Sunday, January 11, 2009

A Long Run On A Sunny Sunday Morning In The Snowy Roads of Markham

I woke up this morning to prepare for my running club's Sunday long run at 7:00 am. Last night, before going to bed at 11:00 pm, I had my Garmin 305, water/fuel belt, 4 layers of clothing , toque, socks all ready for a quick get away in the morning.

I quickly finished my breakfast of oatmeal, almond nuts and cherries , took a quick hot shower to awaken the sleeping muscles, got dressed, checked everything and as I opened my front door , felt the sunshine and cold wind on my face with the outside of my house looking like this -



I arrived at the Runningroom around 8:20, took my camera with me ( I could not waste not taking pictures of probably the coldest of our winter long runs) and had some pictures taken of Isaac (my clinic instructor), Greg (my clinic mate of a year ago) and myself before the run.



















Greg (left), Isaac (middle) and myself had our picture taken in front of the Runningroom. We then all congregated inside the Runningroom, where runners went to their respective groups. After a few minutes of discussing about running routes and distances, everybody went out in the bright sunlight but cold morning of winter , and then each group went their separate ways. I decided to go with Isaac to do 6k and add another 8k after.



We ran with a slow pace most of the time just conversing with the runner closest to you and just enjoyed the bright sunny day, the beautiful snow on the ground, and each others company. Every now and then I ran separately from or ahead of the group to take some pictures telling everybody jokingly to see their pictures at the next issue of Runner's World Magazine.



We returned back at the Runningroom in 49:38. Isaac, Greg, Felicia, Nadine and myself then started doing our extra ks. Originally, the plan was for us to run another 8 kilometers. But after just 2ks, I felt tired and had to part ways with them and I decided to run back to the Runningroom. My Garmin showed a time of 1:21:57 for a total of 10.22 ks.

It felt so good driving back home knowing that I just completed another beautiful, sunny (although cold) Sunday long run in the snow covered streets of Markham.

After another warm shower, I sat down contentedly on my couch, drank my hot coffee with triple cream ( I can afford to do it- I just ran 10k), and just like every Sunday morning, enjoyed reading the day's newspapers.

The icing on the cake today - enjoying my rice and sinigang while watching Wowwowee.

Life is so good when you're a runner.

4 comments:

  1. I'm speehless, Bong. Is there a special kind of running shoes intended for snow? Isn't there a possibility of slipping and suffer an injury? You and your running group are all so brave to run in these horrifying conditions!

    I'm glad you posted some pictures as I have suggested. You don't look like you're a Filipino. Do you have Chinese/American/European blood?

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  2. I run with my running shoes in the snow and it's quite safe naman wag kalang masyadong mabilis. There is a special gadget that you can put on your shoes (with spikes) but I found it uncomfortable.

    I may have Chinese or Japanese in me, I don't know. My mother told me that her last name Icban may have come from the Japanese word "ichiban", meaning number one. I have chinky eyes so obviously there is something added to the Filipino blood.

    Malapit na pala ang 10k run mo. Good luck ha.

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  3. Last Sunday the temperature in Silang City where i live was drop to 23 degree celcius, close to Silang City is a higher land, Tagaytay City. I'm sure the temperature would drop to below 20. The point here is, I didn't dare to step off from my apartment and run, it was just to cold for me. I can imagine how freezing that was when you guys were running, with that white things cover the entirely road, which only i could see in the movie or in the freezer :)

    phew, that must be a different experience...

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  4. I would rather run in warmer weather if given a choice Jerry.

    How's your training for the ultramarathon?

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