Run, Run, Run

Sam and I were up this morning at 6:15, and after playing for a bit and feeding her breakfast, we climbed up the stairs, with Sam saying, "Daddo, Daddo, Daddo," around 7:15. She got up onto the bed with Ryan and they played "nite nite" (meaning Ryan attempts to wake up a bit more before getting out of bed :-) ) while I got myself organized. When I came back into the room, I told Sam I was going for a run, and she said "run, run, run." I kid you not. OK, so the pronunciation of the word wasn't quite as crisp as ours might be, but that is absolutely what she was saying. How cool is that?! My kid wants me to run! So off I went :-)

I've been running a lot on the powerlines/snowmobile trail across the street this winter. The same 5-mile out-and-back. But somehow it isn't boring. The trail is different depending on the time of day, the temperature, the snowmobile traffic, etc. And today, the conditions were very different than on Saturday's run with Ryan. The thermometer was reading 16 degrees when I left, and the wind was whipping through the trees out back. I was pleasantly surprised to find it didn't feel too bad out as I ran down towards Highland Green, but that of course meant that the return trip was bound to be straight into the wind. The trail was packed solid after a few warm days and a cold night. As I ran through the woods near Lover's Lane, I noticed a ton of deer tracks etched deeply into the snowpack. The snow crunched underfoot, and I was keeping up a pretty good pace until I popped back out of the woods for the final 2 miles home. It was then that the headwind hit me full force, mocking me as I tried to run into its gusts. I was definitely feeling tired by the end, no doubt a combination of the wind and the mileage run in the past five days. I'm glad to have gotten out this morning, but I am also really happy that tomorrow is a rest day!

The morning was capped off with breakfast out at Broadway Deli. A run and a big breakfast - the perfect way to start a Sunday!