I put my Mountain Equipment Co-op trail runners to excellent use yesterday and finally tackled a good part of the Millennium trail at lunch time. It’s a big giant loop around part of the Yukon River that is wonderfully paved, although parts of it are covered in melting snow runoff, necessitating the wearing of the super-grip trail runners. I had previously ran from our downtown office around the barren part of the trail, up to the forest entrance and back again.
I’ll say I did this because that takes half an hour and I didn’t want to take too long over lunch, but really it’s because the heightened elevation up here usually sees my lungs on fire by that point, dying for a break.
Yesterday, knowing I only have a few more chances to run the trail, I entered it the other way, right into the foresty part and up to the dam bridge. I decided to turn around there, which is the halfway point, but mostly because it was windy and I didn’t want to run in the barren part. Sometimes running in the wind makes it hard to breathe because you go to inhale and all this wind just flies into your throat and makes you cough. Not fun.
Anyway, my lungs didn’t give out and my iPod lasted through most of it. Marky Mark’s “Good Vibrations” and James Brown’s “I Feel Good” got me through the wanting-to-give-up parts. And my legs aren’t even sore today, bonus!
I love the warming weather and extended sunlight hours. Totally makes me believe that I will become super Mrs. Athletic Runner for the rest of all time, and forget how disturbingly frigid it was donning all my winter running gear and freezing my behind off during what was really a hibernation season for me.
I’m back!

Labels: running