I could get used to this

Picture it: Southern Ontario in early June, temperature in the 60s (that's the high teens for you Canadians), and nary a percentage of humidity to be felt.

[Yes, I watch a lot of Golden Girls reruns]

Okay, admittedly there is a wee bit of humidity, but we're talking under 50% here.  That doesn't really count.  Not to mention that these weather conditions were found in the mid-afternoon, a time when you could not pay me money to go run in Florida at this time of year.  I could certainly get used to this.  Except that I am going back to Florida in a few days, so I am trying not to get too used to it.

I went running along the Walter Bean Grand River Trail, which is conveniently located not too far from my house and is very nice.  This whole area has been developed over the past 10 years or so and they have done a very nice job.  Some of the trail went by a golf course, and there was a part near a Mennonite farm that smelled like summer sausage (signs that you are in the Kitchener-Waterloo region include...).  Also, a gaggle of geese hissed at me as I crossed them and their goslings on the trail.  I will take that over alligators, although admittedly the geese were a bit scary.

I have had a few realizations about running lately. One of them is that I am kind of burned out from it.  That would make sense because I had done so many races in the past couple of years, many of which were long and required considerable training.  I did put in for the lottery to the NYC Marathon, although I figured (rightly) that I would not make it.  That's okay.  In this case, fourth time is the charm, because if you try to get in for three years and don't make it, you have an automatic entry for the fourth year.  So I was mostly just keeping my spot open.

The downside of this is that I am not sure what is coming up next on my schedule, because I am in the process of some potentially life-changing stuff happening.  So I don't feel comfortable planning for things quite yet.  I would like to do the Aching Quad, which is put on by the Lakeland Runners Club and consists of four races in two days (they are all 5k or under).  It's something quirky and could be fun.  I am also signed up for lots of 5k-esque races through the summer, including two more Picnic Island Adventure races and three more of the Summer Sunrise Watermelon Series, which I did in 2010.  I missed the first one of these, but I will make the remaining ones.

Now, if I were still a sane person (e.g., not a runner), I would probably think that five 5k-esque races is plenty.  But there is nothing big on the horizon.  There is no point in training for these in terms of performance because the weather conditions will make it too challenging to break any personal records, which is okay--at least it keeps me running.  I feel like it would be easier to get back on schedule, though, if I had a schedule.  Hopefully things will start sorting themselves out soon.

Now if running were more like here all the time, it would probably be easier too.  At least I can enjoy it while I am here!