Every Day's A School Day

When I was very Serious about snowboarding, the days that were pure powder and sunshine were blissful and meant for nothing short of maximizing joy. The not so good days, however, were designated learning days, so that there was always something to be gained. Ice and rain were perfect opportunities to practice riding goofy; fog was an excellent reason to play in the half-pipe. Running is not like that at all, not least because of the vast differences in skill level, but I still hold on to the idea that all is not lost on a horrible day.

I went in a 10K run on Sunday, from the Divas on the Run series, and while it was far from horrible, I was scandalized to see how out of shape I've become in a couple of weeks and I ran it much more slowly than I anticipated. There were some other factors, like a swelteringly muggy day, an over-dehydrated me and a poor fashion choice consisting of 3 articles of clothing too many, but mostly my recess just caught up with me and I wasn't ready.

However, it was a beautiful course, through the woods in Jericho Park and along the beach to Spanish Banks. There were a number of ships in the harbour, which I always like to see - the red of the hull contrasting with the blue mountains and water, and I learned not to wear so many clothes on a muggy day, not to take a recess in the middle of my training, that I need to learn to pace myself better...among other things. I also got to meet Emily, who will also be running the marathon in Greece with me and collaborating on a couple of fundraising events, like our Joints in Motion Pub Night Fundraiser Party.

And then I went shopping. The week prior I had already bought a new pair of running shoes that are exactly the same as my other pair, so now I feel very fancy and professional with them both lined up beside each other in the closet, and 2 pairs of shorts, a running hat and some energy Gatorade jelly beans, which are awesome. Much better than that Gu stuff. And then because my shorts have a little iPod pocket in them, I went out and bought an iPod. It was a ridiculous amount of spending, but it's all stuff that I at least kind of needed. Now i'm set except for a duffel bag so that I can take my gear on the plane with me - in case of lost luggage.

I'm also set to hit the training again, hard, and I printed up a schedule of stretching, running and cross-training and stuck it on my wall. I'm getting Serious about this running thing.