Laying down the gauntlet

Running in Sydney involves hill training, whether you're interested in hill training or not, every single time (unlike Ottawa where we had to actively go looking for hills in order to get some hill training in). It's a killer. And it's probably why I only run on Saturdays and Sundays and why it usually takes me a really long time to 'prepare' for my runs. Preparing involves making sure I have the perfect music mix and my shoes are tied just so (sadly this can take a couple of tries to get it just right). But when I do finally make it out, I'm rewarded every time with some spectacular views.

Living by the beach in Sydney means living by the coastal walkway and what could be better than a run along the ocean. Here's my route, starting at our local beach:



a little off-trail running, Sydney-style:

Up one of many sets of stairs:

..and back on the walkway:





Made it to the next beach over and to my turnaround point:

Then turn around and head back to our beach. I'm not sure if you can spot them, but there were a ton of surfers in the water today - look for the little black flecks in the water.


And the music for my run today was indeed perfect. I used this playlist from Runner's World, prefaced by a couple of warm-up songs (Living Proof|Cat Power and On the Borderline|Sally Seltmann). The Runner's World mix has a great selection of fast-paced 90s grunge. If Prodigy yelling in your ears to "EXHALE" doesn't move those legs, I'm not sure what will.

OK - so here's a challenge for Michelle and anyone else out there who walks, runs or cycles. Take your camera with you next time you head out on your favourite route, take some pics of the highlights and then post them along with your fave music mix on your blog or on flickr or wherever and let me know about it in the comments or via e-mail and I'll post the link. It'll be fun and inspiring. Do it!

p.s.: the 'Tahs won on Friday night so they're moving on to the semi-finals!!!! GO THE 'TAHS!