This morning I went for a run before work.
Since arriving I haven’t been doing much exercise beyond walking everywhere. Although I’ve probably done many miles of that … hmm … I should get a pedometer out of interest, I walk way more at work here, being that there’s more territory to cover & we don’t sit at the Information desk, we stand. Oh Cloverdale circulation desk staff, how I have come to know thee! Also the 25/30 min walk to the train station helps & the various beach walks & walks to the local shops, etc. etc. Actually I highly recommend walking lots … I think I’ve lost weight since I came here, despite not training and eating like each meal will be my last … oh, & Tim Tams, enough said.
Last week I was able to find someone to show me where the showers are (yay, showers in the building!) and how to get to some running trails. It turns out there’s beautiful trails right out the back door … so Monday I caught the 6:05 train & made it to work by 7:45 & tried a run. Awesome … running around the Sydney Opera House before work in the morning is a tad surreal!
Anyway, so I thought I’d try it again this morning. Here’s a tour of the morning run via IPod:
“Jump around” House of Pain
How lovely to start a morning run with “our” song. It was the first song Brian & I ever danced to & he loaded it on my IPod especially for me. With romantic lyrics like “I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe, If your girl steps up, I'm smacking the ho” how could you go wrong!
So I leave the library to a cool but sunny morning. I cross the road into the Domain. This is the open field part of the Royal Botanical Gardens http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Every day at lunch it’s packed with people playing soccer & rugby, boxing, running, walking, yoga, etc. This is part of the Central business district of Sydney, so all these people are the ones you see rushing around in business suits the rest of the day. I swear half the population of downtown gets out & does some exercise at lunch. It’s common while standing at a pedestrian crossing to have someone in a business suit yakking on a cellphone on one side & a sweaty panter on the other, running in place waiting for the light to change.
OK … across the Domain & turn left to the overpass over the road to more of the gardens.
“Low” Flo Rida
… shorty got low, low, lo … Oops, sorry Mr. Rida I have to put you on pause. There’s a tow truck driver pulled over to the side of the path & he’s playing his saxophone. Live music trumps all. Cool … now shorty may continue getting low as I run towards the water.
“Dirty deeds done dirt cheap” AC/DC
Cheeky IPod … throwing in a tribute to an Aussie band as I run along the water in the other direction from the Opera House. Oh, look it’s the outdoor pool I heard about. The Andrew (Boy) Charlton Swimming Pool, an eight lane outdoor heated saltwater 50 metre pool. Woo hoo … right near work, I’m in heaven!
“The crunge” Led Zeppelin
Starting on Mrs. MacQuarie’s Bushland Walk … cute name, nice path, cool song.
"Recent stranger" Crop Circle
How appropriate to play a song by the hard-working quartet from the Lower Mainland after such a classic. I must admit, despite the horrendous beard, I have a major crush on their guitar player.
As I'm running up a set of stairs to the Domain surrounded by well-coiffed, well-dressed worker bees on their way to work I spy a homeless man sleeping over by the wall. A bit if a reminder of home ... although they definitely have homeless people here in Sydney, you don't see them any where near as often as in Vancouver.
“Breathe” Prodigy
Faster song – time to speed up! Arriving at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which is across the Domain from my library. Check my cell, darn I’ve only been running for around 20 min. Ok once around the Domain.
Random techno song from the Beats by Dope Demand CD
Back over the bridge to the gardens.
Random hip-hop song by Jay-Z, where he throws out a lot of brand names; Vuitton, Manolo, Steve Madden, etc.
Time to try the stairs I ran up Monday. Four levels of fun ...omigosh, I'm sucking wind major. Hmm... I need a better song. Ok, down the path for another run at the stairs.
"We are the champions" Queen
Yesss, IPod, you are prescient. Starting out slow, but by the time we're on the fourth tier ... we ARE the champions, you & me IPod, we kick ass ... woo hoo ... OK ... I'm a total geek, but man, I feel pretty cool for just a moment!
"Shut up & dance" Aerosmith
Lovely way to run back over to the Domain & into the loading bay back door of the library ...
Sorry Jimi, we shall discuss Crosstown traffic next run. It's off to work I go ... until next time IPod ... thank you my dear motivator!
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