Elbow River Run

Decided to try a new path today, and to pull back a bit on distance. The new path was along the Elbow River, the time was two hours.

I followed the same route east and down past the zoo and across the river, but instead of heading downtown, I followed the Elbow River as it curved around the Stampede grounds. Not that I ever had much experience around them as a kid, but I rather like the smell of the horse barns below Scotsman Hill. There must be a dozen of those merry-go-round things they tie horses to, to excersize them, and they were all full this morning. It's quite a busy place.

After that, it curves west, past the Indian Village, and under McLeod Trail. And there, tragically, laying face down in the river, was....Santa. One of those three foot high plastic statues you find at Canadian Tire every November.

Past that grisly scene, and around Lindsay Park and the Talisman Centre, then across the river at 25th Avenue. It's really a beautiful stretch down their, with some really nice condos lining both sides. Then down 26th Avenue and a little ways along Elbow Drive. But not too far, before it was time to turn around and head back.

The horses were all getting out on the track at the Stampede grounds by the time I went past again, and the wind was starting to pick up too. The return trip was a retracing of the outbound route, except I finished coming down 7th Avenue instead of 8th.

Today's run:
Distance: 18.47 km. Time: 1:48:00. Speed: 10.3 km.
Rest distance: 1.07 km. Rest time: 11:15.
Total Distance: 19.55 km. Total Time: 1:59:15.

Weather: Sunny and 8C. Going to be another lovely day.

OK, so I went to Gord's Running Store and sat down with the lady there, and she looked at how my feet oriented themselves and how I walked. Then she started bringing out the shoes. My biggest problem is that everything she brought out was tight across the arch on the right foot. And some of these shoes were 4E. She finally brought a pair of New Balance 880s, which were SL2 and 4E, which made them equivalent to 6E. (SL2 is a New Balance type, I think, that is a little wider across the arch and the toe box)

Anyway, they still felt a little snug just behind the toes, but I'll give them a shot and see how they work out.

The reason I wanted a new pair at this point, was that my Nikes will be near end of life about the time of the Calgary marathon. This way, I can alternate between both pair, and push that end of life date out a bit. And I have a choice of shoe when I get to these long races.

We'll see...