Back on my feet

I am ashamed to confess that I have been sorely neglecting my duties as a cross country runner this summer, namely by failing to ever run. As of this moment, I have been running precisely four times, the latest only this morning. To be sure, between work, class, and the snow on the ground last week, it has been difficult for me to find the time and motivation to run, but all the same I must accept that I am not trying hard enough.

This morning, though, I conquered my apathy (with the help of a glorious, sunny day) and went for a thirty minute run during my lunch hour. I don't need an hour to eat my sandwich, so the arrangement worked well all around, and I plan on doing the same thing tomorrow. I am lucky in that one of my places of work is located next to the river, and thus next to the trail that runs along the river all through town. It's a great place for running and cycling, and if I get bored on the one side, there is always another direction, another bank, and the rest of the city to run in as well.

It was beautiful out today, but conveniently for my run, at eleven in the morning the temperature was was mild. Later in the summer, of course, it will be difficult to run after nine, but this morning there was a nice breeze and the air was still cool from our brief flashback to March last week. The first part of my run was on an older part of the trail, where fewer people seem to go, and I saw a garter snake on the path before I was more than a half mile out. I jumped around a bit, trying not to step on it as it slithered off the path.

After that, the trail started getting busier, which was great to see. One of the things I love most about my hometown is how active all the people are. From that point until I turned around out by the university, where the path leads out of town and into a wilderness area (or, alternately, up a mountain), I could always see at least one group of cyclers and one group of walkers or joggers.

It was a short, slow run (around three miles, I think) with a pause for stretching in the middle, but it felt great to have done it. The altitude hurt a bit at first, but my body seemed to be adjusting well as I went. I still ended up a bit out of breath, but mountain air will do that to a person. The arch of my foot is oddly sore, but luckily that is the only injury I seem to be suffering from at the moment. All in all, I must say it was quite a rewarding run, especially since I am essentially starting from scratch here. With luck, tomorrow's jaunt will be even better.