Half of 18K

Eighteen kilometres is what was on my training schedule for today and so I had to figure out how far 9K was so I could run there and turn around and run back.

Creative Commons image “Chateau Laurier by the Ottawa Locks” taken by Viola Ng.

Turns out this is 9K from my house. Nine. Kilometres.

I mean, I always knew we lived close to downtown Ottawa. I always knew Parliament Hill was nearby. But 9K – that’s pretty cool.

I realize there are Canadians who will never make it to our capital, to the Peace Tower, to the iconic spot pictured above, and I just get to roll out of bed at 6:20, tie on my running shoes, jog 100 or 200 metres to the Ottawa River, run east for 50 minutes and, voila, there I am.

Pretty amazing.

Also pretty amazing that for the entire way there I pretty much had the city to myself – the Ottawa River pathway, anyway. I just ran along the river with birds signing and the sun rising and it was me, alone with my thoughts.

And, add to that, I was running downtown, alone, while the streetlights were still on and I felt – and was – perfectly safe.

It’s a good, good life we live here in our country, and I am a lucky, lucky person.

Time to share that luck, methinks. I always try to do as much as I can, but maybe it’s time to try a little more.