Back from Vegas!

And it was pretty awesome. I made a point of staying at the gaudiest hotel I could find and it was perfect. Upon returning home, though, I found it is truly the beginning of winter-the first snow had fallen and temperatures had plunged.



Great.



This wouldn't really bother me except for the fact that my neighborhood streets don't get salted. The cold I can handle, but trying to run on solid ice isn't going to work for me. So I pose a question:



Should I break down and buy a gym membership to use the treadmill or should I start looking for different routes to run outside?

1.31

I was pretty tired today after work and was going to knock out my short run when I got home. Instead, I decided to ask my dad if he wanted to come with me for a walk and so I waited while he suited up (my dad cannot be seen if he is not looking as GQ as possible, even at night) and leashed up our old Aussie.

While I wanted to hurry up and get my short run done so I can do some reading (I'm in the middle of a strangely fascinating book), I'm glad my dad came out with me. He is in remission after having liver cancer and surgery to remove the large tumour that came with it. My dad and I have gotten closer as I've gotten older and the thought of losing him to cancer made me so glad we're good buddies. I was happy to sacrifice a run for a little bonding time. Plus his doctor put him on strict orders to walk, so I can goad him into it, which is one of my favourite pastimes. 

I was also looking up trails near my house. I'd like to try trail running, as I heard it was a bit easier on your joints and a hell of a lot more interesting than running past the same garden swans and lawn gnomes every night. I might go scout out the woods near my place on my next day off. Any trail runners have any advice for a beginner?

1.29

I had a decent run last night. It was supposed to be my slow day but I didn't really feel like walking for 15 minutes. Maybe it was bad of me but I did 5 minute walk, 1 minute run x2 and then walking the rest. I definitely don't want to fall in the beginner trap of overtraining and trying to be a couch commando, getting injured quickly, and then giving up. I'm just not a fan of walking with no purpose. I guess that's contradictory.

OT: I've been preoccupied by trip planning lately and have had a stupid worry. I'm taking my first trip to Europe later on this month and I'm going to bring my shoes and my Nike+ with me. I took it with me when I lived in Australia and I was pretty proud of having red outback dirt on my shoes (they're still a nice ruddy color, a year later) so hopefully I'll have some English dirt on them as well. I'm just sort of concerned about keeping to my running schedule as I'll be by myself for half of my trip. I know that my travel buddy will trot beside me for part of the trip but I need to stick to it or I think I'll fall far behind.

Anyone ever run on vacation or do you just let it rest for awhile?

1.08

I decided to run early because it was absolutely bloody freezing today. It started sprinkling and despite wanting to rush home, I wished today was my long run day. It was really refreshing. 

I had a question as I was running though, that I think I'll pose to the one or two people who actually read this blog: Do you carry water with you on your runs? If so, is it every run or just your long ones? How many miles should I run before I take water?