Winter Running in Saskatchewan - A True Test of Commitment!

Despite the frosty weather, Uncle Bob was happy to join me for the Hypothermic Half. Here's what he has to say about his experience:

Mornings. Winter. Running early.

Three of my most hated things in the world. So it must be a strong testament of how highly I think of Janaya as I report about running the Hypothermic Half Marathon on a Sunday morning in February. Truth be told, I was happy to join her for the run to support her worthy cause.

When I read her first blog posting about her running endeavor, I was impressed with her undertaking. She had included an invitation for a show of support for anyone to join her at any point during the year and that is when I first thought about doing so. 

I had started running again that summer after a far-too-long hiatus from it and thought that it would give me a goal to strive toward. And that it did! I increased my daily runs after Christmas to ensure that I would be able to finish/keep up and, sure enough, I finished it and lived to tell the tale.

It was a great way to mark my 8 month return to running. I didn't finish first, but we didn't finish last either. We decided to run together for as long as we could, but agreed that if one of us wanted to go faster, to feel free to do so. It was nice to find that we ran at the same pace and were able to keep each other motivated all the way to the end.

As we came to the finish line, I remember Janaya grabbing my hand and saying, "Let's go for it!" and so we did. It was great to see my nephew with his boys Owen and Myles at the finish line taking pictures and giving high fives all around. What also helped me during the run was knowing that a week from that date, I would be spending a week on a warm holiday in Mexico and so, when I got too cold, I focused on that!

It was a real privilege to share this experience with Janaya. Thank you for including me in your worthy cause!

(After doing this run with Janaya, I *think* that I have stopped my habit of singing along with my ipod as I run. At least, I sure HOPE that I have! The things you learn about yourself when running with someone else after training alone! Haha!)

Thanks Unk! I think we should plan our next run together for somewhere with great weather.....maybe we should do one of the Rock 'n Roll Marathon series where THEY provide the tunes!