Running Outdoors in the Fall

In my last post I mentioned how I dreaded having to do my runs on a treadmill, and my indecisiveness of to run outdoors or to switch memberships to a gym that had an indoor track. This past weekend, I made my decision - I will run outdoors until its too cold/icy to do it.

I consulted with my virtual coach who offered me excellent advice about what I should wear and where I could get my gear from. It happened though, instead of landing in the Running Room as I thought I would be doing most of my shopping at, I was at Eatons, browsing Lululemon.

No, I unfortunately didn't end up buying lulu, but instead headed to Sports Chek, and got some tights, a long-sleeve base layer, a merino wool cap and a pair of wool socks. I also bought my brother a really nice gift... which we might be returning, but .. they are so nice Quiet Comfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones by Bose. I tried these on at Best Buy, and they were amazing. Hands down. But. Pricey :P The package remains unopened (for now!) and may go back, only to re materialize again come boxing day or something. We shall see.

Anyway, back on topic.. now that I've got my "winter" running gear, I shouldn't have any problem braving the cold (or so the people at sportschek told me). If anything I might a bit hot running in it, unless I am the type to get cold easily. Which, I am, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Today, I put the gear to the test. I left work a bit later than I expected, so the sun was already setting, I had very little time to change and rush outside. I admit, once I got home, I really felt the laziness kick in. I was home. tired. and hungry. And it was chilly outside. The house felt so warm and cozy. I could smell dinner brewing in the kitchen...

But no. I'm dedicated to training for the Goofy run. Not to mention I had one coming up in 2 weeks (Whitby 10 miler race). I had to keep up my cardio. After falling sick for nearly 2 weeks, it was only on the Saturday I managed to do a 10km run at the gym.


Oh. Yes, btw that felt like the longest 10km I ever had to run. I chose a treadmill that was closest to a tv view of the food network, but found that it was out of service. The only other one was facing a structural beam. So I would need to turn my head to watch my cooking shows. So not cool. And not fun. Time ticked by very slowly. I ended at about 10km, and made my way home. It was after this treadmill run tipped the scale in my decision to get outdoor running gear.

I rationalize now, (also then), the clothing invested for running can be cross-functional to my other winter sports that I do sometimes (snowboarding/skiing). Maybe we could even do some winter hikes... The possibilities were endless.

After taking a few quick sips of water, plugging in to my music, I finally left the house, and made my way to the park and did laps. Eventually I will need a better place to run, but it was the first route that came to mind. It grew dark quickly, so I tried to stay in the lit areas of the paths. It was such a beautiful evening. The air was nice and crisp. There was a slight chill, I could see my breath when I breathed out. Only a little though. Wasn't cold enough to see a full winters breath. Best part was that I was comfortably warm while running. It was pitch black when I finished my run so I was glad that I stayed just in the park area.

During my run, as I mentioned, I was comfortably warm. Everything was at a controlled warmth; the base layer did as it promised: kept me warm and at the same time, kept me dry and not sweaty. I had on 3 layers, a regular long-sleeve technical shirt, my merino wool base layer on top, and a simply sweatshirt over top of it all. I should have gotten a windbreaker too, maybe this weekend. The hat was great. my head felt warm and toasty. The socks, WOW. Loved them. When I first put them on, greatest feeling ever. They were..feeling rather fluffy. lol. I used the same gloves I purchased for my scotiabank marathon (the Lululemon ones).

Overall, I'm happy with the gears that I got. Now I have to be sure I'm on track with the training. As well as the fundraising! :)



Speaking of fundraising, my next post, I will tell you more about my partnership with a local artist, Tomori Nagamoto, in helping raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. Please visit http://tinyurl.com/runforthecurewendy if you want to make a donation today!

Tomori Nagamoto is not only an extremely talented artist (see above portraits for sample artwork) and musician, but a fellow runner who has a philanthropic mindset as well.