I lift my chin up to catch the lightly falling rain fully on my face as I jog the last 50 metres to my house, throwing my arms high and wide in an exclamation of sorts.
It’s the cusp of September, the cool weather already working like an eraser on the memory of long hot runs in the unfamiliar towns and fields of our summer holiday. The rain feels like a baptism of sorts.
I’m ready for school to resume (although my daughter isn’t) and for work to return to the familiar rhythm with all hands on deck – and ready to find out if I will make it to the start line of the Oct. 11 marathon.
The big unknown for me training in the summer is the weeks we’re away camping. Camping is about fun, not schedules. Swimming. Ice cream. Frosty beers. Jiffy Pop over the late night campfires.
You don’t see brochures with photos of people tiptoe-ing around their campsite at 6 am, trying to soundlessly eat breakfast (why do cereal box liners crackle like gunfire?) so as not to wake their husband and daughter and to slip away for a two or three-hour run before the temperatures climb to 37C.
But for every hour I sacrificed time with my family, I discovered a new trail along a river or a ridge where the views were an unexpected reward.
A view of the Snake River, Idaho.
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A variety of trails were accessible from our campground in Hell's Canyon State Park along the Snake River, even if I did have to pick tumbleweeds off the trail.
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Trail beside Payette Lake in the mountains of Idaho where the altitude brought cool relief in the evenings.
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If you run far enough, you're rewarded with discoveries like a boardwalk trail through a meadow, here outside Payette Lake, Idaho
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Along the way, I met families on trail rides, friendly farmers who let me fill my water bottles at their houses, local hikers who took my photo and the odd animal or two. It’s helpful to know what different animal scat looks like when you’re kilometres away from your camp on a trail.
The trail along the river in Kettle Valley Provincial Park, two weeks before a wildfire forced a sudden evacuation of the campground
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Sometimes, all there is for a running route is a shoulderless highway and hills but the view here in the Nicola Valley outside Merritt is a worthy distraction
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After running up the hills from the lakeside campground in the Okanagan, it's time to descend after enjoying the view
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So can you train for a marathon and enjoy your summer? Of course you can, you just have to be able to balance your beverage with your goals. Spillage is so sad.
Hell's Canyon State Park, Idaho before the temperatures rose to 37+C.
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With thanks to my understanding family who are supporting me on this quest.
