Days 63 and 64 - Oh Hello, Vancouver.

Yesterday was somewhat unpleasant. I don't want to talk about it, but suffice it to say that I came out of it with a pulled left gluteus medius, an ugly bruise on my right calf, and a huge burst blister on my right foot.

Waking up in beautiful Vancouver this morning was blissful. It is almost 20C warmer here than it is at home right now. There is not a spot of snow on the ground.

So today I decided to run 6k.

Still looking pretty sweet.

I left the house in my new purple shoes and started off at a lazy-slow pace, stopping every once in a while to take a picture, look in a store window, or coax my uncooperative left kneecap into a more comfortable position (yes, this is a thing that is happening now). At one point, I stood to the side to let a herd of 20 or so runners pass. I couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at the toques, gloves, and heavy gear they wore while I overheated in my tights, t-shirt, and windbreaker. I wondered, in passing, what they wear during the summer. And then wondered what they would wear in a -20C run over icy sidewalks if they ever joined me in Kingston.

The view from my bedroom at home.

As I ran, my lungs fell in deep love with the Vancouver air. It's mild and damp, silencing my airways' post-viral complaints about the frigid aridity of Ontario winter. I didn't need my usual winter cheekful of gum to help me generate saliva and keep my throat moist and cooperative.

I ran with no direction or plan, and no music either. 

Unsurprisingly, it eventually started to rain, exposing for me the folly of choosing glasses over contact lenses for a run in Vancouver. But the rain felt cool and lovely, not bone-chillingly freezing and driving sideways like the rain I usually encounter on my Kingston runs (that is, when it's not snowing, of course). 

Oh hello, Vancouver.

I came home to a warm bath, slathered myself in Coconut and Lemon Everyone Lotion, and quietly accepted the fact that I may be falling in love with (running in) Vancouver.