You can always go home...

My roommate, Trevor Millar, knows my propensity to be loquacious, and thus has requested an “Abstract” of my posts - a kind of “get to the point Brad”. So, to appease him….

Abstract

I arrived home safe and had a good 30 minute run.

Here is the rest of the post…

I woke up this morning to CFAX 1070AM talking about the terrorist threat emanating from the UK. No liquids or gels are allowed in carry on baggage – there goes my hydration and hair styling. Tim Dewailley, sleeping on our couch last night, graciously drove me to the Victoria airport where I moved through the lines with relative ease. In fact, my WestJet flight arrived in Toronto five minutes early due to a tailwind – hopefully the first of a week of tailwinds!

After taking a cab home to Pickering, about an hour from the airport, I went for a run around the old neighbourhood. I ran by my elementary school, taking a moment to peer in the front door and reminisce about how our gym teacher, Mr. D, made everyone in the school run cross-country. I liked running then and did well enough, but upon entering high school I gave it up for grades nine and ten, just because I could. Without Mr. D coming to hound me everyday, I lost the motivation to run. As a Physical Education teacher now, I look back and realize how great it was that Mr. D got everyone out and running – the importance of activity at that age cannot be overstated. I eventually found my motivation again, and I ended up running cross-country in my last three years (yes, we went to grade 13) of high school as cross training for my other sports and to escape class more often. I sent a thought to Mr. D and continued on my way.

I had mentioned in the last post that it is taking a while for me to find my legs. I used to be hounded about “winning the warm up”, but now I am definitely taking it slow out of the gates. I started to find my legs around 20 minutes into my run, just as I was cruising down Finch Ave, passing a couple of teenage boys “doubling” on their bike. Man, I haven't seen doubling in years. That used to be such a great way to get around. Anyway, they called across the road to me, acknowledging that I was going faster than them. I am not so sure that it was me going fast, but rather that they were VERY unsteady on the bike and going very slowly, but either way, they seemed impressed that I was running. This may be a cultural difference between the suburbs of Toronto and the hyper-active community of Victoria, but it is not a good thing when teenagers find runners an interesting sight. Runners should not be a oddity.

The rest of the run felt good, had a big pasta dinner prepared by my mother, and took care of some errands. Tomorrow I am heading to a cottage near Peterborough where I am looking forward to spending time with old friends from Edwards Hall (my residence at McMaster University). I am actually excited to go for a little run with a number of the boys on Saturday morning. This is exciting because two years ago, I was running with one person, last year with three, and this year with five. The boys are getting in shape! That is why I love coaching; the enthusiasm of people rediscovering their inner athlete is inspiring to me. This exists in friends, the clinics I work with, and the individuals I coach. It is amazing to me!

Well, that is all for now. Thanks for reading and I hope your run is great!