Chance Meeting in a Coffee Shop

Hoo, boy, what a run tonight! Tons of energy, feeling fast and loose and everything. Perhaps from the frustrations of commuting? The construction season appears to be in full swing.

But wotta run! Not that it was close to my fastest or farthest or anything, but I felt really strong out there. Down The Path and through the crowds of bootcampers and bikini busters at the bottom. Over Memorial, and down the trail on the river. Just cruising. Past 10th, past 14th, swing onto the foot bridge under Crowchild.

I kept wondering when I was going to crash. I thought I'd get back to 10th Street, and run out of steam about the time I passed the helicopter pad. But if anything I felt even stronger.

At The Path Under The Stairs, it seemed like I barely slowed down. I broke my breathing rhythm just at the steepest part, and just kept pushing. At the top I was huffing, still felt great, and pushed harder all the way to the end.

Back to the coffee shop: I keep running into this woman in Starbucks, a couple of times a week. We got to chatting one time in the line up, and it turns out she's a runner too. Sort of a serious runner. So we talk a little over the last few weeks about training and stuff.

Yesterday morning as we swapped stories about our Sunday training runs (she's getting ready for Chicago) she asked if I'd be interested in running with her team in the Banff-Jasper Relay. So I said yes.

This morning I chatted with the team captain. I get Leg 11 which is a fairly flat 17 km well past Saskatchewan Crossing. What's nice is that I start no later than 1:00 pm - not too early or too late. Gonna be a hoot!

Distance: 10.14 km. Time: 54:13.
Average speed: 11.2 kph (5:21 min/km).

Shoes: New Balance 1061.

Weather: Cloudy and 12C.