Cross-country smell

This week, a wonderful thing happened. I smelled cross-country smell for the first time this year. You may know cross-country smell as the smell of fall - that combination of crisp air, damp leaves, and something unidentifiable that's sort of burnt and sweet. I will always associate that scent with the start of the cross-country season, those first September trail runs with the team. And it brings me that nostalgic shiver of joy that only a familiar smell can.

Fall is my favourite. Fall means cute boots, scarves and jackets, Starbucks pumpkin scones, falling asleep bundled up with the windows open, new TV seasons, Thanksgiving stuffing, breathtaking Gatineau hikes, and school supply shopping (yep). It becomes socially-acceptable to start looking forward to Christmas. It's gorgeous out and I'm not allergic to everything. I can't think of anything to dislike about fall, I really can't. Ok maybe the shorter days. But that's all I've got.

I have been very wrapped up in "training". These words like mileage, fueling, pacing, splits, intervals, hill repeats, recovery, and tapering are now overused in my vocabulary. A few months ago I was engrossed in every book, article and conversation I could find about training for a marathon. But, in the past week, I'm just not feeling so into it. I quickly shift to a new subject when people ask about the upcoming marathon, and I've moved on to other literary interests. I've avoided blogging this week. I thought maybe I was starting to get sick of running.

But I've realized that I'm just sick of obsessing about running. Earlier this week I threw on an old purple Western XC tshirt and set out just as the sun was starting to go down. I left the GPS watch and FuelBelt at home. It felt so great to just be out there on a crisp fall evening, moving. Breathing. Running is still just running, and I love running. I just needed to stop and smell the cross-country.

Week 12 Recap:

M: 12k + weights/core 
TU: 10k (track - 800 straightaways, 2 x1k, 4 x500, 2 x 1k)
W: 8k + core class
TH: 34k
F: off
SA: off
SU: 13k

Week total: approx. 77k