Running out of the Passage

This past Friday my husband and I decided to take the day off work to celebrate our anniversary. To me that meant an opportunity to get a long run in before we spent the rest of the day together. So, after sleeping into 6:30 (hey, I've got a 2 year old) I got up and decided to "just go" and run until I hit 20km. So, off I went, down Cow Bay Road, following the stream of cars on their way to work. The Passage was still in its early morning quiet mode-even with the traffic lined up at the Tim Hortons for coffee. It was so nice just to get into my own head running along the shore. As I went down Pleasant street I cut down to the trail the goes behind the old value Village-now Farmers Market. I was pleasantly surprised to see the graffiti artists have been busy there, creating some rather beautiful works of art. Some look straight out of a graphic novel, other look like they belong on canvas in an art gallery-really something to see! I was staring so hard at them that I nearly ran right off the trail. After that I had a steep hill to climb before passing in front of my workplace before crossing the bridge. As I ran across the bridge I noticed that I was running only slightly slower than the rush hour crawl the cars were doing. Now I was in full rush hour craziness. It definitely woke me up from the sleepy quiet of the Passage. I ran down Barrington Street, figuring that it was probably 4km to the Superstore. Not even close. As I breezed by the buildings and came to Scotia Square I still had 3km left to go, and as I reached the Superstore I still had another 2km left. So, I ran down to the waterfront, still 1km left. Some people might have just packed it in then and hopped on the ferry back home, but no, I came this far and darn it I was going to finish that entire 20km! So, up and down the streets I went working in that last 1km until I finally heard my iPod say, Congratulations you've finished your 20km run! All I could think was "thank god!" as I pressed "end workout" on my iPod.
It was a neat way to see the Passage, Dartmouth and Halifax wake up. I don't think I'd do that route every time I have 20kms to run, but if I have the time I'll try it again.