling and boring. However, CFB Edmonton has done it right. The running path is paved and has a little forest you can lose yourself in - or, there's plenty of open space to feel at one with the world. There was even a port-a-potty next to the community garden which is always useful for runners who need to, er, go. My only complaint is that it doesn't go past the tank course. THAT would be something to watch.

We did one large loop of 7.5k, and then started the same loop, but cut left earlier and rejoined the loop for 5k. The clouds disappeared during the run, hiding just long enough to make the run pleasantly warm and bright, but then gave us a beautiful shine to finish with.

The best part was that I kept a 6:30 pace during it all. I was talking with someone who works on the base as a civilian engineer, and we had lots to talk about! The flames on her headband must have inspired the both of us to keep a faster pace. In all, 12k took me 1h23, where as last week, 10k took me 1h20.

By the end of it, I was certainly feeling it, and tried to stay around a while to cheer the last runners in - but then I looked at my watch and realized I had 30 minutes to get home, shower, get presentable, and drive 15 minutes to Fathers' Day Brunch in St. Albert. Whoops! Fortunately for me, my new friend was kind enough to drive me nearly right home.

My legs are, for the time being, toast. If they were a child, they'd be two or three years old, screaming about how they don't wanna. Probably beating their little fists into the floor.

Tomorrow will be a rest day. I wonder where we'll run next Sunday for 14k.