Bragging rights.

Written by Christy Simard. What an awesome run! I'm actually kinda jealous... the way only runners get jealous. ;)

Today was a bit of a difficult day to run... To start the day looked nice but with 90 km winds! Not so great when you are pushing a barn door on your run. Our other run leader Carey had to cancel her run today, so I was by myself. That made it even harder to run, but what most of you don’t know is that I made a commitment to a 90 mile challenge for Movember! So rain or wind, I still needed to log some more distance this month to make my goal. With the remainder of my miles scheduled for this month, today was meant to be an 8km (5 mile) run, but since I was pretty sure I was going to be by myself... I pushed harder! 

As I pushed the stroller up Fort Street I had this sinking feeling in my gut: I am cheating on the group! I really cannot recall the last time I ran alone with Elise; probably back in May when I was foolishly training by myself for my first half marathon. Now I know better!

My run today looped up into Oak Bay and as I turned on to Oak Bay Ave, Mother Nature was smiling, and I figured I was golden. Turns out the sun was just a taster, and didn’t last long enough to even warm me. Heading back down Richmond Ave, the wind appeared around almost every corner. Gonzales Ave and Foul Bay Rd flew by and at the turn on to Hollywood Crescent I had to stop to put on my little flashing beacon because the clouds were darkening. 

Looking at my phone, I was only 5 km in; this was the make or break point. Do I shorten my route or push through and dig deep?, Well I dug in. As I turned the corner to Dallas Rd and the cemetery I was greeted by a clear sign that I was crazy!!!

I was actually feeling great about this run for the first time (so yes I am just a bit crazy, and a runner). So detour we did, looping around the cemetery and down May Street. I passed through Beacon Hill Park and the skies opened on me (insert sounds of doom). Into James Bay the rain began to fall sideways and my glasses became a victim. The puddles were huge, my feet were officially wet, but I still felt great! 

Now I was just trying to make sure that Elise was still holding her own in the stroller. She was handling it like a rock star, umbrellas were flying sideways, cars splashed us, no one was aware we were there so onto the road we ran.  We helped a gentleman who in his rush to get out of the weather missed a few stairs at the grocery store (luckily no injuries other than his pride), and continued through James Bay and back into Beacon Hill for the second time. A very deserted location today, and very peaceful at the same time. 

We hammered up my favourite part of this route, the Quadra Street hill at Fairfield. This is my dessert after a great meal; I eat it up every run. ...and there is always room for more of it! I have had many an “ah ha” moment at this spot, and look forward to it every time we run this route.  So today I ran it purposely. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. 

Pushing up the final hill on Vancouver with the store in sight, my mileage was just shy of the 12.5km, so into the parking lot I ran, finally stopping on the even number. As I pulled the stroller up to the coffee shop, it was raining so hard I could hardly see past it. The people inside were shaking their heads at me and I was giggling. In my head, I knew that I had beat the weather, and as Sara said... I have the bragging rights!!!