Day 14 - "Off Season"

Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone.
The Dhammapada

What an awesome travel weekend we had. Sarah, Grace, Ellie and I started our journey to Penetanguishene, early Saturday morning. Our flight was at 8:20AM from Atlanta to Buffalo, NY. On arrival to Buffalo we grabbed a rental car, Chevy HHR and made the 305KM trek to Penetanguishene. The temperature in Buffalo was 45 degrees when we landed and was a balmy 14 degrees Celsius once we hit Canada at our destination. The weather was perfect for the trip. Blues skies and the foliage at this time of the year was spectacular. The leaves were about a week away from being at their peak, but the brilliant colors that canvassed the rolling landscape where breathtaking. The vibrant oranges, yellows, reds and turning greens signaled the peak of Fall. We ran into a little snag with the traffic coming out of Toronto and heading North. It seems that the destination we were heading to is also a favorite spot for Torontoan’s on the weekends and holiday.

We managed to survive the traffic and arrived at Sarah’s grandmother’s residences around 2:30PM EST. We were about an hour late and wondered if everyone was winding down from lunch at this time, but when we came off the elevator we were greeted by the family that had congregated in the lobby area. It turns out that most everyone else was affected by the traffic so we were not late. This put us at ease as we started the hug fest. All of Sarah’s Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, Parents, Sister, Brother, nieces, Second Cousins, Third Cousins, Fourth Cousins and of course Nana were there. All together with family and friends there we 60+ Canadians and Americans coming together to celebrate Nana’s 100th birthday.

The party was an outstanding time. We were able to converse with family that we had not seen in a few years, meet new additions to the family and catch up with everyone. Sarah’s grandmother was definitely the focus of attention and honor being the matriarch of this diverse and continually expanding family.

Once the birthday party winded down a large number of the guest were staying in the same hotel so we started up the party again in the hotel. We ordered burgers, Poutine, salad and of course beer. Now, if you have never had Poutine, you have not experienced fine Canadian cuisine. Poutine is fries with gravy and cheese. You are probably thinking, gross! Soggy fries with gravy on them? No way. But, until you have experienced this magnificent concoction of starch, fat, salt and protein. You my friend have not lived. Here is a shot. Wash a plate of heaven down with a few 8% alcohol local beers and life does not get any better:

Sunday morning I awoke to a 180 degree change in the weather. The temperature was -1 degrees Celsius, cloudy skies and yes, SNOW! The snow was blanketing the skies, blowing sideways and knowing I wanted to run I decided to brave the cold and snow. I got dressed around 7:30AM and the only running gear I brought was shorts, and Under Armor tank and a long sleeve technical shirt. I had plotted a 14 KM run from the hotel, through the streets of Midland, ON and around the top of Georgian Bay.

When I was leaving the hotel, some of the relatives were eating breakfast and looked at me as if I was a two-headed dragon leaving the lair. I saw the disbelief on their faces as I said, “good morning” and headed out the door. When I passed the threshold of the outside door the Northern Winds hit me and I thought, time to go or freeze to death! Besides, my ego could not allow me to turn around and go eat waffles and drink coffee after I had stepped out into the tundra. I started down a side street by the hotel heading for the bay. The snow had turned at this point from flakes to sleet. The consistency or size of the sleet was approximately the diameter of Dippin’ Dots ice cream. The pellets of snow where bouncing off my body as I made my way through the streets of Midland. The snow BB’s did not let up as I swallowed and choked on a few as I turned into a park area 3-4Km’s from the hotel. This is about the time it hit me that I knew this was going to be a great run. The sound of my feet hitting the asphalt and the music of the snow drumming off the multicolored leaves turned my run from a cold, wet run into an adventure with unknown experiences. I started to feel the “runner’s high” at that point as I observed the colonies of black squirrels busily collecting food for the harsh Canadian winters that were showing themselves on this day. Black squirrels at first sight are quite mystical in relation to their gray cousins. The fur is pitch black and have a silkiness to them that makes them almost look like a small cat. They stand out more on the landscape but are equally cautious of your presents and scurry off when you are within sight of them. Running through the park with the colorful background, snow and these mystical little creatures, I felt as if I had gone through the “wardrobe” to another land.

As I headed out of the enchanted park, I made my way through a few small residential areas until I came upon the end of the road and the Georgian Bay. I had charted my run on MapMyRun.com, but as I came up on a row of homes by the cold waters of the bay, I discovered a pathway not unlike the Greenway in Alpharetta. My route was all roads but I decided to hop on the pathway and see where it would take me. At this point I was around 8Km’s into my run, felt awesome and was in the zone even though the snow had picked up and I was getting the wind coming off the lake. I bounded down the pathway passing large homes or cottages as they called then up here, which overlook the bay. No one else was venturing out on this snow-blanketed day so I had the path all to myself. I continued to forge ahead with little effort as I made my way around the tip of the bay. The water was unnaturally calm for how much wind and snow that was blowing at time. There was an absence of boats in the water and I assumed that the weekender’s had stored the boats for the season in anticipation of the bay to freeze over by November.

As I came to the end of the pathway there was only one way to go, right. I turned right and headed out onto the road again that winded around the bay. As I continued to run, I noticed ahead that I was in for some hills. I don’t remember running down the length or grade of hills on the way out, but they were definitely making themselves known in front of me. As I approached the incline of the slope, I got my first glance of the grade and length of the “hills” in front of me. I was staring at a stretch of road no more different from Yellow Creek road on our Saturday rides. The grade was over 5 degrees and by my calculations it was approximately 2Km’s long. I steadied and maintained the pace as I started to climb shortening my stride. As I scaled the grade the snow abruptly stopped and the gray clouds parted and the sun shone down upon me. The road went from being wet and dark to a brilliant shiny mirror that reflected the colors of the leaves up at me. The vision of natures colorful palette provided me the energy and I conquered the hill with little effort. As I crested the hill and turned right I was facing in my eyes in belly of yet another beast. Another stretch of road equally as long. I thought to myself as the scenery changed from vibrant colors back to the gray skies engulfing the sun switching the terrain back to a wet, dark, snowy environment. Now, you think this would dampen my spirits, but with the continual “runner’s high” kicked in I dropped the head and powered up the hill without my pace suffering. After the second conquest, it was smooth sailing back to the hotel as the gray skies invited the snow to start up again. I made cruised along the back street neighborhoods towards the hotel and about 2Km’s from the end I came across a path in the woods that ran perpendicular to the road I need to meet up with to finish. I entered the dirt (actually mud) path that was carved out of the grass by runners, walkers and bikers. The path quickly was engulfed by the vegetation of the trees turning the path into a tunnel of natural tone colors. You felt as if you were running through 100 Acre Wood as the colors blended together as I ran by them. After about only 2Km’s the end of the tunnel appeared back into civilization and I was 200 meters from the hotel.
I have always enjoyed exploring new areas to run when I travel and this run even with the weather will be placed into the top 10. The pace was a comfortable 4:33/kilometer.

The rest of the long weekend filled up with celebration and cheer. Sarah, Grace, Ellie and I made our way back to the States and arrived at our home Monday afternoon. I always enjoy the company of my wife and daughters on trips that bring adventure and memories and this one trip that had both.

This was the last taste of Canadian as I snuck a Molson across the border for a nightcap before we departed back to Georgia the next day. Ah, love beer.

Monday night:
I made a pack with myself last night that I would get up for the swim and knock it out. With all the food and beer, which I shoveled and poured into my pie whole it, is time to get back to business. Bob, my weigh in is tomorrow.

Tuesday morning:
Coach Mike’s 4500M workout was:
Warm Ups
300M Swim
100M Kicks
200 Pulls
Main Set
400M
2 X 200M
4 X 100M
400M
50M Cool Down
300M Kick
12 X 25M’s with 10 pushups on the wall after each 25M.
10 X 25M’s Up and Outs
200M Kick
100M EZ swim

Back at work after the great weekend with the family and good swim workout. Melissa and I swam in the same lane this morning. Wonder how long this hold?