Running goes Green

I've always been a sprinter. In high school I brought home gold after gold at up to a provincial level for the 100m, 200m, Hurdles and Long Jump. The lack of modesty here is because this is due simply to genetics: I never really trained for it; by some strange coincidence I'm just built for speed - I take no credit! (; I gave up the dream when given the choice to pursue an Olympic career with a professional trainer and, honestly, I've never regretted it.

All this being said I've always wished I could be one of those people who could a) run endlessly and b) still look (offensively, illogically) perfect. You know the ones I'm talking about - how could they get tired when their feet don't touch the ground? Surely their hair never slips out of it's elastic, like mine does, and surely their earphones stay perfectly in place. When I run I look like a disaster ready to happen as I scramble for my scrunchies and iBuds, but I hope people can tell that I mean well (;

As a part of my fitness kick I decided to start incorporating long runs in addition to my Pilates and other cardio activities. I would shuffle to the gym, hop onto a treadmill for a boring, miserable hour and shuffle home. My loves, the time has come for a change!

Let me begin by saying that I live in what is essentially a natural park. My small French town used to be an enormous orchard and in the summer it is almost overwhelmingly green. This week, for the first time -ever-, I decided to run outside. The novelty! I immediately realized that it is much harder to run uphill for an hour on pavement than a flat treadmill but the payoff is outstanding. I got to take in some sun, some absolutely beautiful nature and even decided to extend my journey mid-jog so that I could run by some of my favorite places. I've done this twice now and will continue to run the 4-mile path every other day.

To all of you gym-runners, I encourage you to take a peek at what you're missing outside! I've never taken the time to really appreciate how gorgeous the Montreal summer really is. Take your cardio back to nature and I guarantee you won't look back.

Happy Trails!
<3 Miss