Running through a teenage wasteland

Ok, seriously, when is the warm spring weather coming out to play – and stay? I’m tired of getting taunted with one day here or a half day there or no days at all. It’s grey and wet and showery and cold. Twelve degrees just doesn’t cut it when it’s practically July!

First thing this morning I decided I was going to try and get a run in later this afternoon, before hanging out with the little monkeys, otherwise known as my oh-so-cute nephews. But because I wouldn’t be coming home between work and the boys, I had to pack my bag at like 7 a.m. So, I threw in a light top and shorts, along with shoes and other gear, and was good to go – until I got outside. It was miserable, pouring down rain for most of the day, and every time I looked out the window, my motivation depleted. Had I been able to go home, I so would have thrown on my tights – that’s how ridiculous it was!

Luckily for me, though, my shipment from Livestrong was delivered to the office this afternoon, and inside the box a long sleeve base shirt was awaiting me, which I think may be my new favourite running shirt. Love it! But it’s kind of funny because after I bought it, I thought what the heck am I doing buying a long sleeve shirt when we’re practically in tank top weather? Now, though, I’m thinking it was pretty darn brilliant 🙂

So it seems I’ve been channeling the “This Is Your Life” runs a lot lately; I hit a segment of my highschool years tonight. I really do love the memories that flood through me on these sorts of runs. When I hit Mt. Blanchard, a road I trekked up thousands of times from Grade 8 to 12, I started thinking about the different people who belonged to the different houses: the best friend who lived at the end of the street, the boy I had a crush on, the girl with the fire engine red hair, the kid who used to drive me home from school, the Christmas house that was a hydro company’s dream come true. It’s been about 14 years since I was a regular on this street, and I think the only thing that’s really changed are the people in the houses – and my perception of the street. When I was a sullen teenager, I hated walking up Mt. Blanchard, it was like a torturous hill for me that I thought would never end. But tonight, I breezed up it no problem, it didn’t really even feel like much of a hill. Oh how things change, hey. As you can probably guess I wasn’t much for exercise as a kid. But now, I love hills. And I love this run down memory lane.

THE RUN:

• 4:45 p.m. BG before: 6.3 (two sugar tablets)
• 0.55 km warmup: walking
• Distance: 4.06 km
• Time: 24:56
• Average Pace: 6.08 km/h
• 0.55 km cool down: walking
• 5 minutes stretching
• 5:30 p.m. BG after: 3.8

I felt pretty awesome on the run, my whole body – my ankles, legs, hips, shoulders – felt loose and relaxed, which is a pretty great feeling the few times you actually get to feel it. And I couldn’t believe the speeds I was clocking. When I looked down at my Garmin and saw 5:29, my eyes nearly popped – I thought I was going slow!

LIVESTRONG REVIEW:

I got the base top, which, as mentioned, I love, and I also got a racerback dri fit tank and shorts. I didn’t wear the shorts on my run tonight, but I did wear the racerback tank which has a built-in bra. I’m not so in love with this one. I got a small, which is a good thing, because had I gotten the medium, it would have been far too large in the breast area, even the small was a little loose, which I didn’t like. And I didn’t like the length of it either. I like my running tops to be on the longer side, and this one only just hovered at my waste … I see an undershirt in this tank’s future! But I love the colours!!! And I love that a portion of my purchase went towards cancer research!

I didn’t, however, love the taxes and custom charges I had to pay when the Fedex order came through. I’m usually really good about checking for any additional charges and such when doing online purchases, and making sure that they don’t go through UPS (that company is horrible with hidden “brokerage” fees). But with Livestrong, I got dinged at customs, which sucks because had I known there were going to be the additional charges, I would have just had it sent to the mailbox company on the other side of the border, and just driven it across – customs rarely stops purchases under $100. Lesson learned!