I was really good about keeping to my running schedule when I was in Ottawa. I was also motivated by my shock and awe when I arrived and could not do up my wedding dress. Me? Put on weight?
So it was an everyday task I sometimes lamented but always stuck to: 4-5 km around my ‘hood. I was making progress, eating right, and ended up looking fabulously fit in my dress, if I do say so myself. I realized I had been lacking motivation in Whitehorse. Why run? I’m skinny and stuff. Why run? I walk to work don’t I? Why run? It’s hard when I breathe like a fat kid in this elevation of 2,300 feet above sea level.
Now that I’m back in Whitehorse I see winter is coming. I see it because it is dark out almost all the time and it is friggin freezing too. I can’t wake up, eat a leisurely breakfast and go for a run at 10 in the morning anymore because I’m back to work, bringing home the bacon and breaking stories. Motivation is desperately seeking a life force. It’s cold. It’s dark. The wedding’s over and my man loves me even when I gain 10 pounds.
But wouldn’t it be cool to run a race with all these superfit Yukoners in the spring and not be barfing up a lung in the process?
And how sweet would it be if I ran the mother’s day 5k and actually placed in it with a kick-butt time?
So Tuesday I packed my outdoor winter running gear. The stuff that hadn’t seen my skin since I was running along the Rideau Canal during winterlude last year, prepping for my first 10k. I brought it to work and I ran the Millennium trail along the Yukon River during my lunch break, the one time of day when there’s a bit of sun in the sky.
It was beautiful. The river was banked with snow, it was serene, the run was quiet and surprisingly not too difficult. I didn't even take my iPod. I listened t the water running over the rocks and the sily thoughts inside my head.
So I’m back, running. I’m back with Gore-tex, super-grip winter running shoes.