When Matt and I bought our house in the summer of 2010 “proximity to nature trails” wasn’t really on our list of things we were thinking about. Sure, we were both enjoy outdoor activities, but stuff like “outdoor space” and “ability for Matt to watch TV at all hours of the night without waking Erin” were much higher on our lists of must-haves. But we moved in, realized how damn close we were to the Don Valley Trail, and my life changed forever.
It seems melodramatic, I know. But having a trail less than 100 feet from my doorstep makes all the difference in the world for me. It brings me back to nature, gives me a place to run without worrying about cars or stoplights. It brings me back home, to where we grew up and were surrounded by nature constantly. It challenges me and inspires me and I’m so grateful this city of ours is filled with secrets like this one.
Today was my first official training run. I was told to do 8k at a “moderate tempo” and that’s what I tried to do. I chose to run the Don, despite its snowy cover, because tomorrow I head back to work and mid-day sunny winter runs will be relegated to weekends only. I felt strong and ran well. It was a good day.
Tomorrow is my first attempt at speedwork.
The run: 7.9k in 53:10
The route:
“Proximity to trails” was an actual column in my house-hunting spreadsheet! So very important to have quick access. Other columns were “2 bathrooms,” “front hall closet,” and “a basement Pierre can stand up in.” So at least we got the trail thing (priorities!)
Ha, yes! Matt and I got everything we were looking for, so I can’t complain at all. Sure, I want to rip the upstairs carpet out at some point, but we needed something to work on!
Before I became a runner, I just assumed I could bike to nature. So glad I still have that option (the Beach is like 10 minutes away on my bike), but this is perfection for running. Now if we ever move, “proximity to trails” is a must-have.
I need to get myself on that trail one of these days. For some reason, it intimidates me, only because I’ve never been on it I guess. And I also figured it would be covered in snow and ice and not really good condition to be running on right now. Sounds like it might not be so bad though!
In the winter, I use YakTrax, which makes running on it a-okay. In the summer, it was get super busy with bikes, but it’s so accessible to us east enders! And it’s nice to have a place to run where you can just go and not worry about red lights. If you check it out, let me know!
I keep hearing about YakTrax, maybe I need to give them a whirl. I guess I was secretly hoping that most of the winter would be relatively snow free like last year haha. I guess we can’t complain too much yet, it hasn’t been so bad.
True! I bought them last year and used them like 4 times. They’re not too expensive, but if this weather keeps up, you can probably get away without them this winter too!