Finding my way

Today I had 8 miles on tap for my long run. I decided to head out somewhere new – I started out just north of Glenmore Reservoir to run along Elbow River heading towards downtown. That was the plan anyway! I parked my car at the first spot I saw which was right on the end of an off leash dog park. I was waiting for my Garmin to pick up the satellite signal when I started chatting to a fellow originally from England who was out walking with his dog Puffin. We had a nice chat, and he pointed out some wild Saskatoon berry bushes out along the pathway. It was then time to start on the run. The pathways were gravel and kept ending, and all of a sudden I found myself out of the park, on sidewalks running around the Marda Loop neighborhood. Hmmm, that can’t be right. I made a couple turns and wound back up at the park. After wandering around for 2.5 miles I finally found the pathway I was looking for that wound up along the Elbow River. This was a pretty neat route – the pathway isn’t contiguous, so at times you are running in some pretty swanky residential neighborhoods. It is definitely interesting to look around and check out the houses – some classic style homes, and some really interesting more modern ones. It was time to turn around before I knew it. Since I didn’t make it quite as far on the pathway as I would have liked, I’ll definitely be back next weekend for my long run. Today I ran to check out the scenery, to say hi to the other runners, bikers and dogs, and just enjoy being outside. It was nice to not concentrate on time or pace.