Cross Country Tour -- Part 3

They say that Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene is 700km wide. That’s huge. We’ve got the hem of her cloud skirt over us now, but we’ve barely had any rain, and the winds haven't gotten over 40km/h yet. We’re supposed to get some more intense weather overnight, but the worst of it is tracking far inland, up through Quebec. Looks like we dodged this one – although Tropical Storm Jose is brewing off the coast of Bermuda right now and tracking our way...

Despite the threat of dramatic weather, today was perfect for running – overcast with a cool breeze. I was able to get an easy one in with J-A in the morning and then a faster one (4:03/k for 10.4km) in the afternoon on my own. I’ve been battling my hip injury for five weeks now. I think it’s getting better finally (fingers crossed), but my mileage has tanked, and I haven’t run a hard workout in over a month. I’m starting to go a bit squirrely. I wanna run hard – but I wanna get to the line healthy for Rum Runners and for the PEI Half Marathon. Ack!

After a few massage sessions with Monica at the Tower Life Mark (she’s the best I’ve seen by far!), I’ve discovered that the main problem is with my gluteus medius (glute meed to those in the know). It’s strained or tight or whatever and causing a cascade of problems – IT band, quads, and lower back. But them’s the breaks – I just have to run easy, stretch it out, and roll it while lying on a tennis ball. Fun.


In the meantime, I’m going to do an update on my fabulous (virtual) cross-country running tour. When last I checked how far across Canada my yearly mileage has gotten me, I was in Thessalon, ON, just south of Sault Ste. Marie. My grand mileage total is now 2620.7km, which puts me in (drum roll) – Lake Superior Provincial Park.


I’m on the shores of Gitchi Gumi, the largest freshwater lake on the planet.


The star attraction of this park – other than the intensely beautiful scenery – is Agawa Rock and the ochre pictographs that are painted all over its face just above the water line. Ojibway shamans and warriors have been coming to this rock to paint their dreams for millennia. It’s a place I’ve been dying to see for years – too bad this tour is virtual!


The picture above is of the great lynx that dwells in the lake and pulls the unlucky down into the murky depths. His name isn’t supposed to be spoken in summer – only in winter when most waters are frozen over. Look at the great cat’s spine – the angry chop of stormy Superior waters. Those waters can easily turn fatal.

Perhaps I’d do well to respect Tropical Storm Irene. We may only get brushed by the hem of her skirt – but what a skirt!