A Breath Of Fresh Air

Caralin and I have now left Toronto and headed north to Wiarton for Christmas, so I ran today's run along the roads in that area.

I immediately noticed a couple of things:

1. The roads are no-where near as clear (especially of ice) as those in Toronto
2. The air feels so much cleaner than back in the T-dot.

Today's run was long and not particularly fast, primarily because it was windy, rainy and (as previously mentioned) icy.

However, a few highlights stick out for me:

• The people around here are so friendly! In Toronto, if a driver does anything to acknowledge your presence (apart from trying to run you down) it's usually to berate you for adding two seconds to their journey as they wait to pass you.
  
  Today, about three quarters of the people that drove by me smiled and waved.
• The scenery around here is amazing.
  
  I've known this for a while - I've been coming up here for five years now - but it always strikes me when I first come back.
  
  Today, two features in particular stood out:
• Cresting a hill about 5km into the run, and running down towards Georgian Bay
• Tantalizing glimpses of disused mining and farm buildings through the trees about 17km into the route.
• I have the most thoughtful and considerate girlfriend ever.
  
  I arrived back at the house to find that Caralin made me a tofu smoothie to help me recover from the run before she headed out shopping with the rest of the family.
  
  I won't comment on the taste (we only had extra-firm tofu - not exactly the ideal texture), but it stopped me from falling into the dehydrated stupor that I tend to descend into after long runs.

And yes, once again I forgot my liquids on today's run. Fortunately I'd planned to buy more mid-way through, so I was able to get some after about 11km.

So, despite the less than ideal conditions, this was a fun run.