Is that bear in the woods wearing Nikes?

Practice makes perfect right?

Right!

That’s why in an effort to attain my goal of running a “fun” fall marathon, I’ve spent the past summer intently focused on having a good time. You know, weekly wine-filled barbeques, serious pool-side lounging, time away at a cottage, international travel, playing with the kids, listening to Shakira – 24/7…That kind of thing.

But here’s the FUNny thing. Amongst all this pleasure seeking I’ve kept up the running. Admittedly, I’ve missed a lot of sessions with my running group and haven’t always gone as hard core as Dr. Stevil’s plan calls for. But I’m getting it done.

The Becky Gardiner of my Couch Potato past would have a called it quits sometime in June, when a seven-day trip for a friend’s wedding resulted in a 7-pound weight gain (who knew that was even possible???). But I’ve pushed on and — shock of all shocks — running has actually been, well, fun.

A few highlights:
– Being frantically stopped by a trucker whilst running in cottage country after unknowingly running within 10 meters of a passing bear. The bear didn’t stop…he must have been doing his fartleks.
– Running through beautiful Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London, England (despite my eagle eyes, did not see Will or Kate, but did see a corgi with big ears).
– Just days later, pushing my way through a herd of cows (one of which had scary horns) to get off a bridge over the Cam river in picture-perfect Cambridge
– Running from sunny Mississauga, Ontario to Toronto’s CN Tower with the bad-asses just so we could pack all the calories back in for an annual downtown brunch tradition.
– Coming second in an important international race [see pic]

So it looks like I’m on track to finish and finish happy. I’m good with that. That said, with the cooler temperatures of fall and my daily routine coming back into focus, pushing it a bit in the next two-months of training seems inevitable. Stevil’s got some hard-core interval and track workouts in the line-up and I’m swearing off gelato in honour of “operation button up my pants” so who knows what could happen?

Kenyan women just filled the podium in both the Marathon and the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in South Korea, so the title of this blog (‘Couch to Kenyan’ for those not paying attention) still means something. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll leave room for a wannabe in New York – especially if I bring my new friend, the bear.

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