I like to make sure that leading up to the week of Christmas and New Year, I’m in a good groove with my running.  Sure, you can wait until January 1st but by that time you have already dug yourself into a bit of a hole, or deficit of healthy living.  Much better to have some psychological momentum before holiday excesses lead to post-holiday resolutions and regret.  One way to find the time to run during this busy period is to shop on the run.

My run today was six miles.  My first stop was my husband’s workplace to pick up my Metropass.  He walked to work and forgot to leave my pass.  That done, I headed to Gwartzman’s art supply store at 448 Spadina Avenue just south of College, a veritable institution which I first visited in the mid-seventies while studying art.  It hasn’t changed much since then but I did find all kinds of stocking stuffers and small gifts which I packed into my large MEC fanny pack.

From there I ran to Kensington Market to visit Wanda’s Pie in the Sky cafe on Augusta just south of College.  An Aunt had told me that I could pick up a copy of “Just Add Shoyu” a Japanese Canadian Cookbook.  I had imagined a smaller book with a more flexible cover which would fit into my fanny pack so I had to run with the book in hand.  Which as it turned out was not all that difficult.  Wanda’s was very nicely decked out for the holidays.

On the way home, I crossed paths with a runner-friend going the opposite direction.  Jean is one of my role models, a vivacious, energetic 70 plus athlete with fabulous shoulders may I add, from her early years as a swimmer specializing in the butterfly.  She took up running in her early forties with the intention of improving her voice by increasing her stamina.  The rest is history as without much effort she regularly does well in her age group and continues to perform, every now and then.  In her younger years, she traveled with the opening act to the Great Speckled Bird with Ian and Sylvia Tyson.

We had a brief chat and she told me that she had just come from Trinity-Bellwoods Park to see the Toronto Maple Leafs practice.

Here are some ideas that may help to find enough time to run or can be done on your run.
1) Order a magazine subscription. Buy the current copy at a newstand if you will see the recipient in person. Order the subscription on-line.
2) Buy Swiss army knives at Mountain Equipment Coop. Easy to carry a lot of these in a fanny pack.
3) Gift certificate for Lee Valley Tools
4) Gift certificate for MEC
5) Run by your local Book City, it will be a lot quieter than a Chapters or Indigo. Phone ahead to make sure they have the books you want.

Happy last minute shopping!