First Run From the New Place

Today is the first time I've left my new home for a run. It's also the first distance run of the year. I'm back to running out and back in set times, and today, it was an hour out and an hour back.

I headed to the bluff, then down Nony's Awful Little Hill to the Centre Street bridge. From there I went east, past the fort, and then headed south along the Elbow River. I haven't been down that way since before the floods of last summer, and was curious about what had been affected.

I got to the small bridge across the Elbow behind the SaddleDome and found the path was fenced off. So across the bridge, around the SaddleDome and through the Stampede grounds. At the south end of the grounds, I regained the path and was off under McLeod Trail.

Under each of the McLeod Trail bridges was a sizeable tent city on the other side of the river. Lots of blankets and stuff, and the odd well-loaded shopping cart.

Around the Talisman Centre, and under 25th Avenue and across the river, then over to 26th Avenue. Followed that to Mission Road, then along Elbow Drive to 32nd Avenue, where there's a suspension foot bridge across to Rideau Road, which somehow didn't get washed away during last summer's monsoons. Then along that side of the river until just past Stanley Park, where my first hour was up. I was rather surprised to get that far in an hour.

From there, I just turned around and retraced my steps all the way back home.

Today's run:
Distance: 18.81 km. Time: 1:45:37. Average speed: 10.7 kph.
Rest distance: 1.10 km. Rest time: 11:00
Total distance: 19.91 km. Total time: 1:56:37

Weather: Fog and -5C at the start, according to Environment Canada, but the fog was more like a light haze, not quite thick enough to obsure the mountains in the distance. By the end, it was partly cloudy and -2C. Good running weather.