Rained on but a little more Canadian!

So I am getting ready for a run. The southern view out my window looks beautiful and the air is pretty warm even late into the day. A rarity in Victoria. So, I lace up the runners, strap on the HRM and I am off. I hit the front door of my building and it is worth noting I am now facing north. A whole different view. After a moment or two of "Should I really be doing this?" I swallow the fact that I am probably going to get wet. I am not going to melt so I head out anyway. For those of you who don't live in Victoria, it can be a wet place to live. It's no Vancouver or Seattle, but most of November, December and January can get pretty rainy. I remember many nights heading out for a run in the rain, soaked through fairly quickly and having to mutter the mantra "It this was easy, everyone would be doing it!" That had a nice ring to it then, and I caught myself smiling as I said it out loud again today as the rain started to fall. If this was easy, everyone would be doing it!

I will say I must be doing something right because I ran past Jasper Blake on my run. We were going in opposite directions for the record so no, I did not run faster than a Ironman champion two weeks before our race. It is so inspiring to be out and have the professionals running the same streets as you are. And, if Jasper is out in the rain, why aren't I!?

Today was also a monumental day in my life as well. I have lived in Canada for just over 4 years and in all that time there is one thing I had yet to do, until today. One thing that took courage, preparation, knowledge and tact in order to complete successfully. Today I used the word "eh" publicly for the first time! Now you Americans might laugh at that, but it was my goal to use it CORRECTLY rather than tagged on the end of every sentence like some Americans do to try and make fun of Canadians. Yes Canadians you do say it. If you are my in-laws you might use the variation "hey" rather then the strait ahead "eh". Either way, it's out there. It gets used. But, there is a strict code of when it is appropriate and when you just sound dumb. Today, I think I passed!

It was nasty out, I was drenched and the rain was still coming down hard. About a block away, I saw him coming, my target. Over the past few years I have attempted this three times and was spoiled by my target's nearly invisible headphones, blocking our momentary interaction. Not today. Today was my day. As he approached I took a deep breath, rehearsed the line one last time and let it fly.

"Great day to be out for a run eh?"

I waited for a reaction.... was it going to pass? was it going to elicit that blank stare received when some cleaver American says something like "Hi, eh?".... I waited...

"It just doesn't get any better than this does it?" he replied with a smile.

It was official. I am now just a little more Canadian!