Running around the world by kparnell

This week I am in Canada on business - its very cold! My first run was in Montreal at 6am. I ran from my hotel to the river to watch the sun rise dodging the frozen puddles and construction vehicles. This was my first time in Montreal and I was surprised just how much French iss spoken and written here. All of the road signs, menus etc were primarily in French so it was a good time to brush up on my rusty school girl French. It’s surprising how quickly it floods back.

I’m now in Ottawa and its even colder - it was about minus 8 last night and in the early hours it started to snow. I went for a brisk 2.5km run this morning and needless to say I was the only runner out there. I was really impressed with my Mizuno Wave Ascends as they kept my feet toasty warm and steady on the 3 inches of snow. Unlike the UK the guys here clear the paths and roads with military precision. Thee are even mini-snow ploughs to clear the path. Everyone has snow tyres so now snow days here! Even the cyclists took everything in their stride. It’s strange but both here and  in Boston  there are lots of 1980’s steel road / racing bikes with the old friction shifting gears. I must admit I think they look pretty cool and I invested in a 1981 Raleigh Ebony ladies road bike in the summer - its so much fun! My only disappointment is that my Nike plus watch with GPS did not get lock through the dense cloud cover so only logged a time and distance with no gps data for the online map application. I do like this feature so show exactly where I’ve been in the world.

This entry finds me in Israel - well Haifa to be exact. I was looking forward to this business trip as I thought it would be good to get some summer sun in before Christmas - after all Israel has just seen several years of draught so sun was guaranteed?  When we flew in the lightning  was spectacular and was followed by a mild rainy spell. The afternoon cleared a little and the sun came out. I had to go to a meeting but before I went I watched a few swimmers enjoying the calm seas behind the man made beach defences. Being a keen swimmer I promised my self a dip the next day. Unfortunately the storm came back with a vengeance . The lightning was amazing and lasted for many hours. I’ve never seen a storm stay in one place for so long. The rain continued to beat down all night. When I got up and looked out over the beach the waves were breaking over the beach defences. The storm must have been severe as some of the large rocks protecting the beach had be dislodged. Needless to say the sea was now too dangerous to swim in and to add to that the wind was now very strong.

So the fall back position was a beach front run. It was a little tough as the wind was so strong but the ozone smell of the sea made up for it. The promenade was deserted apart from a few dog walkers. It must be a great place to come in the summer with lots of beach front bars and even some metal out door gym equipment. If only they did these in the UK. I got to the end of the prom and decided that even if I could not swim in the sea at least I could touch it. I ventured down to the water and past some unusual seagulls - they were black and grey! I touched the sea and drenched my trainers and headed back to the prom. In the distance I could see the Israeli Google HQ - how bizarre!

I headed back to the hotel and was treated to a small glimpse of the sun coming out from behind the ominous black rain clouds. I noticed that someone had put out some newspapers under some rocks in an under cover seating area. Perhaps for the locals to read whilst they sat looking at the sea? Nice touch if it was.

A great way to start the day. Makes you feel truly alive.

So this time I'm running in Sommerville, Cambridge, Massachusetts - just outside of Boston. What a great place the Boston area is - great fish and seafood (especially the lobster) and great micro brewery beers! (more about that later...).

I was in the Boston area on business last week so as usual as I was away over the weekend I looked for a running race or triathlon and stumbled on this great race. It's a 5k road race around the streets of Somrerville to raise money for the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Great charity and great race. http://somervillehomelesscoalition.org/events/roadrace/

The people back home in the UK were experiencing a heat wave whilst the streets of Somerville were wet and slightly cold. There were around 800 runners ranging from college student and first timers to those that turned up from a great night out in their finest garb and walking shoes! Needless to say they did not make it round.

The race started behind a police car with flashing lights and sirens blazing to clear the streets ahead. It was interesting to see how the traffic stopped when they saw the flashing lights! The course was "undullating" and quite tough in the pouring rain. Even though the roads were closed some cars made it through and had to weave their way through the runners.

It was good to see the end and in true US style the finnishers were met with water, energy drinks and bars, bananas and the finest bacon and egg "brunch". So much food. All of which I could not enjoy as I had to catch a taxi to make it back to the hotel in time for a morning meeting to discuss the actions from the week before. Ah well - no rest for the wicked!

Whilst waiting for the race to start I did grab a coffee in a local coffee shop and read a paper advertising "Brew at the Zoo" - a beer festival at Boston zoo of all things. So later that day we went and had a few local micro brewery beers at the zoo whilst watching some very bemused buzzards, hippos, gorillas and snakes - a totally random and enjoyable day in the Boston area.

This installment comes from the UK but I must admit it was like another world!

This was the inaugural running of this event and was billed as a "fun" event. It took place yesterday (26th June 2011).

It was set in the Lee Valley Country Park in Hertfordshire which is now the home of the Olympic white water rafting venue. The venue was fantastic!

The first wave of competitors set off at 9.30am but I must admit it was a little late as it was 28C on the run.

This was a team event - teams of two women - so I ran it with my friend from the triathlon club, Fiona.

We watched the course being set out and could only guess what was ahead!

We set off on a lovely run around the park over grass, trail and path. I would really recommend the park as a great place to run with many lakes, trees and scenic routes.

After 6 km we were faced with a press ups, sit ups and then a three legged race. After that another 4km run to the white water rafting centre where we took on a little kayaking challange. This was great fun! Good to get a little wet after a gruelling run.

We then had another 1.5km run back to the main event field and were face with lots of random activities including planks across islands, shuffle board walk, bike obstable course, climbing wall, climbing slide, inflatable obstacle course and rope net crawl.

It was more like a military challange but instead of the tasks being camoflage they were in primary colours which made them easier - right?

Well I ache all over today but thoroughly enjoyed such a random event. I hope they run it again next year! (if they do I will train harder before hand). Thanks to Fiona for waiting for me most of the way round!