My new favorite running spot.

I promise to keep this short and sweet. Really I just want to write about my new favorite running spot, and to post a heap of pictures of it. Last Monday I went out for a 10km run. I don't know my way around here yet, so I pick a direction and try to stick with so I don't get lost. I found a path along a tree lined road that seemed to gently slope down. I followed it for 3km, until I saw a park across the intersection. I crossed into the park and instantly fell in love. There was a paved path, that I think goes quite far in both directions, and lots of small dirt paths. The dirt paths are perfect for mountain biking and trail running. This place is called Bowmont Park and it runs all along the river.

This is the first picture I took upon entering the park

Once I started running through the park my pace decreased substantially, because I was more concerned with taking pictures. Every corner I turned the view was more spectacular than the one before. I am not a great photographer to begin with, but I only had my phone camera, so the pictures I took really do not do this place justice. I only ran 2km into the park, because I was continuing to go downhill and knew I had 5km to run back home.

If I were more eloquent with words I would happily describe the sounds I encountered on my run as well. The water babbling over the rocks, the soft whisper of the Aspen trees, the grass rustling in the breeze, and let's not forget the rattling snakes in the grass. Not rattle snakes, just noisy snakes and a lot of them. I actually went back on Saturday, and went off the paved path for a bit, but then after a snake brushed against my foot, I headed back to the pavement.

 My dear friend Colleen would love running here, and I wish she was here because it is a challenging run, and I could use her to push me along. The run back is much more difficult than the one into the park because those gentle sloping hills aren't so gentle when running up them for 5km. My legs were like jello when I arrived home yesterday, and my lower back has been hurting a great deal since. I'm sure it's just from running on an incline for such a distance. It is worth it though, and I am going to continue to run further into that park to see what more gorgeous views I can find.

 I really feel as though this pretty little place is all my own, and has been put here to rescue me, at least until it is too cold and snowy to run there anymore. 

 I took my family there today, and although it was cloudy and windy, and there were no snakes hissing in the grass they still enjoyed it. Well, the kids were a little disappointed not to see or hear any snakes. Maybe next time.

don't you just want to kiss that sweet face.

So it turns out there really are hills, trees and bodies of water in Calgary, at least in the NW.