The trail

It looked nice enough out today. It was sunny, blue skies. But also, very windy (the gusts at 60km/h), kinda cold (the temperature -3, -13 with windchill) and very lazy (the human had had spent the afternoon watching TV).

But I hit the road anyways. 6K at a brisk pace.

For the first kilometre and a half, I thought I had the trail to myself. I've run it countless times, in the spring when the cyclists join the path, in the summer when the walkers join the parade, and in the fall when the last games of baseball are being played in the diamonds. Winter is my favourite, because it's when you feel the loniest, and also pretend you're the king of the road. Nothing but the long shadow of my running form on the path, cast by the setting sun. I hear my every breath, my thoughts and breathing trapped by the tight headgear. Freedom. Cold. Cruel. Fun.

And so, at about 1.5 km, while contemplating how I owned this trail, off in a distance, I see another runner coming toward me. We nodded. Then, about 300 metres onward, another two. As I got to the top of the stairs at the halfway point, and felt the wind pushing me home, I saw another. And one more by the last kilometre.

Not my trail, as it turns out. Our trail. A runner's trail.

Weekly total: 41.5K

Year to date: 82.5K