Going Along For The Stride

Well I made it through my hectic school week in one piece, and I am currently enjoying a relaxing weekend in Moncton. I am getting a bit of running in - I had a very pleasant trail run earlier today, actually - but most of my energy is being spent visiting friends and eating chocolate. So much for eating healthy.

I finally broke my streak of solo runs on Thursday night, thanks to the West Striders. The running club meets at Alex Coffin's Fitness Shop every Thursday and Saturday at 6:30PM and 9:00AM, respectively, and you'll be hard pressed to find a friendlier group of runners in this neck of the woods. I generally struggle to meet up with the group due to scheduling conflicts - the 9:00AM run really interferes with my beauty rest - but the moon and stars aligned on Thursday, and I found myself preparing for a cold run alongside a dozen or so brave souls.

We started from the shop, packed together tightly as people picked their pace. One runner immediately bolted to the front, and I found myself in the chase pack (we weren't really chasing, but we were running behind him) with Craig, Kelly and Frank. The first few kilometers consisted of us catching up on our latest adventures (we've all run together before), and discussing the merits of The Kids in The Hall's new show Death Comes To Town. I've yet to watch, but Craig tells me it's quite good, so I'll have to find some rabbit ears for my cable-starved television.

We eventually made our way from Uptown to the West Side, and my thoughts darted towards home. We were 25 minutes into the run, and if I left the group I could make it back to my house without waiting for a ride home. However, I felt pretty strong, so I decided to stay loyal to the group and see how far my legs would take me.

Turns out my legs were feeling pretty good. I thought I might start feeling fatigue before we made it back to Alex's shop, but I picked up the pace with about a kilometer to spare and finished strong. I didn't break any land speed records, but I did run for nearly an hour without any complaints. Thumbs up.

I plan on featuring some of my running friends in upcoming entries, but I need to cut it short for now. I'm in the middle of a visit, and an intense game of cards awaits. Wish me luck!