Walking along the Humber River

Stopping to smell the roses...in this case to take a few pictures...is one of the benefits of walking along the trails that run along this part of the Humber River near home.  While spring is not normally my favorite season (I'm a Summer guy), it's refreshing to see the world come alive again after this long and hard winter.  I shot these pictures recently on a recent walk.

A couple of weeks ago this was frozen and covered in snow.  A couple of weeks from now this stream running down into the Humber River will be totally green.

The Humber River is running very high this year.  This is not surprising given the amount of snow cover in Toronto and in the head water area north of Toronto.

The geese are back!  Basking on a spit of rocky ground in the centre of the Humber River as the sun breaks the crest of the valley.

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Walk Sally, Walk!

She was an active skiier and tennis player.  In an earlier life she enjoyed sailboating.  Over the past few years however she has become less active.  Then this summer, the 'Eureka' moment:  she took up walking!

Like all such decisions this happened after a major life changing experience:  she contracted pneumonia!  This nasty bout kept her bedridden for nearly 3 weeks on heavy anti-biotics and a liquid diet.  It wasn't much fun.  But like Rip Van Winkle, when she 'awoke', she was hungry for something new.

And a walker was born...

Yes, Sally has taken up walking.  As you know we live beside the Humber River in Central Etobicoke and have miles of paved walking trails just steps from our house.  When the non paved trails deeper into the woods are included, the choices of cycling, running and of course walking are virtually endless.  Most of the trail is tree covered and the noise of the city...well, there is no city noise to be heard.  It's like being deep in the forest.

And like any newbie, all she talks about now is walking:  blow-by-blow of each walk, the benefits of polypropylene and of course shoes.  Her first few walks were in a pair of fashion shoes...not good...led to early case of shin splints.  Her second pair were an old pair of running shoes.  She didn't like how clunky and 'wedgie' those were.

We went shopping!

After trying on a number of shoes, she settled on a pair of walking shoes from Columbia.  'Heaven'.  They have a lot of support with a very natural feel.  Not too much rise so they mimic a very natural and comfortable walking stride.  Sally loves them.  Of course once bitten, she is now eager to try out other pairs.  I see a new favourite store in her future:  Running Room!  For her birthday recently she asked for and got a Gift Certificate for Running Room and it's burning a hole in her purse.

Sally was determined to keep it simple and non-competitive.  Then she found the Map My Walk App for her Galaxy 3 Smartphone!  Now when she hears the voice, 'Signal lost' she walks faster to pick up the GPS signal again.

I join Sally and Tia most weekends now to 'go for a walk'.  The most recent milestone was a 7.5 K last weekend on a particularly hot and sunny Sunday morning.  Thankfully the trees overhead provided nice shade for most of the walk.  It actually began as a 2.5 mile walk but the challenge of the longer distance got the better of us and we ended up doing 7.5 K.  Sally was in some pain the next day...thank you Voltarin (this stuff really works).

She will never transition to running...one crazy in the family is enough...but she loves walking every day.  Now if only we can figure out where to hang our respective workout clothes...

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy (with ThatWalkinGirl)

Running DOES solve everything

What was I thinking in my last blog post? (Running doesn't solve everything).  Running does solve everything.  On every run I've been on I've been able to 'solve all the problems of the universe' multiple times. If only I could remember the solutions after I finished...

Getting 'into the zone' where all the problems of the world disappear is magical.  Some days it happens quickly on others it only happens during the final kilometre.  I've always experienced it though no matter the run.

So running does solve everything...these are my top 5:

1. It solves the problem of what to do for an hour at 5 am in the morning.  It's better to go out running rather than trolling on Facebook.
2. Running allows you to talk to yourself without being called crazy.  Fess up:  you've had at least one run where you huffed out loud, "Come on...I can do this!!!".  Or the other version, "#%#!!%#@@!!...this is hard!!"
3. Running is better than swimming, biking.  Swimming - drive to public pool; put on bathing suit; shower;  then get wet in a chlorinated pool.  In the cold winter months this is a chilly affair.  Biking - buy bike, carry up and down elevator, store in apartment; give Spouse a reason to get angry.  And biking in the city? Unlike Holland with dedicated bike roads, sharing the road with cars in Toronto is like playing chicken.
4. Running can be done alone.  Sure you can run with a group but it isn't absolutely necessary.  Just get up, put on running gear and get outside.
5. You meet the nicest people running.  Really.  Sure all we talk about is running, getting injured and recovering from injury but it sure beats talking about politics and religion.  Maybe if more clerics and politicians ran things would run more smoothly (sorry...I couldn't resist the pun).

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

I stopped to take in the scenery on my last run

Every once in a while I stop running and take a few moments to take it all in.  Last Sunday morning on my long slow distance run was one of those moments.  I was near the end of my run anyway (about 1 mile from home).  And with my Samsung Galaxy Note with me (shameless product plug) I caught a few pictures plus the video below.

I took this photo from the trail on the east side of the Humber River just south of the Dundas Street Bridge.  For you history buffs, this is in an area originally called Lambton Mills and is about 2 miles north of Old Mill on Bloor Street.  For most of this part of the trail it's really hard to remember that I'm in the heart of Etobicoke with busy streets nearby.  And because I run very early in the morning, I generally have the trail all to myself.  Later in the day it gets very busy with walkers, runners and cyclists all sharing the trail very courteously.

But the video below really does better justice to the almost complete separation of city and country possible by running the Humber Trail.  I shot it at a small waterfall and the sound of the water rushing over the edge completely drowns out the sounds of the city.  The illusion is complete!

Over the years I've enjoyed running in just about every location I've visited or lived.  Most recently I enjoyed running along the beach in Wasaga Beach.  But now back in Toronto, it's tough to beat the magnificence of running along the Humber River.  It's enough to get me to stop long enough to take it all in!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy
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I'm raising funds for the Heart & Stroke Foundation in 2013.  My goal is to raise $2,000 by December 31.  My planned races in 2013 include:

• The Toronto Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront 1/2 Marathon, October 20

• The Reggae Marathon, December 7.  

Please join me on Facebook at Run for Heart.