Run 934: Suggested workout

View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. Cloudy, but mild.

This was a weird one.

My Garmin Forerunner 255 has an option called Suggested Workout where it will…suggest a workout when you start an activity. I have this set to on, because I’m curious what the machine thinks I should be doing. I always dismiss it and run my usual 5K, but this morning, I decided to follow the suggested workout:

8.5 km/h for 35 minutes

This works out to an average pace of just over 7 minutes/km, which is significantly slower than my usual pace.

I started out a few hours later than usual, to hopefully avoid showers in the morning. That part worked, as it was actually mostly sunny for the run itself, but fortunately still with temperatures in the mid-teens.

As I started, I noted that the workout has its own display rather than the one I usually see, showing three things:

Current pace
Countdown timer
Distance

This was different, but OK. The countdown made it seem a little exciting. Only 30 minutes to go! Only ten minutes! Only 5!

But remember where I said 7 minutes/km is much slower than my usual pace? The first km, the watch kept scolding me: TOO FAST. It will let you get above the desired pace for a bit, but if you stay a certain level above the acceptable range for too long, you get the warning. When you drop back into the accepted range, the watch lets you know you have done this, then goes back to the regular countdown view.

Trying to maintain the same speed is hard. Trying to do it when on a trail that constantly twists, turns and dips adds to the challenge. Trying to do it when it’s so much slower than your usual pace is…aggravating.

But I persevered and for most of the rest of the way, the TOO FAST alarms didn’t pop up very often. When I got to the final km–where I usually apply the gas a bit–the warnings began popping up, and for the last 30 seconds or so I just ignored everything and ran.

When the countdown reached zero, I was told the workout was concluded, but the run keeps going after that until you end it. I ran just a bit farther to hit 5K and stopped.

I got a grade for my effort: 88%, which it deemed Good. If I had hewed closer to 8.5 km/h I would have rated higher. I was then asked to rate two aspects of the run:

  • The effort. I chose Light. I pondered briefly on Moderate, but Light was right, because I had to force myself repeatedly to run slower.
  • How I felt. I chose Strong, because the challenge was in not going too fast.

As you can see by the stats below, they are quite a bit outside the norm. My pace is 6:53/km (TOO FAST), which is over a minute slower than my previous run (5:46) and my BPM was a mere 141. No issues experienced on the run, of course, though I did have to dodge some glass on the trail around the 3K mark. Not sure what was up with that.

Overall, an interesting experiment, but one I am not eager to try again.

A chill pigeon at Piper Spit, post-run.

Stats:

Run 934
Average pace: 6:53/km
Training status: Maintaining
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:17 a.m.
Distance: 5.0 km
Time: 34:25
Weather: Partly sunny
Temp: 15-17°C
Humidity: 83-76%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 141
Weight: 167.2
Total distance to date: 6,505 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (100/210/310)

Music: Lifes Rich Pageant, R.E.M.

Windows 11: Making photo editing weirdly laggy since 2025

The other night I thought to myself that I’ve been taking photos with my new camera, but hardly ever post any of them. So I went through and tagged a bunch I took on Saturday and found I had 51 apparently worth considering. That’s way too many, but it was a starting point. I did the tagging in Linux Mint, but photo editing is still a bit iffy there, so I switched back to Windows 11 and my main photo editing software, Affinity Photo.

I edited one raw image of a barn swallow, then loaded a second image, of a house sparrow. After doing this, Windows 11 turned into this weird, laggy mess. The mouse cursor would slowly drift across the screen on its own, as if it weighed several tons, never fully stopping, never responding to any clicks, though I could get it to slowly move in other directions. The keyboard was also non-responsive, so I could not invoke task manager by using CTRL-ALT-DEL to see what program had gone rogue., or if it was Windows itself.

In the end, I rebooted the PC. It was such an unpleasant experience I even briefly thought of switching over to the Mac, then remembered the security hell of trying to install mouse drivers on it that led me to abandoning it for what has now been multiple weeks, because I am done with modern computers constantly throwing obstacles in the way of a pleasant, or even just nondescript, user experience.

Windows 11 has been behaving so far since the reboot, but I’ve only edited a single photo. I’ll have the full batch of selected photos from last Saturday posted sometime in 2028, probably.

In the meantime, here is that one photo, of a barn swallow.

Run 933: Bug out (of my mouth)

View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Plesant conditions.

It was a little warmer today and a little less humid, but fine.

I did not have any particular goal, but when my first km came in at a somewhat leisurely 5:51/km, I decided to step up the speed a little and finished with a nice Monday overall pace of 5:46/km, with the last one being 5:30.

For the first 1.5 km I did not see anyone else–no runners, walkers, coyotes, bears, pigeons, penguins. Nothing! After that I saw some people, but surprisingly few joggers.

The run itself went without incident. When I pushed I didn’t feel like I was overexerting and my BPM was 152–lower than last Friday, to go with the lower speed. It’s all logical up in the hizzy, as the kids say1I suspect few, if any kids, actually say this..

Well, there was one incident. Around 3 km or so into the run, a bug hit my face, right near my mouth. I swiped at it and it came off on my hand. I think I had murdered it, or maybe it struck me with lethal force. Either way, I wiped the ex-bug on my shorts and kept going. The only other stuff that hit me was cottonwood dander, of which there is still a surprising amount floating about, kind of like the flakes of snow you see before the start of a snowstorm. There was also a pile of poop right in the middle of the trail about 6 km in, and I suspect it was left by a coyote or bear. Bear signs are all over. I’ve even though about wearing a bell to make noise, like people do with cats so they can’t indulge in their natural instinct to murder birds. In this case it would be more to let any bears know I’m coming, so please just move along, preferably back up into the mountains.

Anyway, it was a fine start to the week, as far as running goes.

View from the bridge over Deer Lake Brook, post-run.

Stats:

Run 933
Average pace: 5:46/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:03 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:59
Weather: Partly sunny
Temp: 15-16°C
Humidity: 68-65%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 168.4
Total distance to date: 6,500 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (95/197/292)

Music: Eve, The Alan Parsons Project

Walk 132: A late spring stroll, with bonus photos

I decided to go out for a walk on the river trail, and so I wouldn’t be bothered getting hot ‘n sweaty, I dressed to run. I even pondered a short run, but it was mid-afternoon on a Sunday and opted not to.

I walked to the lake but stopped to take a few photos, so did not record it as exercise. The walk back I did record, the stats are below.

Here are the photos:

Brunette River
Burnaby Lake, just west of Cariboo Dam
A leaf on the river trail, getting way ahead of itself

Stats:

Walk 132
Average pace: 9:09/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 4.02 km
Time: 36:43
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22°C
Humidity: 50%
Wind: light
BPM: 109
Weight: 168.1 pounds
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255
Total distance to date: 939.01 km

Birding, June 14, 2025: No sunblock required

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta)
Weather: Cloudy, 15-17°C
The darker green reeds on the right are new and completely block off the pond, which continues behind them.

Today was a shorter outing because Nic needs his beauty nap before volleyball tryouts tonight. As such, we only went to Reifel, which was bird-deficient across vast stretches of the ponds and trails. Still, there were birbs to be seen.

The weather was cooler and cloudy, so the sunblock stayed in the bottle as we hit the trails.

Among the regulars, we also spotted a Northern shoveller, lending credence to them not really migrating away, just lying low and hiding…somewhere nearby? We also saw some wigeons, so at least two of them are back. The coots can’t be far behind.

The cranes were dining near one of the ponds we don’t usually see them hanging out at, along with several groups of adorable ducklings, providing at least one target-rich environment.

The geese were strangely reserved, with minimal honking. It always unnerves me when they’re quiet.

The male mallards and wood ducks are looking increasingly ratty, as they no longer have to keep up the good looks, with mating season over. The female ducks must now tolerate their beer bellies and mullet-free heads.

The biggest change since the last visit a few weeks ago, other than the relative absence of birds, was the marshland given over to being almost completely green now. It is very lush. Speaking of lush, this new type of reed/grass seems to be growing all over the place now, including spots where it is now obscuring some views. It’s kind of weird. I wonder if it’s invasive.

Despite the smaller number of birds, we did get some fine shots and there were turtles at the end. And it was nice to not have to slop greasy goop all over my exposed flesh, even if it does make me smell pretty.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • American wigeon
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Barn swallow
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • House finch
  • House sparrow
  • Marsh wren (heard)
  • Rufous hummingbird
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Song sparrow
  • Tree swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Blue-winged teal
  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Mallard
  • Northern shoveller
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Bald eagle

Non-birds:

  • Black squirrel
  • Beetles
  • Turtles

Run 932: A matter of degrees

View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Cloudy and cool.

I missed Wednesday’s run for reasons, so had three days of rest going into today’s jog. Would the time off help or hinder? Either was possible!

It turns out it probably didn’t matter, because the important part was the weather–it was cloudy and only 14C, which is near-perfect running conditions. I opted to start out with a little more pep and ended with a flourish–my final lap was 5:28/km. My overall pace was 5:40/km, almost 20 seconds better than Monday’s run. My BPM was a bit higher, at 154, but given the effort, it’s understandable.

Also, I did not encounter any issues, despite the speedier effort. I also didn’t run into any bad luck, given that it’s Friday the 13th.

What I did run into were birds. I saw a strangely large number of birds. At one point, crossing a field post-run after using the drinking fountain by the playground, a barn swallow circled me a few times, flying low over the grass, his wings scissoring effortlessly through the air. In all, I saw:

  • American crow
  • American robin
  • Barn swallow
  • Canada goose
  • European starling
  • Rock pigeon
  • Mourning dove
  • Northern flicker
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • Probably others I am forgetting

Anyway, it was a good way to end the week.

Looking south across the lake from the viewing platform, post-run.

Stats:

Run 932
Average pace: 5:40/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 9:33 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 38:32
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 14°C
Humidity: 73%
Wind: light
BPM: 154
Weight: 167.8
Total distance to date: 6,495 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (90/184/274)

Music: Greatest Hits, Fleetwood Mac

Linux Mint update: Good news, bad news

First, the good news, which started with Very Bad News.

I got Jeff a Lenovo YOGA 2-in-1 laptop a few months back to replace the aging and decrepit 2017 iPad Pro I gave him when I got a new one in 2020. It has worked OK since, but there have been a few little glitches and weirdness. I was unsure how much was to blame on the hardware, Windows or moon phases.

I got my answer a few days ago when the laptop booted up to an obscure Bitlocker error. I did not realize Bitlocker was even on–it’s activated by default on the Windows 11 install. Researching the error, I was not able to find a reliable solution. Jeff gave the thumbs up to the “nuke from orbit” option. I selected the Windows reset option that blows everything away. It produced an error message with no description other than “an error occurred.” I then offered to install Linux Mint. He said go ahead.

  • I prepped a Mint USB stick.
  • I inserted the stick and booted from it.
  • I chose the Install Linux Mint option on the desktop.
  • Linux Mint installed and was ready in significantly less time than it took to get to the Windows 11 desktop after unboxing the laptop–and Windows 11 is pre-installed.
  • Mint automatically recognized the Brother printer once it connected to the Wi-Fi. The touchpad was recognized, as was the included pen when using the built-in drawing app, cleverly named Drawing.

Everything is working just fine. The laptop, to me, feels snappier and more responsive. It may actually be a better laptop now with Mint than the bloated mess that is Windows 11. This is good news.

Now, the bad news. On my PC, I dual boot between Windows 11 and Mint. Mint has generally given me no issues, but at some point recently and issue did arise. It may have been an update or something else, I’m not sure. It’s not Bitlocker, at least.

The issue seems to be related to Firefox, the built-in browser (and my browser of choice) and YouTube. At some point, while watching a YouTube video, the whole system will freeze and continue to freeze intermittently. The only way to fix it once it starts showing this behaviour is to shut down Firefox.

The issue might be Firefox. It might be YouTube. It might be something else. I have done no troubleshooting. What I have done is started testing to see if the issue replicates in Vivaldi, my backup browser of choice. So far, it has not happened with Vivaldi. This makes me sad, because I want to keep using Firefox in Mint, but I also really don’t want to spend time troubleshooting this when a) I may spend a lot of time on it when I could be doing something productive or at least entertaining and b) I may find no actual solution. So this is bad news.

But I may do a little troubleshooting, at some point. Maybe.

UI design summarized in two posts

Today is the first day of WWDC 25, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. It always starts with a keynote, which highlights the new features and changes across Apple’s array of operating systems.

This year the rumour (correct, as it turned out) was that Apple would introduce a new look to its OSes called “Liquid Glass” (because “Aero” had already been used in 2006 for Windows Vista, which this is VERY reminiscent of. And no, the irony of Apple copying Microsoft–old Microsoft–is not lost on many).

Any change is always going to get a varied set of reactions. People generally oppose change, even when the change is mostly good. People are weird.

These two posts showed up in order in my Mastodon feed and perfectly sum up the zeitgeist on UI redesigns.

Take 1: I like it!
Take 2: An abomination!

And so it goes.

Run 931: Snake dodging

View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run.

I had two goals today:

  • Have a little more pep than the last run
  • Get out before it got hot

Success on both counts, woo. Although my first three km were all around the six-minute mark, I finished stronger and barely slipped under, for an overall pace of 5:59/km. BPM was 152, which felt right, given it was a little warmer.

But not too warm, as I again began my run before 9 a.m. It got up to 20C during the run, which is fine.

There were no complications during the run, though there was a bizarrely high number of people with dogs in the first km or so, like everyone had decided to all go out at the same time. All the dogs were on leash and well-behaved, though.

And I got my first full-on look at a garter snake this spring, as it slithered directly across the trail in front of me, probably deciding to book it when it sensed me approaching, which was maybe not the best idea, because I had to dodge a bit to avoid stepping on it.

After the run, I saw this sign warning of bears with superior eyesight:

Overall, a good start to the week. Temperatures should be a bit more seasonal for the remainder of the week, but I’m going to keep in the habit of heading out early.

Still Creek, post-run, looking west.

Stats:

Run 931
Average pace: 5:59/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 8:56 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 30:06
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19-20°C
Humidity: 77-73%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 168.4
Total distance to date: 6,490 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (85/171/256)

Music: Savage, Eurythmics

Birding, June 7, 2025: Shoot the bear, shoot the poop

Where: Rocky Point Park (Port Moody), Blakeburn Lagoons Park (Port Coquitlam), Traboulay PoCo Trail (Port Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 20-27°C

Rocky Point

An unusual request at one of the viewing platforms.

Today was expected to get quite warm–and it did. We were very smart and most of our birding today took place on trails with no canopy, because we love the sun.

We started at Rocky Point, where the heron babies are growing up oh-so-fast. They seemed a bit more visible this time, due to being larger and more willing to hang out on the edges of the nests, yearning to escape from the yoke of their parents’ tyranny.

We ventured a bit down the trail, but didn’t see much else, other than a lot of people, because the place was packed. Who knew a warm, sunny Saturday in June would draw people out?

Blakeburn Lagoons Park

One of the two lagoons, with mallards and gadwalls paddling about.

We next moved onto Blakeburn Lagoons Park, which is a fairly compact pair of lagoons reclaimed from an old wastewater site. We got some good views, a bit of goose drama, and Nic felt compelled to shoot some bird poop. One must not question the muse. The muse poops for thee, not me. Or something.

The highlight, strangely, was a butterfly that stopped long enough to allow us to get some very nice shots of it. After a quick trip around the lagoons, we needed more sun, so off we went!

Traboulay PoCo Trail/DeBoville Slough

The DeBoville Slough, wending its way through the wilds of Port Coquitlam.

We’ve been in this area before, but along the southern trail. This time we took the northern, which parallels the slough and eventually leads to the Pitt river, which is where we saw a nesting osprey (neat) and then turned around and headed back. We saw a few birds along the way, too–a robin, a waxwing and a Northern flicker–but most of the views were of the slough, the verdant fields and mountains. And one shirtless jogger.

Although by this point it was getting quite warm, the breeze kept it from getting sticky and awful.

And we also saw a bear, trundling casually through the crops on a field. There was a slough between us and the bear and even though bears can swim, it was not close and seemed pretty mellow. I got a few iffy shots, but it’s definitely bear.

After that, we wrapped up early, as Nic has to help out a theatre full of gay men. As one does.

Although the birds were not out in copious numbers today, the change of scenery was pleasant, as was the weather.

The Shots

Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Common yellowthroat (heard)
  • Northern flicker
  • Spotted towhee
  • Song sparrow
  • Violet-green swallow

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Canada goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great blue heron
  • Mallard

Common:

  • American crow
  • Assorted gulls

Raptors:

  • American osprey
  • Bald eagle
  • A hawk?

Non-birds:

  • Butterflies
  • Dragonflies
  • Other flies
  • A black bear