Tuesday, June 24, 2008

My new Terry run

In Victoria I had a recovery run along the waterfront that passed the bronze statue of Terry Fox.  Terry, long a hero of mine, was brought to Victoria by Rob Reid a couple of years ago.  Since his arrival, I used the monument at Mile Zero as a ritual.  During my waterfront runs, I would run by and rub Terry's left foot for good luck and to take a moment to think about how any suffering I have during running is nothing in comparison to the suffering that Terry experienced.  

It was pleasing to find a similar bronze statue at Simon Fraser University in the fall.  As SFU is Terry's alma matter, he was a Kinesiology student, it is not surprising to see his likeness posed in mid step-hop, presiding over one of the many quads that make up the mountain-top campus.  And so, as I was laying on the floor outside the office in our suite, a day that never seemed to end coming to an end, I laid out my run route.  I would once again run to Terry.  

Getting to Terry is not a big deal.  While it is not a recovery run anymore, he stands only 9k from our place.  The only issue is that about 3k of that 9k is running up Burnaby Mountain.  I had previously run halfway up the "Mountain" in the winter, but this time, with all the uphill running I have been doing recently, I decided that I getting to Terry would have more of a training effect than it did Victoria.  I had to earn my visit with my hero.

Comfortably Numb was still sitting in my legs, so the first part of the run felt a little rough, but after about 20 minutes (and a well placed port-a-potty) I started to feel good.  The climb was steady, not fast but strong, and not once did I feel bad or struggle.  I can't imagine what I would have thought about that climb a year ago.  Living on this side of the water has definitely changed my view of what constitutes a big hill.

I finished the climb running through a few quads and a bunch of stairs.  I found Terry, frozen and stoic.  I approached him, rubbed his much lower than Victoria left foot, said a word of thanks to whoever is responsible for me having the opportunity to run a 3k hill, and turned home.

I arrived home feeling much better.  My day had ended with me bathed in sunshine and sweat.


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