Last night was a great night for a run. The temperature reached a balmy high of minus 1C and stayed no lower than -5C in the evening. This was a great recipe for a fantastic run in the making.
After work, I quickly swung by a pub and made a brief appearance at a colleague's farewell bash. The bash was well attended. Because I wanted to make the last train, I stayed for 45 minutes - just enough time to enjoy a mug of hot chocolate. Other coworkers wanted to also leave early so three of us made our way down to Union Station for our respective trains.
I was very early for the train and Manley was not sitting in the lounge so I went up to the platform and made my way to the cab car where he was lounging and reading a book as he waited for the conductor to arrive. One knock on the window and I was onboard the train where we killed time by shooting the breeze and texting our buddy Dave. We even did a mean rendition of the Pink Panther as we waited for the conductor to slowly make his way to the engine to perform the brake test. Manley told me that next week, he will be travelling to Boise, Idaho on company business. His job is to go down and give the locomotive manufacturers feedback on the new engines. The first thing I told him to do was to complain about the steps and the door. Manley informed me that the doors and steps to the engine will not change because the manufacturers were interested in making it as European as possible. I fondly recalled climbing up those steps and holding on for dear life on Christmas Eve under Dave's watchful eye. It's a good thing I wasn't caught scaling those steps by the big bosses... haha... Dave promised me that the next time I scale those steps, I will have a photo taken. Throughout the trip, Manley taught me some stuff about the railroad. I was educated on how the signals at railway crossings are tripped, and how to read signals on the track. He also gave me pep talk about life in general. He is very intuitive and is always willing to lend you an ear and some advice to go along with it.
After I got home, I quickly changed into my running gear and made my way out the door. I stuck to the sidewalks because I did not want to risk it running the side streets with low lighting on the road. The sidewalks were still covered with some snow and it was slushy in a few spots. I made my way through the local neighbourhoods in my area. I was actually feeling a little hot but I was ok for much of the run. As a matter of fact, I was feeling quite strong. I have been continuously amazed at how I have come along with my running over the past couple of years. This (accomplishment) is something I will definitely treasure for a long time to come. I believe I spent just over an hour on the run. The total distance roughly measured on GMaps is 9km. Except for the one big hill, it was pretty quick, given the conditions. Upon my return home, I went through the ritual of prepping for the next work day.
After work, I quickly swung by a pub and made a brief appearance at a colleague's farewell bash. The bash was well attended. Because I wanted to make the last train, I stayed for 45 minutes - just enough time to enjoy a mug of hot chocolate. Other coworkers wanted to also leave early so three of us made our way down to Union Station for our respective trains.
I was very early for the train and Manley was not sitting in the lounge so I went up to the platform and made my way to the cab car where he was lounging and reading a book as he waited for the conductor to arrive. One knock on the window and I was onboard the train where we killed time by shooting the breeze and texting our buddy Dave. We even did a mean rendition of the Pink Panther as we waited for the conductor to slowly make his way to the engine to perform the brake test. Manley told me that next week, he will be travelling to Boise, Idaho on company business. His job is to go down and give the locomotive manufacturers feedback on the new engines. The first thing I told him to do was to complain about the steps and the door. Manley informed me that the doors and steps to the engine will not change because the manufacturers were interested in making it as European as possible. I fondly recalled climbing up those steps and holding on for dear life on Christmas Eve under Dave's watchful eye. It's a good thing I wasn't caught scaling those steps by the big bosses... haha... Dave promised me that the next time I scale those steps, I will have a photo taken. Throughout the trip, Manley taught me some stuff about the railroad. I was educated on how the signals at railway crossings are tripped, and how to read signals on the track. He also gave me pep talk about life in general. He is very intuitive and is always willing to lend you an ear and some advice to go along with it.
After I got home, I quickly changed into my running gear and made my way out the door. I stuck to the sidewalks because I did not want to risk it running the side streets with low lighting on the road. The sidewalks were still covered with some snow and it was slushy in a few spots. I made my way through the local neighbourhoods in my area. I was actually feeling a little hot but I was ok for much of the run. As a matter of fact, I was feeling quite strong. I have been continuously amazed at how I have come along with my running over the past couple of years. This (accomplishment) is something I will definitely treasure for a long time to come. I believe I spent just over an hour on the run. The total distance roughly measured on GMaps is 9km. Except for the one big hill, it was pretty quick, given the conditions. Upon my return home, I went through the ritual of prepping for the next work day.
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