Time to get to the nitty gritty

When I embarked on this road trip, I realized how lucky I am to have a job that I can take on the go. Now, I am going to say that a home base with a large support staff of massage therapists, health supplement gurus (Eddie!), a coach to watch workouts (the best coach ever, J.J Clark!), a weight room, sports psych guy, nutritionist, agent, etc. is much more conducive to running fast. That does not mean that my job has to dictate my life 24/7.

The hard part of running on the go:

When I say that running is so great because you can do it anywhere, an asterisk comes with that. It's almost like saying you can sleep anywhere. And yes, you can sleep in the back row of an airplane by the bathroom with an overly chatty Kathy on one side and a man with the extender seat belt on the other. It’s the same grin and bear it gene that it takes to run down the NYC grid dodging the Starbucks-bound speed walkers while stopping at every traffic light because you can’t seem to time your pace right. Yes, you can do all that, but do you really want to?

No, absolutely not. Sometimes, though, it comes with the job description, and it fosters creativity when having to devise a route that provides some type of functional run.

Another challenge while running in unfamiliar territory, finding a safe place to run. Yellowstone is a good example. On our final day in the park, I really only had two both rather unpleasant choices:

1)   Head out on the road and deal with drivers –commonly belonging to the geriatric community- slowing and generally swerving to see every point of interest ever noted by anyone. Seriously, they will pull off the road for a squirrel to snap a picture even if they’re from, say, Tennessee and see them all the time (Kat!).

2)   Head off on a trail and risk dealing with bears.

At first I chose geriatric tourists in RVs. After 10 minutes, I chose bears. Trust me, you would have too.

Vancouver, on the other hand, had the most perfect running trail I have ever seen. Only professional runners can truly appreciate the 8ft wide, perfectly flat peat gravel trail through the reeds along the Strait of Georgia. Did I mention the lack of cars and just enough other athletes to be pleasant not crowded? A runner’s dream. 
If only every location could be as serene as Vancouver...well, minus that man who appeared to be blatantly smoking crack on the street. I'm just gonna chock that one up to that's how they must do it here in Canada, and smile cause I know I can outrun him.
Cheers from the Fatherland!
-Phoebz