Urban Running

Okay... fun new sport for the occasional work-out. Because I'm taking the afternoon off and our HRM system doesn't allow us to input 1/2 vacation days, I decided to come in at the butt-crack of dawn (pre-dawn, really), work for a bit, take an exercise "lunch" break, then work again until noon.

Well, it is such a beautiful day and the morning was such that I didn't feel like doing the elliptical machine. So I took my key card to the building, headed out the front door onto a quiet Main Street at 7 a.m., and took a 30-minute run! My route took me up Main Street across the plaza in front of the Salt Lake Temple, up North Temple past the Church Office Building, up a KILLER hill, then along 2nd Ave (my favorite part of the run) to "I" Street. At that mid-point, I headed back south to South Temple, down past the Governor's Mansion--

--to 2nd East, over to 2nd South, and then down to my starting point. It was a total of 19 city blocks or about 2.4 miles. I wasn't going for speed, as such isn't my intent--and I was reassured of that when a die hard runner passed me in front of the Cathederal of the Madeline like I was standing still--but that 30 minutes was such a fun way to start the day.

It's a bit ironic that I'm saying all of this. I used to see people running through the city and think, and even say outloud, "Who are they kidding? What a silly place to run." Well, I'm a new convert... if one goes early enough and incorporates a bit of the urban residential area (like the Avenues--again, LOVED that part; what charm), it's actually an enjoyable, ever-changing terrain with a plethora of sensory appeal.