Running in the Rain

Patella-femoral syndrome has halted my running career for the past month, but after two weeks of twice-daily physio-prescribed exercises, I’m lacing up my sneakers once again! No more non-stop runs to Beaver Lake, but 2-km circles around the city where I stop for traffic lights every other block and after which I ice my knee for fifteen minutes.

Today, however, was different. The Toronto (I’m back for the summer!) sky kept switching from summer sun to heavy clouds, and those clouds burst open for a torrential ten minutes just as I made it to High Park. Not wanting to bother the stroller brigade taking shelter by the covered picnic benches, I sighed and decided to sprint home. And I’m glad I did! As left the park, I saw a family with three little kids huddling under a leafy tree, and as I approached, the kids started running towards me, and I laughed along with them.

Remember when running in the rain was the best thing ever, and you didn’t need to schedule exercise in your iCal because you half-skipped half-ran home everyday anyway?

Image from Craig A Rodway via Flickr.

Tights as Pants and a Sickkkkk Playlist: The Year’s First Run

Sarastotle is the resident runner of the Players of Prince Arthur, but I am slowly being drawn into the world of running. Turns out, I’m awful at it. No wonder I get winded when I try to climb up the stairs to third floor of the Arts Building (I swear each of those steps are a couple millimetres too high); I have no lung capacity, no stamina! How do I even manage to lug the weight of my body around? This is all going to change this summer. I have a running plan and I’m sticking with it (I had a running plan last summer and I did not stick to it, but shush about that), and I’m even dragging my brother into it too. Three times a week, we’ll be shuffling around the high school track in our hometown. Maybe we’ll even throw some push-ups and sit-ups in at the end of each run. I kinda want some six-pack abs!

Even though I’m not particularly good at it, I find running to be one of the most fun solo sports activities to do in a city. It can be cheap–all you really need are a pair of decent running shoes, and an old T-shirt. Remember to stretch and do a five-minute brisk warm-up walk!

Highlights of running:
5. Sunshine!

4. Fresh air!

3. Nodding ‘sup to other runners in solidarity.

2. Acceptable situation in which to wear tights as pants! Shazam! Look at dem legs!

1. Play-list making!

Speaking of playlists, I made a new playlist to start the running season (defined as: whenever it gets warm enough to brave the air in just my McGill sweatshirt). I listen to a mix of total garbage (as well as Garbage, good band), stuff my parents play on the radio, and the free iTunes Song(s) of the Week(s), and it shows in my running playlists. Throughout the winter, I listened to the same sappy Beyoncé song at least a hundred times in a playlist of about five songs that were equally well-played. It’s not like I have a diminutive iTunes library; I stocked that thing well with my parent’s CD collection. I just really, really love sappy Beyoncé numbers and/or any song that has rhythmic clapping and gospel choirs. If I ever become a recording artist, that’s what all my songs are going to be like.

Playlist 1: SPRING RUNNING TUNES

Length: about 50 minutes

(no particular order)

1. Countdown – Beyoncé

Let’s get this little number out of the way, to start.

2. Annie You Save Me – Graffiti6

Whatever radio station the grocery store in my hometown plays, they LOVE this song. It’s always playing when I go grocery shopping.

3. Girl on Fire (Inferno Version) – Alicia Keys (feat. Nicki Minaj)

This is about as much rap as I can handle.

4. Lonely Boy – The Black Keys

Are the Black Keys hip? I’m kind of out of the loop. I like this one because I can head-bang to it if there are no other runners gawking at me.

5. Bulletproof – La Roux

I danced in a field in first year to this song when the promised Beatles tribute band didn’t show up.

6. The One That Got Away – Katy Perry

EMBARRASSING, I KNOW. HEY, AT LEAST IT’S NOT T-SWIFT (she’s for when we’re hand-washing dishes).

7. We Are Young – Fun. (feat. Janelle Monáe)

My mom likes this song too. She tells me about these guys and Bruno Mars now, all the time since the Grammys.

8. Half Light II (No Celebration) – Arcade Fire

Super-long screechy violin build-up is great for trying to run up hills (like if you’re trying to climb up Mount Royal).

9. Your Man – Down With Webster

I like this song solely for a single lyric about halfway through: “Got a crush like an empty soda can.” BRILLIANT.

10. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson

I got a free gift card for iTunes when I was about 13 for buying a pair of jeans, and I spent it immediately on a Kelly Clarkson song. I had the whole music library of the world to choose from, and I chose a Kelly Clarkson song. I knew then I had no taste. My Kelly Clarkson collection continues to grow.

11. Little Talks – Of Monsters and Men

Good pace for slow jogging.

13. Cerahtonia – Fibes, Oh Fibes!

I have a friend who is on exchange in Sweden this year, and she is on a radio show through her university there. They play great music and have great discussions! You can hear podcasts of the episodes here: <https://www.facebook.com/InternationalRadioExposeYourselftoSwedishCulture>. Anyway, this was played during one of the radio shows, and it’s my favourite random-dance-party-must-dance-now song. Very upbeat, great for running.

Happy running!

The First Run of the Season

Every winter, when the streets get icy, I sigh mournfully and stick my running shoes in the closet until spring. And as the nights get longer and the snow piles higher, I sit and eat and sit and maybe do a yoga tape every other week, but I sure don’t run. Which is incredibly lazy of me, I know. The McGill gym is but a five minute walk from our apartment, and membership for undergrads is $25 a semester. But running on treadmills bores me, no matter how much trashy TV is playing in the background, and I know I’ll stop going  after week one. So I save my $25, or rather spend it on chai lattes and date squares, and wait until the snow melts and I can once again run through the streets of Montreal.

I hiked over Christmas break… Does that count?

And when I came back after reading week, the snow was gone! Well, our long driveway is still icy, but other than that, the streets are dry! And so yesterday morning, I woke up early, put on the Lululemon running clothes I bought as a bribe to start running, and headed out the door. It was… terrible. After half a dozen blocks, I started to breathe harder. By the time I hit rue St. Denis, I slowed down to miss each traffic light and give myself a little break. Whenever I caught a glimpse of myself in a storefront window, my form was all wrong. That’s what you get for sitting like a sloth for four months!

But I loved it! Those first few blocks (before everything started to hurt) felt amazing. I was actually moving again! I was smiling at fellow runners, crossing guards, school children! I had left the McGill Bubble!

And the ecstasy lasted until this morning when it started to hurt to climb stairs.