Jurassic Jog

Distance : 10.75 mi (approx) 
Time 1:35:00 (approx)

An away run, we went to Drumheller, Alberta to visit the Royal Tyrell Museum and stand in awe of the era of dinosaurs.  The town has 2 claims to fame;

1. it is built on a bunch of dinosaur fossils
2. it houses Alberta's only federal penitentiary

We were there for the dinosaurs.

The run was pure, no watch, no GPS, no clear sense of the distance.  It was running by feel, running the way running was meant to be.  My Garmin was sitting on the kitchen counter at home where I left it when I neglected to pack it. It is amazing how used to the Garmin and how dependent on it you get.  Every once in a while everyone should ditch the techno gadgets and run by the seat of your pants. 

The run itself was COLD, the temp was –16 C (3 F) with the wind chill was –28 C (-19 F).  I started this cold lonely run at 7:00 AM (just before the sunrise) and ran an out and back route with the wind at my back on the way out.  This meant I was running into a strong head wind all the way back.  It means I was sweating like crazy on the way out and freezing my sensitive parts on the way back.  This resulted in a gentle warming regimen and a commitment to purchase wind proof undergarments.

The good news was that I was running away from the sunrise on the way out and into some gentle warming from the sun on the way back. 

It is a very cool route, the road winds through the outskirts of the town, some abandoned coal mines through the badlands and sort of parallels the river.  A very scenic run.  And then to top it off there are dino replicas along the run.  Kind of hoaky but makes for an interesting run.

One of the cool things that I saw was the giant T-Rex wearing those famous red Olympic mittens. I thought that was a great display of support for our Canadian athletes.

All in all, despite my griping and frozen parts, a good run.

Plod On