Today I should have done A LOT of homework because I did a fair amount of procrastination all week. So I went to the library at school and made the mistake of sitting at a computer that had a view of outside. I was only able to fight the urge to go for a run for 4 hours, then I had to leave and go running. It was just too nice out to not run.
I got home and within half an hour I had jammed a PB & J sandwich down my throat, slammed a litre of water, taped my toes, changed and packed my backpack with water and gatorade.
I only intended to go for a short 20 k run, but somehow at the 13 k point I had managed to not do anything close to turning back towards home. And those first 13 were all uphill from downtown up KLO Rd and Up McCullock road to Scenic canyon regional park. And then of course the next 3 km in the park were some nice hills. I really should have limited my run to a max of 20 k or so, my pace heading out was far too fast to comfortably run more than 20.
A few km into the parl there was some constructioon happening on the trail which was nice because they were putting in a series of steps into the really steep sections. I'm glad it was still light out for that section though, because there was some rebar posts sticking out of the ground. That would not have been fun to run over in the dark, even with my headlamp. Right at the bottom of the canyon near Mission Creek I heard some violent coyote sounds. It sounded as though a pack of coyotes were fighting each other or were attacking some other animal. Scared the crap out of me, and the sun had just set and I was left hoping whatever animals I had heard were on the other side of the creek; although that would be little comfort as that section of the creek is shallow enough for any animal to run through. But I made it to the parking lot on East Kelowna Rd without seeing any animals. Whew!
I specifically plan mu runs to go by bathrooms near the parks so I can refill my bottles. But when I got there some security guard had just locked up the bathroom, and I had never seen it locked before. But he was easily convinced into unlocking it to let me fill up. What a pleasantly surprising man! He was rather amused by my headlamp, it made me chuckle. And then he sort of mocked me for running while EVERYONE else was inside their homes watching the Canada/USA hockey game.
Running the Mission Creek Greenway is SO nice at night with a headlamp. You really do lose track of time and distance while night running, which is a good thing. So I'd run 30 km by the time I finished on the Greenway (passing by all the portapottys on the trail) and was into residential area before realizing I desperately needed to relieve myself. When nature calls, any bush will do. Chose a tree at the front of somoenes yard, and I'm pretty sure their living room light was turned on while I was taking care of business; hope they enjoyed the view!
By the times I had hit 38 km I was really feeling it in my calves. Started to get the feeling that I should actually plan and properly prepare for longer runs by eating better the day before. Whoops. And perhaps I should do a better job working in some walking time considering my goal is adding distance to my runs, and not to run faster.
I'm fairly satisfied with my toe taping which I started againi last week. I only got one very small blister on my second toe today. Which will be gone tomorrow.
"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run."
-Monte Davis
Keep on Running
Nazzer
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