new cold canadian experiences

i might have mentioned already, but the weather got really cold this week. i have worn my winter jacket all week (you might remember that this time last year i realised that there is more than one type of jacket...now i know the difference!). i went running twice this week. a very big achievement for three reasons
1) i have been slack and have not run since the half marathon (though i have been doing yoga once a week and i think i made one appearance at the gym...)
2) the weather sucked both times - which links to 3)
3) there was no way i would have gone out and ran in this weather last year...

the first time i went it was freakingly cold. i got warmed up after a few minutes, but my face nearly fell off because it was so cold. i wished i was wearing a balaclava. the second time, tonight with kathy, it was raining lightly when we left, but by the time we got home it was raining pretty bad. but it was a good run. though it was also weird because we went at 6pm, but it was already dark so we ran along the city streets, which was also a new experience.

while we were running, i saw a person, all huddled up in a bus shelter, that was obviously going to be home for the night. not the first time i've seen this. but with the turning of the weather, it means something more. homelessness is something that gets me in the guts, but homelessness in a toronto winter really makes me feel sick. when i think about what some go through in the winter, it makes any complaining that i do about the cold pretty pathetic. whatever my day holds, i have a roof over my head every night, in a home that has heating. i have food to eat, clean clothes to wear and a place where i can shower with warm clean water. i have so much. why do i complain?