I love running in Toronto...

Man, I love running in the city of Toronto...my new home.

The funny thing about this post is that I was going to post about poodles, and how I'm not a fan despite the fact that I love dogs. Of course this was due to an almost altercation with a poodle today on my run...okay, so it just looked at me funny...but it definitely looked like it didn't want me running on the same sidewalk.

Okay, back to the point...I was on my run this evening doing speed work, heading south on Bayview Ave. towards Eglinton just at the bottom of the big hill by the CNIB office when a fellow runner gave me a smile and wave as he passed me...this was an awkward moment as he had just gone by and it was time for me to kick it into high gear for one of my speed burst pick-ups (running at 95% max heart rate for 1 minute). I didn't want to be a jerk runner blowing past this guy right after he passed me (going up hill no less), but what could I do, I was on a speed burst schedule!
Anyhow, after a couple of seconds I gunned it, and when I caught up to this guy, he turned, smiled again and said "Sorry. Did I slow down?" I said no, and told him I was doing speed work and being a runner he knew, so he challanged me to run full out to the overpass 3/4 of the way up the hill with him, and I accepted. We ran together full out to the overpass at which point we said our goodbyes, and I kept on going for another 6 or 7 km.

So the point of the story is that I love running in Toronto because I have yet to go out for a run and not pass another runner, and I've been running here for 6 months now. I've ran in rain, snow, heat, cold and always see at least one other runner. It's amazing! Of course I have other reasons why I love running in Toronto, but we'll save those for another day.

Now I think it's time for me to address my absence from the running blog. Yeah, I know...it's been 1 year, 2 months, and 19 days since my last post...and I don't have an excuse, so get off my case, and just embrace the fact that I'm back and my running adventures will continue in blog form. Don't worry, I have been running during the time off from the blog, in fact I completed my second marathon back in September in 4:08 (new PR), and I'm currently training for the Toronto Sporting Life 10K on May 3, 2009.

Today's run was a good one...mostly because it was outdoor...this winter has been way too long. Wednesday's are speed work days now that I'm training again, and today was 60 minutes at an easy pace with random speed burst pickups thrown in. Today I did the pickups around every 8 minutes. My total distance was 12km...I've got to say it again...great run!

Here's my cousin Raymond's favorite part of my blog posts...some selections from today's playlist...
U2 - Beautiful Day (Oakenfold rmx)
U.S.S. - Porno Star Trek
Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire
Eagles of Death Metal - Wanna be in LA
Jay-Z - Big Pimpin'
Jurrasic 5 - If You Only Knew
Matt and Kim - Cinders
Santogold f/Pharrell and Julian Casablanca - My Drive Thru

I've gotta tell you, I'm super pumped to be writing again. It's good to be back. Thanks for reading

If you're new to the blog...maybe you were directed here by one of my twitter tweets, then I have to say welcome to the fan club. ;-)