The long run

A lot of it is a blur. Most of the run exceeded my expectations, a few sections were disappointing, but the day as a whole was very enjoyable. The effort was not hard but endorphins eventually masked much of what was going on, and I felt the next day that perhaps I'd imagined it all.

The original plan had been to run with the dog a bit at daybreak, then run a larger loop with Gaz...unfortunately, I forgot to read a certain label and got a bit sick a few days before. Fortunately, I recovered quickly, but I decided to restrict myself to the large loop. Unfortunately, I missed a brilliant red dawn. I saw a bit of it through the window, but it would have been amazingly transfixing to run through.

The weather was even more generous: no rain!

Gaz and I set out and ran down the hill to the river. It was overcast, the clouds were in a weird corrugated-looking pattern. We took our first break after about a 1/2 mile to adjust clothing (I had to ditch my jacket), and then a few miles later, we stopped to admire a legal graffiti wall. A few photo op stops later, and one for gels, we were at a gas station getting judged for buying Doritos. This has led me to ponder a couple of things:

1. Dill pickle Doritos are the perfect flavour and wonderfully suited to long run consumption, but is there something that is even better?
2. I wonder how turning the tables would go: telling a rather inactive-looking person reasons why he or she shouldn't buy junk food.

The stretch of road before and after the gas station was more picturesque than I'd imagined it would be. On the satellite map, it looked featureless and exposed, but it was more comfortable than that. At one point, there was a hill and a nice vantage. At another point, we were able to go down a dirt path removed from the main road a bit.

Shortly after, we wound up at T&T, the Asian supermarket. At this point, 9 or so miles in, I was starting to think a little stupidly, but we managed to navigate the aisles and pick up a few promising long run snacks, including peach vinegar, rice mocha, canned coffee, and lobster crunches. We then went to a coffee shop where decisions were more bewildering. The corrugated clouds had shifted aside for a brilliant sun.

The next section involved a bit of walking beside the road (no shoulder or sidewalk), but most of it was more suitable than I'd expected. This part of town is deep into car culture: sidewalks are optional and motorists generally don't expect to encounter or wait for pedestrians. However, there is also a surprising number of bike/rec paths in this part of town; I was so surprised to find them when researching the route, and we certainly didn't make use of all the options. We turned onto a path that started by a power station and followed a line of hydro towers. Eventually, it wound up back to a road, but here the openness was rather majestic (having sunshine and a slight rise above the road certainly helped).

At about 15 miles or so, we decided to stop for a snack. Gaz had a granola bar, I finished my Doritos and had some chia, and then we dug into the T&T finds:

1. Peach vinegar is a wonderful long run refreshment
2. Lobster crunchies or whatever they are, aren't.

At Greenbank road, we had a decision to make: head straight for Ikea, or take a detour around a lake by (in?) a large off leash dog park? At the time, my desire to see the lake burned brightly, and I convinced Gaz to try it out. Our trail wound up on a residential street leading to a No Exit sign, but there was a path leading from that.

It was covered in such a comfortable fine gravel, or dirt balls...I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it felt wonderful. This path wound through a field, and then through a wooded area; it was much lovelier than I'd expected. We ran on light snow and pine needles. After a mile or two, we found the dog park and a map (in the dog park enclosure for some reason), and decided that seeing the lake wasn't a priority anymore. I was content and looking forward to seeing the new Ikea. Largest one in Canada!

We ran through a subdivision and down a busy road, round a corner and, BAM, blue and yellow!

It was a disappointment. It was too crowded, the lines in the caf were too long to get anything...we ended up sitting in some pretty comfy chairs and eating the rice mocha, but an unattended child stared at us the whole time. I was more unnerved by the strangeness of being outside and moving for so long, and then suddenly being surrounded by a mass of people who were so much cleaner, but slower-moving and more expansive, than us. After our snack, we went through the showrooms, and there were a few that invited a bit of a rest, just a sit down for a few minutes, but then we had to leave Ikea.

Usually I like Ikea and don't mind the convoluted and prolonged exit, but it was almost upsetting this time. We weren't the only ones feeling some sort of malaise: some creative individual plunked a sheepskin in a sink and somehow this was hilarious. Stuff was strewn all over and the Ikea employees looked so tired. Gaz got clipped on the back of her heels by a wheelchair. It was time to get out, but how? After a navigational struggle akin to my attempts to solve castle.exe, we got out.

By this point, we'd gone I'm not sure how long, at least 21 miles, probably around 22 at least. Gaz decided to get on a bus and once it whisked her off to creature comforts, I headed down a street toward another path I'd looked up. It was still light out, but not for much longer.

The path was ok, surrounded by grass and buildings further out, some clumps of trees. I think I was done with paths of that type by that point, and the setting sun made it seem boring. I was moving pretty well still, around 9:30-10:00/mile, some stretches below 9:00/mile, and there was no reason to stick around. Eventually I got to the Experiment Farm, where the sunset painted the expansive fields, and so forth, and it was really quite pretty. I got to the top of the arboretum looking over the lake and Canal and reflections of city night lights, and it was lovely. But I was starting to feel tired. I ate my 2nd gel, drank some more chia, and headed home.

After about 28.5 miles, the old and usually absent hip flexor/ITB twinge started to return. I was expecting this to happen sooner, but the clamshells have been helping (as they always do--why do I keep forgetting to do them?!), and I was close to home. Eventually I settled into a run/stretch/walk/run rhythm that kept discomfort from erupting into pain, and then, almost a mile from home, I settled into a brisk walk. It wasn't a race, I was happy with what I'd done, and there was no reason to do more damage. The total distance, including the final walk, was over 31 miles as best as I can tell. I was wearing a Garmin, but I shouldn't have kept turning it off. Turning it back on became more difficult. Next time, I'll just let it run.

I was rather hungry and tired when I got home. My husband had made chill! I've since had it a few more times, including breakfast yesterday and today.

The day after the run, I jogged two miles: I was stiff but there were no ITB problems...I could feel like they were lurking, waiting to strike the moment I got sloppy. The muscles around my ankles felt the most sore perhaps, and I've never really thought about them before.

Today, I haven't run mainly due to schedule and rain, but I feel much recovered, enough so that the run itself feels almost like a dream. I think I got out of it what I'd hoped to get out of it: some exercise, some snacks, some company, and the impression of having gone somewhere else.